On CNY Cards, Nightmare Traffic And KL Tower

Did you receive a lot of Chinese New Year cards this year?

I did not and I noticed not many people send Chinese New Year cards nowadays as most either sms or send e-cards. What the heck, even I don't mail out cards anymore!

I did receive a few though, like these three cards below. If you notice, one of the cards were from Pakatan Rakyat politicians, thanking me as a voter, though whether I voted for them or not in the last election shall remain a secret : )



The days leading up to Chinese New Year were terrible for me as far as the traffic on the roads were concerned. There were traffic jams everywhere! I was cursing and cursing like mad.

Did you know I was trapped on this road near the Sin Chew Roundabout (formerly Rothmans Roundabout) for almost one hour? Somehow, I don't think roundabouts are effective anymore in dispersing traffic.



And then, thinking I could escape the jam after passing that roundabout, I got caught again in another huge jam in SS2. This is the road in front of Poh Kong SS2 leading towards the LDP.



It took me about 2 hours to reach my destination when normally it would have just taken a mere 20 minutes! Next year, I am going to stay off the road the week before Chinese New Year!

However, it was totally different during the Chinese New Year holidays. Driving then was a breeze. There were hardly any traffic jams as most people had already 'balik kampung'. Since my 'kampung' or hometown is in Petaling Jaya, I had an enjoyable time driving around town!

With the low number of cars on the road, I took the opportunity to drive to KL just to discover new places. I drove around with my Street Directory map book and learnt some new roads in the process! While some people like to depend on their GPS, I prefer to rely on my useful Street Directory!





My friend from Penang came to visit me and asked me to bring him to KL Tower as he had not been there before. Actually, I have not been to KL Tower before either, but as I was too embarrassed to tell him that, I decided to play along and told him it would be my pleasure to bring him. I hope he will never get to read my blog. Haha!

We went to KL Tower on the first day of Chinese New Year. It was after dinner and I drove down to KL with him beside me. Luckily, I've passed by the place before so I knew how to get there and had absolutely no worries of him knowing I've never been up that tower before!

I was just a little surprised to find that the entrance fee was RM38 per person. Don't you think that's a little too expensive? I mean, what can you find up there except maybe a good view of Kuala Lumpur? Besides, the Tower would be closed to visitors at 9.30pm, and it was already 9pm! Half an hour tour for RM38? In my mind, I was thinking, I might as well spend that money on a delicious dish of yee sang!

But as my friend was very eager to visit this place, and since this was my first time going up the Tower, I guess I would just be fine with it. Furthermore, I found out that the RM38 also covers the entrance to the Winter Park, F1 Simulator and Animal Zone. So not too bad after all!

I managed to take a picture of the KL Tower against the night sky.



Each of us was given a bottle of mineral water that looked like the Tower itself. Not too bad as a souvenir item!



We took the lift and was met by a guide in the lift who told us that KL Tower is the 5th tallest communication tower in the world. He also mentioned that it would take about 50 seconds to reach the Observation Deck, which is about 276 metres from the ground floor. Me and my friend timed it and the guide was right - we reached the Observation Deck in 53 seconds!

From the Observation Deck, we were able to see how KL looked like from high up. Not a big deal really, as I could easily get such views at Look Out Point in Ampang, KL or at Genting Highlands, albeit much smaller views. The only good thing was, we were each given a portable MP4player that guided us as we walked around the tower. We also made use of the telescopes which were provided free to view close-up scenes of KL city.

After spending half an hour at the Observation Deck, we took the lift down and visited the Winter Park. It was really nothing much to shout about as you can see from these shots I took.







We did not go for the F1 Simulator as it was already closed by the time we went there. However, we went for a quick tour of the Animal Zone which was like a mini zoo complete with snakes, rabbits, turtles, birds, and racoons.

So was my RM38 worth it? My friend thought it was worth it, but I still prefer to spend the money on yee sang! Luckily for me, I managed to act as if I have been to KL Tower many times before, so my friend did not even have the tiniest suspicion that this is my first time there! Ha ha!

The Wedding Game

Every year during Chinese New Year, it is customary for me to watch a Chinese New Year movie at local cinemas. It is no different this year. As most of my friends are not around as they have gone back to their hometowns, I usually go to the movies with my family members.

It used to be Jackie Chan movies or some Hong Kong comedies last time, but this year, I decided to go for a Singaporean movie called "The Wedding Game". I went with my sister and her two children on the second day of Chinese New Year to GSC at Mid Valley.



I chose to watch this movie for two reasons. First, I am a big fan of Singapore-based Thai director Ekachai Uekrongtham who directed "The Wedding Game". He is famous for his movies "Beautiful Boxer", "Pleasure Factory" and most recently "The Coffin". All his movies were outstanding except perhaps for "The Coffin", which was quite a disappointment for me. You can read my reviews of "The Coffin" here.

Ekachai is also famous for directing Singapore’s longest running musical, "Chang & Eng", which happens to be my favourite musical of all time.


Director Ekachai discussing a scene with Fann and Christopher

The second reason is that I wanted to watch all the hypes surrounding Singaporean actress Fann Wong and her soon to be husband, Singapore-based Malaysian actor, Christopher Lee. This famous couple, with the highest profile in Singapore, is rumoured to be tying the knot on the 9th Sept 2009 (09.09.09) – the number 9 signifies eternity in Chinese. And since we are not likely to get invited to their wedding, this movie will be the closest thing we can get to the real thing!

The story centred on two actors, Jack and Vikki (played by Christopher Lee and Fann Wong respectively) who hated each other, but decided to get married to further their careers and fortunes. This “fake” marriage was actually planned by their respective managers, May (played by Hong Kong actress-singer Alice Lau) and Tom (played by Taiwanese media personality Charles Chen). However, when their secret plan was somehow revealed to the public, things turned chaotic and we get to see all those comedic events that ensued.

