A White (and red too) Wedding Part 2

So 1 week post-Kampar dinner and there I was in KL for the wedding ceremony of my dear cousin. That is, after driving there. Yup, 200+ kilometers, 4 1/2 hours, all me. Well mum gave a few direction pointers too. We took the coastal road, which as the name might suggest, runs along the west coast, which is slightly slower, but much cheaper since we dont have to pay to use the North-South Expressway. Kinda ridiculous how some of the long, smooth straights somewhere along Pasir Panjang are limited to 60kph. =/  What became even more ridiculous was when we got off the Guthrie Highway (part of the coastal road route) and entered Sungai Buloh, where traffic jams already started. We slowly made our way out of Sg. Buloh towards Puchong where the jams got even worse, so did the weather. Black skies, thunderbolts shooting down, big fat rain drops smashing (well not literally @.@) on cars and motorcyclists, bumper-to-bumper traffic.

Kids, always plan your trips to avoid reaching any part of KL around 4-5-6pm. Failure to do so will result in you going slower than walking.

Never have I driven in such treacherous conditions, and to think I'm still under P-license. I nearly rear-ended a Waja a few times because of the jam, trying not to let any of these mad KL drivers cutting in at the smallest of gaps. Being a passenger and a driver in KL are two worlds apart for sure.



Anyway with that episode over, we had a family dinner at my cousin's house in Puchong, catering, ice kacang and all, to bring up the cheerful atmosphere for the wedding the next day.

And yes, a cheerful one indeed it was. Here are the videos for your viewing pleasure~ :)

 

A White Wedding Part 1

Ah, weddings. Devotion of your life to that special somebody you just cant live without. What better time to wed than on Christmas Day. What better time for me to attend than after SPM. :D

The week before was the wedding reception dinner for the bride's family. It was in Kampar's Kam Yin Restaurant (It has the best washrooms!! But more on that later) So, well, we just sat and ate, took plentiful photos, had a round of YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMM SENG, and watched a middle aged lady and a middle aged man dance like drunks on stage. It was a nice dinner nonetheless~

Fishing

I meant to blog about fishing last week but then I sort of, well, forgot about it. And then a wedding came in between.

So yeah, last Thursday my friend Hon Tjiun came back from Singapore and took me fishing at Lumut. Never tried it before, and never saw it as something I'd do because it looked kinda boring just sitting in a boat (or standing by the water) waiting for fish to bite a piece of worm.

So after setting up our rods and bait (Live worms. Big fat juicy ones. And we cut them into smaller bits because the fish there were small. Then we put them on the hooks, wriggling and slimy, with our bare hands), we cast the lines out into the water. I sucked at first, because my line kept flying sideways rather than straight out, but eventually I got the hang of it.

It doesnt take long to wait for the fish to bite actually (or depending on the area I suppose), I could feel them nibbling and tugging the bait within seconds. So then I pulled back the rod, trying to hook the fish (did this many times throughout the day), but most of the time I couldnt actually catch them. They take a quick nibble and then swim away, then turn around, nibble some more, and repeat until the bait on my hook was completely eaten away.

So when I was reeling in the line to check if my bait was still there, I saw something small and white drawing closer towards me. I lifted it out of the water and............

My first fish!!!!!!!! *Eyes glimmer*

So then we went on for about an hour and a half, Hon Tjiun caught about 3-4 fish, I hooked another one (but sadly just at the edge of the water it managed to wriggle free). Maybe it's not the most exciting of activities, but fishing isnt that bad at all. :)

Top 5: Favourite People

5. Jackie Chan

He does his own movie stunts. He kicks ass without the need for special effects; just his hands, legs, brooms, chairs, tables, or whatever he can get his hands on. No hidden ropes, lots of real (a few serious and even life threatening) injuries. A master of mixing up action, comedy and drama in his movies, and not forgetting he's not too shabby a singer too. Did I mention he had a bespoke Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 made specially for him?

4. The Stig

Some say, his crotch develops it's own gravitational field, and some say he's confused by camels. All we know is, he's the lovable, silent thing/human/bionic human/biological experiment that is what makes Top Gear (and Jeremy Clarkson's DVDs) all the more fun to watch and laugh about. And he does a blimey good job throwing just about every single supercar on Earth around for us petrol heads to watch and enjoy. Then he walks off in the direction of the South Pole.