Watch the movie trailer here



How did I find the movie? Well, to be honest, it was actually pretty entertaining! I mean the storyline was quite predictable, but I think the two leads, Fann Wong and Christopher Lee have just the right chemistry to pull it off. I would say both their acting were excellent! Fann Wong especially, showed a wide range of emotions in this movie, which I like very much! Christopher Lee was funny, and also shirtless most of the time. I guess his female fans and gay fans will really lap it all up!

The two supporting cast, Alice Lau and Charles Chen (aka. Hei Ren or Blackie) gave good performances too. Alice plays May who pines for Jack and is secretly in love with him, while Charles Chen plays Tom who is gay. As I said, the story is pretty predictable, and there’s no prizes for guessing that Jack and Vikki will eventually fall in love, and Alice will pair up with Tom, who will of course discovers that he is not as “gay” as he thinks!







I like the opening part of the movie where they show the credits and the camera zooming up the wedding cake to reveal the couple figurines which start to fight each other. That very impressive scene made me almost forget this was a made in Singapore movie – it really looked like an American movie!


The couple figurines atop the wedding cake

Alas I did not realize this movie was rated PG13. And my niece and nephew were there watching the entire movie with me and my sister! It was rightly rated as such for I soon realized there were many scenes which were not too suitable for kids.

For instance, the part where May got a little horny seeing Jack naked in the shower, my nephew asked what was wrong with her. I did not reply as I do not know what to say! My sister quickly explained that she (May) was not feeling well. Haha! I could not help laughing!

Another scene was where we see Jack strutting in just his tight shorts. My nephew exclaimed loudly, “Last time daddy wore like that too!” My sister quickly said, “Shhh! Don’t speak so loud!” Haha!

Halfway through the movie, my sister told me she is taking her son out for a walk. I was like, what? why? “He asked too many questions!” was my sister’s reply. “And I’m too embarrassed to answer because he asked so loudly and those sitting at the back and in front could hear.” So I said OK and she brought him out.

They came back in about 10 minutes later. I did not know what my sister taught him in those 10 minutes, but it was damn effective. He did not asked too many questions after that!

"The Wedding Game" also starred a few Malaysian actors, namely Lai Meng of Empat Sekawan fame, who already made a name for herself in Jack Neo’s movies "Money No Enough 2" and "Ah Long Pte Ltd". There’s also Cicakman Saiful Apek and actress Syanie Hisham providing more laughs. And not forgetting model turned actor, Daniel Tan.

The movie was filmed both in Singapore and Melaka. I really like it that the director chose to include scenes from Melaka, which is actually Christopher Lee's hometown in real life.

I also liked the theme song for this movie. It was sang by Christy and Hagen and is based on the famous English wedding song called Ave Maria. Here's the Youtube video for you to enjoy!



Actually, I also like another song in the movie which was sang during the scene when Jack was heartbroken and desperately looking for Vikki after the press conference where Vikki revealed the truth to the media and the public. I wonder if Hagen sang that song too. Anyone knows the title of the song - please let me know.

So my ratings for this movie? I'll give it 3.5 stars out of 5.

In terms of both comedy and drama, it won't be able to beat Jack Neo's "Money No Enough 2".
If you are a fan of either Christopher Lee or Fann Wong or both, you will definitely like this movie. If you are not a fan, you won't be raving about it too much, but it is still an entertaining movie, so go watch it!

Welcome To The Year Of The Ox!

To all my blogger friends and loyal readers,
Let me welcome you to the Year Of The Ox!
Where Lillian Too says opportunity knocks,
As if good luck comes all wrapped up in a box!

Oh, I don't mean you'll be starting a shop selling Crocs,
Or making lots of money from your blogs,
Or even dabble in plenty of stocks,
And think the market you can outfox!

You will still be working and slogging like dogs,
And not try to do anything unorthodox.
Like becoming a singer but only sings at Redbox,
Or working as waiters and waitresses serving whiskey on the rocks!

When Lillian Too says opportunity knocks,
I think she means opportunity to eat lots!
During this Chinese New Year Of The Ox,
So let's be happy eating but if you are a flogger remember to take some shots!

I hope you don't spend the holidays in front of the idiot box,
Watching movies on Astro starring Jamie Foxx,
Or reruns of Family Ties with Michael J. Fox,
And Friends starring Jennifer Aniston and Courteney Cox.

Since you'll be eating lots don't forget your morning jogs,
And of course after the holidays are over you really need to detox!
Now hear me right when I say detox,
It's detox - not Botox! : )

Anyway if you think my poem rocks,
Please leave a comment and let me know your thoughts,
And do wish me lots and lots,
Of angpows in this Year Of The Ox!

The Secret To Soft Hands

Don’t you just hate it when your hands get all dry and scaly and rough? Then when you shake someone else’s hand, you can feel her hand is just so smooth and soft?

What? Doesn’t she do any house work? You grumble.

OK, maybe it’s not quite suitable for a man like me to write about wanting a softer hand. But actually I don’t see what’s wrong with that. It’s nice to have soft and beautiful skin. As long as you don’t take it to the extreme and behave like a woman of course!

Anyway, my hands are quite soft actually. How did I do it since I do my share of the housework, just so you know.

Well, that’s my secret which I’m going to reveal here. Well, not really a secret because you can actually find such information on the internet. But just to save you time, keep reading ‘cos I have 3 different methods for you to choose to keep your hands soft and beautiful!

Method 1
Level of difficulty: Easy
Things You’ll Need
Bowl
¼ cup of olive oil
1 cup granulated sugar

Pour the sugar into the bowl, and add in the olive oil. Mix it up and then rub the mixture onto your hands. Let it sit for about 2-3 minutes then rinse off with warm water.

Method 2
Level of Difficulty: More difficult than method 1
Things You’ll Need
Bowl
½ cup warm milk
2 tsp plain yogurt
2 tsp sugar
lavender essential oil

Add milk, yogurt, sugar and a few drops of lavender essential oil into a bowl.
Soak your hands in this mix for about 5 minutes. Then rinse and scrub off with warm water.

Method 3
Level of Difficulty: Easiest, but may be more expensive!
Things You’ll Need
Money

Buy your favourite brand of hand lotion and apply to your hands. Follow instructions provided on the bottle. It’s best to choose one which contains jojoba oil, aloe vera, lavender and cucumber.

What Joey Yap Said ...

Since I did not attend Joey Yap's "Thriving In Challenging Times" Feng Shui and Astrology seminar last Saturday, I had to rely on my brother who went for the whole day talk at KL Convention Centre. I hope his notes are correct, otherwise I may be giving you wrong information!


Joey Yap at Plenary Hall, KL Convention Centre (photo from JoeyYap.com)

Anyway, to start off, I would like to first highlight about the Solar Eclipse that is going to occur on the 22nd July 2009. Joey Yap mentioned that it is crucial that you do not expose yourself to this eclipse on that day, or bad luck will befall you! It seems that if you are exposed to the eclipse for 1 minute, you will get bad luck for one full year! And if you are exposed for 2 minutes, you will experience 2 years of bad luck, and so on. I heard that this solar eclipse will be the longest total solar eclipse in the 21st century and will last up to 6 minutes and 39 seconds!

Now if Lillian Too were to say this, I would have just taken it with a pinch of salt. It does sound a little superstitious, don't you think? I don't know about you, but as this came straight from Joey Yap's mouth, I am going to take his advice seriously!

So if you don't want to go through bad luck for the whole year, make sure you note down the date of this eclipse. Circle it on your calendar. Save the date in your handphone and set the alarm to ring on that day! Do whatever you must to remind yourself of this solar eclipse!

Of course, there will be sceptics who will ridicule this. Well, to all you sceptics, I dare you to go out there and enjoy the eclipse on the 22nd July and tell me you have a fabulous year. OK? Report back to me by the end of 2009 in time for me to wish you A Very Happy New Year 2010!

Date selection is very important in feng shui, and especially to the Chinese. We have good dates to move house, get married, start an important project, even go travelling. According to Joey Yap, these are the bad dates to do anything important in 2009.

31st Jan 2009 1pm-3pm

25th Feb 2009 7am-9am

17th Mar 2009 7am-9am

7th July 2009 11am-1pm

That means do not start an important project, hold an important meeting, start a new job, go for an operation, do renovation, and even get a divorce on these dates! For bloggers, do not start a new blog on those dates! Anything that you consider important should not be done on the above dates and times. So, again, mark these dates in your diary or calendar so you don't forget!

Notice that 31st January 2009 is the sixth day of Chinese New Year. That means, it is not an auspicious day to start work after the Chinese New Year celebrations!

So which are the good days to start work after Chinese New Year? According to Joey Yap, they are ...

28th January 2009 (3rd day of CNY) - 11am onwards except for Rabbit

30th January 2009 (5th day of CNY) - 7am to 9am except for Snake, Rooster & Ox

2nd February 2009 (8th day of CNY) - 7am to 9am except for Monkey

6th February 2009 (12th day of CNY) - 9am to 11am except for Rat

Please note that the animal signs is not your animal year, but the animals found in your Bazi Chart. To get your personal Bazi Chart, go to the Bazi Calculator in Joey Yap's website here. Just register yourself, and then enter your date and time of birth. Please take note that your Bazi Chart is a very important Chart and you are to keep it under lock and key, and not simply reveal it to anyone.

Perhaps USA President Barack Obama knows about Bazi because he never reveal his true time of birth. A check on the Internet came up with different time of birth on different sites. Because of this, we will never get to know his Bazi Chart and as such, his enemies cannot take advantage of his weaknesses. Now, ain't he a smart President!

Your Bazi Chart may look something like this. Notice the name of animals in the Earthly Branches.



So for the person with this Bazi Chart, he or she should not start work on the 30th January 2009 because there is both a Rooster and an Ox in his Chart.

By the way, the above is actually the bazi chart of the late Hong Kong billionairess and Asia's richest woman, Nina Wang, taken from Joey Yap's blog. How Joey interprets her Bazi Chart will make interesting reading!

In feng shui, we must know which sector of our homes or offices that need to be activated to bring in wealth luck and other types of luck. If let's say, the east sector of your house has the wealth star this year, but that room in the east sector is a store room and is seldom used, then my friend, you just missed all the wealth you are supposed to get!

So what must you do to activate that wealth star?

Simple! Just move the furnitures in that room, or redecorate that room or make a lot of noise in that room! Use that room often and not keep it locked. This will trigger off the wealth star and activate it! In other words, when you move the qi or energy in the room, you will activate the wealth star.

According to Joey Yap, you will need to activate the South East sector (or more specifically SE1) on the 31st March 2009 7am-9am except if you have a Snake in your Bazi Chart for your wealth luck.

Or you may activate on the 3rd of June 2009 7pm-9pm except if you have Rooster in your Chart. So take note of these dates!

If you are unsure where is SE1, please refer to the compass below. You can superimpose this compass onto your house' floor plan for better accuracy.

Compass direction (taken from HenryFong.com)

So if you do not have a Snake in your Bazi Chart, then on the 31st March 2009, between 7am-9am, go to the SE1 sector of your house or office and move the furnitures around, or do some redecoration! If there's a garden outside your house in the South East sector, you can put up a water feature there. Any water features can help to activate your wealth luck, but it is best to place them outside the house, not inside.