3. Steven Gerrard

The captain of Liverpool FC, the only other man aside from Michael Owen who got me into football. But then Owen left The Kop and now joins arch rivals Manchester United. Gerro here however stayed on, and in fact Liverpool has been the one and only football club he's played for. Since being appointed captain in 2003, he has led Liverpool to:

1 UEFA Champions League title (2004-2005)

1 UEFA Super Cup title (2005-2006)

1 FA Cup title (2005-2006)

1 FA Community Shield title (2006-2007)

Runners up in the Premier League, Champions League, FIFA Club World Cup and Football League Cup

This man speaks volumes of loyalty, leadership and cracking good football, especially that right leg of his which doubles as a pile driver.

2. Datuk Lee Chong Wei

Ah yes, our own national hero. Although he may not have netted the World Championship or Olympic gold medal, you cant deny that he's the best badminton player we've ever had, the first ever to win Olympic silver, along with some 30 other victories in international badminton championships. Truly an icon we can all be proud of, but now one wonders what will happen after he retires...

1. Michael Jackson

Has any other artist in history written such moving lyrics like these

I see the kids in the streets, with not enough to eat; who am I to be blind, pretending not to see them weep?

If you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and make that change

Did you ever stop to notice all the children dead from war; did you ever stop to notice the crying Earth, the weeping shores?

There are people dying; if you care enough for the living, make a better place for you and for me

and also catchy ones such as these

You try to scream but terror takes the sound before you make it; you start to freeze as horror looks you right between the eyes, you're paralyzed

You're playin' with your life, this ain't no truth or dare; they'll kick you then they beat you, then they'll tell you it's fair 

Relax your mind, lay back and groove with mine; you gotta feel the heat, and we can ride the boogie, share that beat of love

 Yes, he is the King of Pop, one of the very few epitomes of the music industry, he is simply irreplaceable. He's also one with a charitable heart, and as you surely have heard from some of his songs, he cares about the world. A humanitarian, a man of integrity and sensitivity, as Jane Elizabeth Taylor described him. But we all will always know, love and remember him as perhaps the ultimate entertainer the world has ever seen. Nuff said.

Top 5: Favourite video games

Yeah I'm a boy, is playing video games so surprising? Okay maybe you will be surprised to find that there are no new-gen games here, well sorreyh for not being rich enough to afford a PS3/Xbox 360/Nintendo Wii/powerful enough computer. Anyway....

5. F.E.A.R

The front cover for the game is scary enough, wait till you play it. You play as a point man given the task to eliminate a telepathic commander, however the detailed plot of this game is so twisted and complex I cant possibly summarise it. Nonetheless, it's the first ever game that genuinely scared the shit out of me (the Fatal Frame series looks even scarier, but I havent been able to grab hold of it) with it's use of dark, quiet settings, elements of surprise and horror, and a little girl named Alma to make your hairs stand on edge. It's got some shooting action too, but it's the fear factor that puts it up here.

4. Burnout Revenge

An arcade racer where you race cars, smash your opponents off the road, create carnage in it's trademark Crash Mode in which you cause as much damage as possible by crashing (and even exploding) your vehicle at busy streets and intersections. You can even ram same-way traffic into opponents (the only game in the entire series to have this feature, which is a big bonus since I hit them a lot), and there are heaps of ultra-sleek cars to unlock (and of course, CRASH!!!) This game is more fun than 2 barrels of monkeys! 

3. God Of War 2

The sequel to the first G.o.W game, Kratos seeks revenge on the gods that have shunned and Zeus who betrayed him. An excellent mix of action, adventure, puzzle solving, and plot, with some cool-ass weapons and attacks and boss battles and and and its just an awesome game!!!!

2. Gran Turismo 2

Ahh... memories... The first ever game that I played, and very well the game that gave such a big and early boost to my automotive endeavours. Hundreds of cars, a wide mix of real and artificial tracks, the ability (the only game in the series too if I'm not mistaken) to upgrade your standard road car into a race car by means of racing body kits and paint schemes, although performance parts sold separately. I really liked that feature, even if current games let you fully customize your ride to make it look like your own. And this game came out in 1999. Great nostalgia.