However, be very careful where you place the water features. If you place them at the wrong place, you may accidently activate the bad stars! How you activate the good stars is the same as how you activate the bad ones! With this in mind, make sure you do not do anything to activate the Five Yellow in the North sector. To learn more about the deadly and most feared star called The Five Yellow, read my Ultimate Feng Shui Test.

If you want help from people or Noblemen, then you must activate your Nobleman Star at the North East sector (specifically NE3) on the 10th April 2009 5pm-7pm except if you have a Rabbit in your Bazi Chart. This will ensure you have unexpected help from people whom you may not even know!

If you want to attract potential mate, then activate Peach Blossom Star in the S2 corner on 19th March 2009 between 11am-1pm. But better not do this if you are married unless you want to look for trouble!

Besides the above, Joey Yap also gave an overall view of the coming Year of The Ox.

Here are the things he said....

Economy the world over will not be strong. It is best to undertake long-term planning instead of thinking about short-term growth.

Industries that will do well are Academic, Education, Agriculture, Farming and Health.

Where property is concerned, there will be less buying and selling, and there will be a surge in property rentals.

Health problems will increase, especially those related to food poisoning.

There will be lots of internal disputes in companies and organisations.

Well, there you have it! My report on what Joey Yap said in his recent seminar. Hope I've provided you with some useful information so that you can avoid the bad and attract the good. Have a wonderful weekend and I would like to take this opportunity to wish all my Chinese readers Gong Xi Fa Cai and a Very Happy & Prosperous Chinese New Year!

What Lillian Too Said ...

Which shopping mall do you think has the best feng shui in the Klang Valley?

I think it is Mid Valley as it is always packed with people. Go there later than 11am and you will have a hard time finding parking space. Although other shopping malls like 1Utama or Sunway Pyramid also suffer from this parking problem, they are limited to the weekends.

And guess what really convinced me that Mid Valley Megamall and its surroundings have good feng shui? Well, you can't go wrong when two of Malaysian's most well known feng shui practitioners set up their offices in Mid Valley City. Yes, I am talking about the infamous Lillian Too and Joey Yap.

Two Sundays ago, I attended Lillian Too's Feng Shui Extravaganza at KL Convention Centre. And last Saturday, my brother attended Joey Yap's Feng Shui seminar also at the same venue.

In case you think me and my brother are feng shui fanatics, let me assure you we are not. I do believe in feng shui, and I do practise it, but I am not obsessed with it.

Not everyone agrees with Lillian Too on her suggestion to have feng shui cures and enhancers. Some think she's marketing her products when she encourages people to get those feng shui stuffs. If you are one of them, you will probably be better off attending Joey Yap's talk as Joey does not sell any feng shui remedies.

Well, whether you agree with her or not, you cannot deny that Lillian is a good speaker, great at motivating people, and is definitely brilliant in marketing herself and her business. She has a very impressive stage presence as once she stands on the stage, all attention goes straight to her!

I enjoyed her talk a lot as I found it entertaining. That's because she threw in lots and lots of jokes!

Here's one joke that kept the crowd in stitches. Lillian mentioned that she used her feng shui enhancers ( I forgot which one!) to attract more friends. She boasted she had so many friends she had a hard time catching up with all of them. In the next sentence, she quickly said, "But of course I sign up for Facebook and my friends multiplied overnight!" or something to that effect. Haha! That's funny, no?

Another joke that had me laughing was when she said she once suffered from a back problem every morning when she wakes up from her bed. So to cure it, she placed lots of metal objects in her bedroom which according to her, would help to improve her health. The next morning, her back pain miraculously disappeared! In the next breath, she said "But of course, I took the painkiller lah..." Haha! She's one funny lady!

If you like to know more interesting facts about this incredible lady, read more here.


Lillian Too, with her son-in-law Christopher Yeo, daughter Jennifer Too and husband Too Wan Jin. (Taken from migf.com)

So would you like to know what's in store for the Year of The Ox?

According to Lillian Too, the year of the Ox promises respite and recovery from the economy downfall that hit us last year. Although there will be more bad news coming, overall the year of the Ox will be more stable. This is especially so in Malaysia as we are very fortunate to be located in the South East, as this sector will be protected from the economy instability this year.

Lillian Too advised us not to be too overly concerned with bad news coming from the USA, as although USA would be hit hard economically, Malaysia would not be dragged along with it. That's good news, yes?

The reason for this positive outlook is due to the presence of all the five elements in the Bazi Chart. The three Yang and one Yin pillar also indicates strong Yang energy. Although there are opportunities, do be careful. Attention should be focused on preserving your current wealth than trying to make quick money. This is the year to strengthen your financial situation to prepare yourself for more coming challenges beyond 2009. Yes, 2010 is not a very good year, it seems.

There would be a continuation of natural calamities due to the Dominant Earth. Be health conscious as there is danger of sickness and epidemics.

Here are some predictions for the different industries.

Metal Element Businesses (eg. mining, jewellery, computers, airlines) - Since there is plenty of earth to fuel metal, those involved in this business should think big and take risks. The first quarter of the year will be an excellent year for this industry.

Earth Element Businesses (eg. property, real estate, construction, hotels) - Will be doing well the whole year, but should do planning before investing.

Fire Element Businesses (eg. stock market, entertainment, lighting, restaurants) - Since there are plenty of wood to fuel fire, those involved in this industry should think big and make big gains. However, they do need to watch timing. The second half of the year will perform better compared to the first half.

Wood Element Businesses (eg. plantation, agriculture, publishing, education) - Not a good year. Only the best will survive. Some may need to close. Should consolidate to stay afloat!

Water Element Businesses (eg. banking, shipping, transport, alcohol, fishing) - A difficult year of crisis situations. Would need strategies to survive as weak companies will collapse.

I am not going to touch on the prediction of each animal year as you can read that here. However, they are very general in scope. To really know with accuracy, you will need to have your Bazi interpreted by a Bazi practitioner.

And to know which sectors in your home is good and which you should try to avoid, read here.

Well, if you like to know more, catch her on Astro TV channels Hallmark (702), CNN (511), Starworld (711) & Asian Food Channel (703) in the months of January and February. For the exact time, click here.

Next up, I shall post on what Joey Yap said....so stay tuned!

The Ultimate Feng Shui Test

So you don't believe in feng shui?

So you think it's all crappy nonsense?

So you have tried my Feng Shui Test and did not see any results?

If you have read my post on feng shui, you would know that I had asked all you sceptics to do the exact opposite of what you are supposed to do in terms of good feng shui. That means, if sleeping with your head pointed to the East is bad for you, then you purposely sleep in this direction for a week or more. When you start to experience bad luck or bad events in your life, you quickly switch back to practising good feng shui to reverse the effects. Which simply means, if North is your good direction, then start sleeping with your head pointed to this direction.

Now, there may be some of you who tried the test and did not experience anything unlucky or bad. Perhaps the effects were not strong enough. And probably that's why you did not even notice anything bad happening to you.

Well, I've some good news for you.

Today, I'm going to introduce you to another test, a more powerful one which I shall call The Ultimate Feng Shui Test.

I got this idea after attending Lillian Too's Feng Shui Extravaganza on 11th January 2009 held at the KL Convention Centre.

There are currently two famous feng shui practitioners in Malaysia. Both command their own followers and legions of fans. Both are also famous feng shui authors and teach feng shui to people in Malaysia and all over the world. They are none other than Lillian Too and Joey Yap.

To be honest, I prefer Joey Yap as I find his teachings to be more focused on classical feng shui, whereas Lillian Too is more commercialised, with emphasis on new age feng shui. However, Joey Yap's Feng Shui & Astrology Seminar was held on 17th January 2009, which was a Saturday. I was not free as I was working on Saturday. So I settled for Lillian Too's whole day seminar which was held on a Sunday.


Lillian Too speaking at the KL Convention Centre

My brother went for Joey Yap's seminar so I will gather some information from him and post it on my blog here later. If you can't wait, you can read more at Eiling's blog.

As to what Lillian Too talked about in her seminar, I will be posting that in my next post.

Meantime, let's get back to my Ultimate Feng Shui Test.

In feng shui, there are 3 sectors in your home that you must be aware of. In 2009, and starting specifically on the 4th February 2009, although the effect can start earlier, take note of the following sectors in your homes.

North - The Five Yellow (Wu Wang) affliction star flies into this sector this year. In Hong Kong, people are very afraid of this star. It is said to bring misfortune, bad luck, illness and even death. If your bedroom is in the North sector of your house, then you will be badly affected. The best way to avoid this is to move out of that room! However, if you can't, make sure you do not knock, dig, renovate or make lots of noise in this room or you will activate the Five Yellow.

North East - The Grand Duke Jupiter (Tai Sui) will be residing in this sector this year. Do not sit facing North East as doing so will bring you misfortunes and bad luck. If you work in your office, make sure you are not sitting facing North East. Also, digging the ground, cutting a healthy tree and renovating at this sector will bring about the same effects. However, sitting with your back facing North East will be good as you are said to have good support from The Grand Duke Jupiter.

East - The Three Killings (Saam Saat) will be in this sector this year. Do not sit with the Three Killings behind you. Instead, confront it by facing East. Otherwise, you will suffer from loss of wealth, loss of loved ones and loss of good name.

To be sure you get the correct direction, make sure you use a good compass. Stand in the middle of your house to get the accurate direction with your compass.


How to locate the north sector (taken from JoeyYap.com)

Now that you are clear about these afflictions, this is what you do to prove that feng shui works, which is to do the exact opposite of the above.

1. Make the North sector of your home your bedroom. Make as much noise as you can in this room (example: play the radio as loud as you like!) Or knock on the walls to hang some pictures! Or if you have a garden in the North part of your house, do some digging or even better, start renovating here!

(Warning: The Five Yellow can be deadly. Your life can be in danger if you choose to do this test! Consider carefully whether you are able to handle the risk! I will not be held responsible for this as the decision to do this test is entirely yours!)

2. Work and sit facing North East (Grand Duke Jupiter) everyday. Or start renovating in this sector of your house!

3. Sit facing West (Three Killings behind you) everyday, especially at work.

Obviously, if you sit facing North East (Test No.2) , you won't be facing West (Test No.3) but why not do both like sitting facing North East in your office and facing West in your house?

Combining these three afflictions can be deadly. I really have no idea how deadly as I do not dare to try! But for sceptics, you are welcome to give this test a try. Let me know the results please, that is, if you are still alive!

Of Bolt And Chili's

First things first.

Bolt is a movie about a dog called Bolt who thinks he is a Superdog.



Chili's is a famous and popular restaurant serving Western cuisine.



What do you get when you combine the two?

Answer : An enjoyable time!

And that's what I got when I brought my sister and my niece and nephew to Mid Valley during Christmas week last year.

After that delicious lunch and the awful 'credit card not accepted' incident at The Gardens, we went over to GSC Mid Valley to watch the much awaited (at least to the children) movie called "Bolt".

So was the movie worth the ticket price? We went for the 3D version which costs RM16 per adult and RM11 per child. Pretty expensive, no?



The first part of the movie was the best! I really loved it! The scenes where Bolt fights criminals and saves the world using his superpowers. It was cool.

It then went downhill from there, starting from the scene where it was revealed that Bolt was in fact, not a superdog but just an ordinary dog acting in a movie. The rest of the movie tells the story of how Bolt tries to save his owner still thinking he has superpowers and later, realising the truth. In his quest to save his owner, he was joined by a cat called Mittens and a hamster by the name of Rhino.