1. Shadow Of The Colossus

Quite literally a David vs Goliath game. You play Wander, a young man who is on a mission to revive a young girl named Mono (wife, girlfriend, sister, it's not known in the game) who was sacrificed due to having a cursed destiny. To do that, he has to slay 16 behemoths called Colossi as instructed by Dormin, a bodiless entity. *Spoiler alert* Sadly however at the end of the game, Wander was sacrificed, but Mono was resurrected. 

Maybe by telling it like this the game doesnt seem interesting, but when I played it, it was simply captivating, making me want to keep on playing non-stop. The colossi gradually get harder, yet more interesting to defeat, the use of strategy and your surroundings becomes more and more vital, as some of them tend to attack. Having to search for the colossi is already an adventure in itself, and even though most of the plot unfolds only at the beginning and end of the game, the way the story is presented is just absolutely breathtaking, despite being rather short and simple. A case of quality over quantity. A scoop of Hagen Dazs over a tub of Walls ice-cream. The soundtrack is truly epic, so is the graphics. The one and only game where the words "amazing" and "beautiful" don't quite do it justice.

So close...

 Games that just barely missed out on the top 5, but deserve mentioning:

Front Mission 4

 In the year 2096, there are 2 separate incidences of unrest going on; one in Venezuela and the other in Europe. The 2 main characters from both events eventually come together as they battle their way to seek justice using giant weaponised piloted-machines called wanzers. Equip your wanzers with giant shotguns, rifles and missile launchers, personalise them with an array of colours, and even setup their computers to give you that winning edge in battle. Awesome orchestral music is a nice touch. Turn-based fighting games arent usually as exciting as real-time ones, but this one's an exception.

Kingdom Hearts 2

 Now, this is a really really REALLY big game. The storyline is much longer than FEAR's (although it is very interesting if you manage to keep up with it), but to put it simply, you and your Disney (yes, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, etc) sidekicks are out to save the universe from darkness and evil. A lot of fighting, a lot of puzzles, a lot of accessorising for your characters, a lot of characters in itself, the list just goes on. Very in-depth, very immersive, and despite it's looks as if it's meant for kids, teens will be just as engrossed in it as well. As I type this I begin to wonder why it's not in the top 5..... Hmm.

Black 

 A first person shooter which has you hunting down a terrorist leader. Although the plot (for me) was rather hard to follow (I probably didnt follow it at all!), the intensive gunfights are sure to keep you on your toes.

Resident Evil 4

You play Leon, a US Secret Service recruit sent to rescue the President's daughter who has been kidnapped. Lots of blood, gore, zombies, monsters and puzzles await you. Never have I played a game that sets your heart racing and your brain working to complete it. Yes, it is scary with the zombies and all, but it wont scare the pants off you like F.E.A.R does. It's more adventure-ish, but still a good game nonetheless.

Top 5: Most Awesome Looking Roadcars

Want some automotive eye-candy? Here are my top picks:

5. Lamborghini Murcielago LP670SV

A snarling front bumper, a giant rear wing where you can hang your laundry, and an exhaust as big as a tunnel. The maddest looking modern Raging Bull out there.

4. Nissan Skyline GTR R34

Now, I must stress that it's only a stock, unmodified R34 that looks good, simply because almost every unit in existance must have some sort of external modification done to it; wild paint jobs, giant rear wings, radical bodykits, the like. This makes a stock R34 have that special rarity in its visual appeal. 

It's like a fine wine while others are a cocktail margarita mix. Lots of visual OOMPH,  but just not quite satisfying. A stock one is clean and pure. I like that. Mmmm...

3. Dodge Viper GTS

The first car I ever fell in love with. Need I say more?

2. Ferrari F40

A no-nonsense supercar, with strings as door handles, paint thin enough to see through to the body panels underneath, and the first road car (correct me if I'm wrong) to use carbon fiber in it's body, all in the name of automotive supremacy. It's design and styling alone deserves major respect, looking every bit the part of the first road car to reach 200mph/320kph.

1. Lamborghini Diablo SE30

This model in particular was built to commemorate Lamborghini's 30th anniversary. There's always something about 1990s supercars that have a magical appealing factor that modern ones dont. Is it the flip up headlights? Or the rounded rear lights? Or the massive rear wings? Whatever it is, the Diablo SE30, only available in this metallic purple (and strangely rather good looking) colour, is just simply hamana-hamana-hamana-hamana-hamana....