Despite it going downhill, it was still pretty enjoyable throughout, especially with the very funny Rhino giving us all the comical antics.

Only thing is, I didn't find the 3D that big a deal. Maybe the children enjoyed it, since this is their first time watching a 3D movie. For me, I would rather settle for 2D since the ticket price for 3D was a lot more expensive.

So how would I rate this movie? Oh, before that, let me give you a child's perspective. I asked my nephew how much he would rate the show out of 5 points where 5 is excellent and 1 is total crap. He rated Bolt 5 out of 5! I just rolled my eyes.

Just to compare, I asked him how much he would rate Kungfu Panda. He said 6 out of 5! Now, you know how children rate things!



As for me, rating this movie from an ahem...adult's perspective, I would give Bolt 3 out of 5.

Had Bolt been a real superdog, I think the movie would be much more enjoyable. Such a pity, really. I think I prefer The Incredibles which had better script, wit and action.



Well, after the movie, we went shopping for a while, before the children reminded us of dinner. Children! They are always thinking about eating, eating and eating! It was not even 6pm yet, but they were already complaining of hunger!

We decided to go Chili's located at the ground floor of Mid Valley Mall.



My niece ordered the Chicken Crispers.



My nephew ordered Fish and Chips.



As usual, my sister who was on a diet, did not order anything. She just took a little from both her children's plates. As for me, I went for my favourite Monterey Chicken.



All of us ordered bottomless drinks. I went for the bottomless guava drink. Had many refills of that!



Sometimes I wonder if the waiter would accidentally mix up our glasses when he or she refills for us. There's one time at Chili's in 1Utama, the waiter returned my glass but I knew it was not mine as I recognised the straw in the glass was not the same as the one I used earlier!

We also ordered the bottomless Tostada Chips. My sister said she did not like the chips, but guess what? She ended up eating most of them! Talking about dieting! We even went for a second and third helpings!



I guess I did not really like the chips either, but I loved the sauce where we dip the chips into! One thing though, the chips were not oily like say, Pringles potato chips. So it was probably healthier.

Somehow, when we sit down and chit chat, the chips would disappear quite fast - so thank God, I mean.... Chili's, for making it a bottomless one!

Of all the Chili's restaurants in Malaysia, I think I like the one at Mid Valley best! Their food is delicious and the service is good. I have tried Chili's in 1Utama, Bangsar and KLCC and I can tell you, the one in 1Utama sucks! Both Chili's in Bangsar and KLCC are quite good though I have yet to try the one in Penang.

So which is your favourite Chili's restaurant?

All About Moon

I have a friend whose name is Moon. And I have another friend called Sun.

Luckily I don’t know anyone by the name Star. Though I’m sure you all would have heard of the fictitious character called Brenda Starr.

People have such funny names nowadays! I am sure you have heard of names like April, May and June, but have you heard of the someone who combined two months and called herself MayJune? Yes, there really is such a person. She’s a personality on Malaysian TV.

Then there are people whose name reminds me of fruits. Like Apple. That would surely gives "An apple a day keeps the doctor away" a whole new twist!

Or Orange. What if someone tells me “I love orange!” Does he mean he loves the fruit, the colour or the person? Pretty confusing, no?

I have a friend who calls herself Lemon. What if I am with her friend and say, “I’ll love to have lemon today”. What will her friend think of me?

I read somewhere the other day someone called Durian! I quickly took a look at his photo, half expecting to see spikes coming out of his head!

Anyway, today’s post is not really about names. As usual, I tend to sidetrack into another topic. Haha! What I really wanted to blog about today is the moon. Yes the moon! The perigee moon, to be exact.

The what?

OK, OK, I understand most of you don't know about the perigee moon, unless you heard about it in the news or you read about it in Happysurfer’s blog. In fact, it was Happysurfer who invited me to visit her blog to learn about it.

So, if you want to know what the heck perigee moon means, just visit her blog here. 'Cos I know as much about it as The Man In The Moon!

All I know is this happens only once in a blue moon. You surely can’t find the moon as big or as bright as this on any other day.

I even took a photo of the moon that night.



Well, I was not exactly over the moon when I took the photo because it was really nothing compared to the moons sighted in other countries!

However, when I told my family members that the moon that night was bigger and brighter, they laughed at me and said it’s all moonshine!

Well, talking about the moon, I sometimes wonder how some bloggers are so free to come up with a new post almost every day. Take the case of TZ – he seems to have a new post up almost daily. Come to think of it, he must be honeymooning now. Probably that's why he's so free!

When I said honeymooning, I don’t mean the honeymoon my friend is currently having in Australia after his wedding last week! He must be having a great time there! Makes me feel like going to Australia too. But looking at my bank account, I am afraid it’s a little tight for that at the moment. Unless of course, I do some moonlighting. Mind you, it’s nothing illegal or anything of that sort! But of course you can go ahead and cast beyond the moon all you want!

Well, maybe I shouldn’t shoot for the moon, and just settle for some places closer to home. Local places like Langkawi or Kota Kinabalu would be fine. Hmm, that's really something to moon over.

Now, if you have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about, feel free to refer to Moon Words and Phrases : )

"Sorry, We Don't Accept Credit Cards"

Two days after I watched "Beverly Hills ChiHuaHua" with my sister, nephew and niece at GSC 1Utama, I was back at another cinema. This time, I was with them watching "Bolt" in its 3D version, at GSC, Mid Valley.

However, before watching Bolt, we went for lunch at Fong Lye, at The Gardens Mall next to Mid Valley.

This was the second time I went to this Taiwanese restaurant. We were lucky it was not noon or lunch time yet when we went that day, otherwise we may have to queue up. I remember the last time I went there for dinner, there was a long queue outside the restaurant after 6pm.

Anyway, my niece ordered this black peppered bean curd dish.



It came in a set with a bowl of rice, three side dishes and a bowl of soup (not in picture)



My nephew ordered a dish called Taiwan Chicken Chop Rice, which he did not allow me to take photos of. He was really naughty that day! Naughty, but in a cute way so I forgave him. Haha!

My sister was on a diet, so she did not order anything. Instead, she just took a few bites from both her children's dishes. I didn't quite agree with her dieting, but I knew no amount of talk would persuade her otherwise, so I just let her be.

As for me, I ordered Fresh Tomato Fried Egg with Fish Fillet.



I liked this dish very much! This dish also came in a set which comprises a bowl of rice, three side dishes and a bowl of soup, exactly like the one my niece was having. It tasted like sweet and sour fish in tomato sauce, except with added eggs, which made it even nicer.

Of course, we also ordered the restaurant's famous Sweet Potato Balls.



Both my niece and nephew loved these potato balls, and they ate most of it!

The Black Peppered Bean Curd costs RM17.80, while both the Taiwan Chicken Chop and my Fresh Tomato Fried Egg with Fish Fillet cost RM19.80 each. The Sweet Potato Ball was priced at RM5.30. Add in a glass of watermelon milk at RM7.30, the total bill inclusive of 15% tax came up to RM80.50 which was quite reasonable, considering the size and quality of the food served.

The problem was, when I went to the counter to make payment, I discovered too late that they do not accept credit card. Only then, did I see the notice at the counter that reads "Cash Only". I wonder how many people really read that notice. I quickly searched my wallet but I could only find, at most RM30 inside. My niece and nephew had already ran out of the restaurant, with my sister running closely after them. Great!

I told the cashier I did not bring enough money and proceeded to complain as to why such a nice restaurant located at a prestigious shopping mall like The Gardens does not accept credit card.

To which she replied, "Sorry sir, our boss does not accept credit cards."

Which to me, was not much of an explanation. I think all those people queueing at the entrance must be looking at me. Was I supposed to feel embarrassed for not bringing enough cash? I didn't think so!

I continued to complain that even if they do not accept credit card, they should at least inform their customers about it when they enter the shop as not everyone who goes there read their "Cash Only" notice.

Luckily, my sister came back in time and offered to pay cash. In fact, she did not have enough cash too, and I had to take out RM10 from my wallet. Phew!

I wondered what would happen if my sister did not come back to pay. Would they follow me to the ATM machine to take out cash? What if I say I don't use ATM machines? What would they do? Isn't it absurd that they only accept cash? A restaurant in a high class shopping mall?

How Bolt Turned Into Beverly Hills ChiHuaHua

During the Christmas week last year, I had wanted to go and watch the Disney movie "Bolt" at GSC, 1Utama after reading the review by Pikeydude. It was also the school holidays at that time and I took the opportunity to bring along my sister, and her two children.

Ever since her husband died of liver cancer, my sister had been staying alone with her two kids. It's not often that I visit them, so I made use of that week's holidays to spend some time with them. And what better way than to go shopping and watching a movie with them!

I had booked for the Bolt (3D) movie at 2.30pm. We arrived at 1Utama at 10.30am sharp. I knew that if we had come any later, we may have trouble finding parking space. After collecting the tickets, we had a quick breakfast at Burger King, which was the children's favourite, not mine. I don't fancy fast food, but don't mind accompanying my niece and nephew there.



After breakfast, we went shopping. I did not manage to buy anything for myself, but ended up buying things for my niece and nephew. My sister asked me not to spoil them, but I was thinking, it's not every time I get to buy things for them, so I did not think I was spoiling them.

Anyway, we were so deep in our shopping spree, we did not notice it was already past 2.45pm. When my nephew reminded me about it, I was like, Oh my God! We are late! We are late! So we rushed from the Old Wing of 1Utama to the New Wing. If you've been to 1Utama, you'll know how far we had to run! We could easily beat those contestants from The Amazing Race, I tell you!

When we reached the entrance of the GSC cineplex, I was quite breathless! I did not know how the children fared. I think my sister almost fainted. I passed my tickets to the staff at the entrance, and she said we could not go in. I freezed. What?! Can you please repeat that?

She apologised and explained that the projector for the 3D movie had broken down. Oh, damn!

The children had waited for this movie. How could GSC do this to them? I could just see the look of disappointment on their faces.

The lady instructed me to get my refunds at the ticket counter and book for another movie. Well, what to do? I went to the counter and got my refunds, then asked if the movie Bolt were shown in other cinema halls. I was told there were no more 3D movie, but the normal (without 3D) one was available. Unfortunately, only front seat tickets were left, so I said forget it!

In the end, I bought the tickets to the movie "Beverly Hills ChiHuaHua". I was not particularly eager to watch this movie. But it was either this movie or nothing. The rest were simply not suitable for the kids, some with 18SG and 13PG ratings.



So did I survive the movie? Yes, I did. It was not that bad, depending on your preference. For dogs, that is. I am not going to review this movie - too lazy for that! Let's just say, if you love dogs, you will like this movie. If you hate dogs, you will hate the show. And if you are neutral like me, you will sort of feel entertained, but will not be in a hurry to include it in your top 10 movies of the year.

The children of course, enjoyed it thoroughly! It was after all a Disney movie and if they could not entertain children with their movies, then Disney must be a downright failure!

So did the children get to see Bolt in its 3D version? Yes, but not that day. It was on another day at a different location. But that will be in my next post, coming right up!

My One Day Trip To Genting Highlands (Part 2)

I'm more free today so I shall continue with my post on my one day trip to Genting Highlands on 30th December last year. If you have not read my earlier post, you may read it here.

After leaving the casino and taking a long walk outside to enjoy the cool mountain air, we called our two friends who were still enjoying themselves at the Outdoor Theme Park. We met them outside the Theme Park exit and asked if they wanted to join us for buffet dinner at Resort Hotel.

They agreed, but first, they wanted to sit Genting's new 4D Motion Master at the First World Indoor Theme Park. I was not too keen as I have experienced that before at Singapore's 4D Magix at Sentosa Island. Besides, I was getting really hungry! In the end, we decided to go for the Motion Master after dinner. So we walked over to Resort Hotel.

On the ground floor of the hotel, we saw this wonderful looking Christmas tree.



Don't you think it looks nice? Now if only 1Utama had used this idea of a Christmas tree!

It was slightly over 5.30pm when we reached the Resort Cafe. The buffet had already started. We were required to pay first before entering. Reminded me of Jogoya, where you pay first before you can eat.

This was a joint buffet between Resort Cafe and Restoran Kampong, meaning we could eat from both restaurants for the price of one. The restaurants were just next to each other and we could go from one to the other as they were connected inside. We decided to sit in Resort Cafe.



Look at those funny shaped lamps!



Now none of my friends were bloggers and none knew I am one. So they were rather curious as to why I needed to take photos of the food. Well, I have no plans to tell them for the time being, so I just cooked up a story that I take the photos so that I could remember what I ate just for the fun of it. Was that lame or what?

The food in Resort Cafe were mainly Chinese and Western.


Fried chicken wing, lala clams, vegetables, fried rice and lamb

The lala clams were especially delicious and I took lots of them! The chicken wings and fried rice were pretty good too.


Lamb, beef, more lala clams, pasta and fish

The lamb was quite good, but as you can see here, I continued to take more lala clams! I also had some mushroom soup and bread with New Zealand butter but forgot to take photos of those!

They also had chee cheong fun and porridge, but I didn't take any.

After that, I moved on to Restoran Kampong, which served mostly local Malay and Indian food.


Popadam, ?, beef, vegetables with eggs, nasi briyani

The popadam was good, but the food next to the popadam (I don't know what it's called - anyone knows?) was mouth watering! Took a few more pieces of that!

Then, I had the sup tomato or tomato soup which was delicious!



There were some Malays dishes which I did not try, although my friends did. I was more interested in the fried stuffs and kueh.



I took the pisang goreng (fried banana), nangka goreng (fried jackfruit), fried sweet potato and kueh koci. Frankly speaking, the fried banana and fried jackfruit were big letdowns. They tasted awful! The fried sweet potato, on the other hand, was excellent! Must have been done by different cooks, I think!

Since I have sweet tooth, the kueh koci with generous amount of grated coconuts inside, tasted great!

I tried this corn dessert and loved it as I could taste a hint of gula melaka in it.



But this pengat nangka (jackfruit dessert) was way too sweet even for a sweet tooth like me! I wondered if they had accidently poured in too much sugar! It was so sickeningly sweet I had to add in some water from my drinking glass. After I added the water, the dessert tasted perfect!



There were no cakes here, which was not surprising, considering this was more of a Malay and Indian restaurant than a Western. But there were lots of Malay kueh, which I shared with my friends. Forgot to take photos of those!

After that, I went back to Resort Cafe to try their salads.



There were lots of varieties of vegetables, but surprisingly I could not find any salad dressings like thousand island sauce or mayonnaise or anything like that! Instead, they gave us peanut sauce (which is actually for satay dips!), Thai chili sauce and cranberry sauce - all of which was not suited for the salad! In the end, I chose the peanut sauce and cranberry sauce. I just found it a bit weird to dip the vegetables into the peanut sauce, but it was not too bad, actually!

By the time we had our fill, it was already close to 9pm. My two friends, who were like small kids (hope they will never get to read this! Haha!) wanted to try the 4D Motion Master. I was too full to sit the Motion Master so I declined to join them. Luckily, my friend who was with me the whole day decided to accompany me instead of joining them!

We walked around a little bit more until my two friends had satisfied themselves with the Motion Master ride. We then decided to have a drink at Starbucks in First World Hotel.

Actually this was the part of the trip that I enjoyed most! Sitting at the outdoor part of Starbucks, chit chatting with my group of friends, sipping coffee and breathing in the cool, mountain air was the single most enjoyable part of this whole trip! I don't need the casino and the theme parks to give me any thrills. Maybe I'm getting older - I don't know : )

Anyway, I took these two photos outside Starbucks cafe, in front of the taxi stand. I thought the ceilings looked beautiful, though I think my camera phone did not do any justice to it.





We could have just sat there until dawn, but two of my friends needed to be up early the next morning, so we decided to leave at 11pm. Which was not a very good move.

This is the first time I drive down from Genting Highlands at night. The weather was misty and what was worse, there were no road lights. I was not sure whether there were really no road lights or there were no electricity, because as I drove down the mountain road, it was completely dark. I could not see a thing in front of me!

I've travelled down the Genting road at night before in a car driven by my friend, but I don't recall it was ever this dark. My friend sitting next to me was like, Oh my God, how are we going to drive in this condition? I switched to second gear and drove very slowly. I could make faint outlines of the road ahead of me. I did not know how long I could continue like this - I just hoped that I do not go off the edge!

Luckily, my other friends in the other car were behind me and the light from their car helped us to see more clearly. After some time, there were reflective arrow signboards and cats' eyes on the road which made it easier to drive. I heaved a sigh of relief. I didn't know driving down from Genting Highlands at night would be an adventure in itself!

If my friends did not have to be back in KL the next day, we would have stayed up there at the Starbucks Cafe till the next morning before driving down in daylight. It would have been easier and safer to drive in the morning.

Well, I would definitely go Genting Highlands again - not for the casino, or the theme parks - but just to chill out at Starbucks Cafe or any other outdoor cafes to catch up with friends while enjoying the cool mountain air.