I am taking a brief break from work, and here's one of those lazy photo updates.

Heavy rain on the 1st day we went to the mining pool.

Nessa posing like a peacock after our breakfast at an old Chinese kopitiam (just across the road from the kopitiam where Ipoh white coffee originated from).

Honey naan. Was goooood. Had tandoori chicken with it.

Best caramel custard, EVARRRR! At a kopitiam that also does great banana leaf lunch.

Crucio eats more than the other 5 cats around the house.

I believe animals have soulmates. Bising (cat in foreground of pic) had one, another cat. Then his soulmate was killed by a dog. He used to live up to his name, but I've never heard him meow again ever since.

 

At the mining pool, Nessa before diving in.

 Water feels great.

 Oh, how'd this end up here? I was at Boathouse with some friends, and Nish said the sketch looked like Lennon.

I miss my hippie pants too

The boys after dippin in the mining pool

:D

Nessa's guinea pig. Whiniest bugger ever. If it thinks you're having food, it'll be non-stop squeaking till you bribe it into silence.

Aunt Lea's wild rice salad. Twas awesome.

I heard Bigeikoh is excellent.

Kakiseni listing: Bigeikoh

Only till Saturday.

Some hounds are such dogs.

Just came back from dipping in the mining pool / dinner in Gopeng's jungles.

Fooling around in front of the Mac

I'm back in Ipoh for a few days to see Nessa. She's back in Malaysia to sign some papers (she's selling the gym), and pack up her stuff - her family's off to Australia.

Yesterday, we had awesome meals, drove up (and down) a slippery mud slope in a jeep, middle of a thunderstorm, and went to our favourite secret spot. It feels like an adventure, crashing through where there's no path (this is the first time we didn't trek, due to the heavy rain). I feel kinda guilty about the plants - all weeds, lalang stuff, but still.

I think I've found the best place in Ipoh - and it's a mining pool. I'll post up pictures next time. Nessa, me - on a ledge, jumping off into the air, that gap in time before we hit the water. We didn't know how deep the water would be where we jumped, but it turned out perfect.

Two seconds before I launched myself into the air, I saw a branch growing out of my target area - I jumped a foot to the left of it, was fine . Before that, jumping into the mining pool involved scaling the wall - and Nessa's grabbed snake skin in a crevice on the way up before. Not that there seems to be anything in the water, though we keep expecting a naga ala Tasek Chini to emerge.

Since it was storming while we were diving, we didn't stay too long. Swimming in a huge pool with lightning all around you can be intimidating (and foolish ).

She'll only be here till Thursday. It's been good so far, hanging out. Happy times! This house doesn't look like it'll be empty in a few days. It'll never be the same again, hanging out in Ipoh. But life's like that, things change. I think it's for the better, and we've already planned our meetups for the next year.

In the past, you've had to contact me to set your own custom domain. This is no longer the case - I've added a new page in the control panel (Settings > Set Custom Domain) which lets you set your own domain name. I've updated the documentation page with instructions on how to set-up your Tabulas to use a domain name.

In the spirit of one-upping each other; Suan, your zoom may be better than my zoom, but my mouse is bigger than your mouse. So much bigger.

And by the way - Lainie has new MacBook Pro. Threats of robbery from housemates, fellow bloggers and (former) friends alike.

An announcement for those of us who go to Attic for what it has -  Luna the bartender, her mix of cocktails, the art, the parties (the many lesbian ones!), and of course, the live music performances.

You should go tonight. It's Attic's farewell pow-wow. If I recall correctly, they'd been running into licensing issues for their live performances, and who can imagine Attic without the music?

Attic has plans for a new location, but tonight's your last chance to have some of the familiar on Jalan Bangkung, including bitching on the balcony about how tiny it is.

The shameless amount of "accidental" eavesdropping, groping, and feet-crushing that has gone on there, whoever takes over the space will have to exorcise the balcony.

This is part of the invite in the mail:

Bringing back live performances!

Bringing forth a new cocktail simply named POW WOW!

Be partying on till the sun comes up! (We ain't kidding folks)

Be cam whoring the whole night!

 As for the music, Zalina Lee and Nish Tham will be performing tonight. I got a chance to eavesdrop on their set list, which promises to be really fun(ny).

I listened in while they were planning it over Moonshine's 3rd Anniversary (congratulations Reza!). So. As with all conversations that involve Zal -

I didn't hear anything

I don't remember anything.

 and it'd better stay that way if I know what's good for me.

Still, she'll be trying something............interesting. If you're coming to Attic, I'll see you tonight.

 

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I'm digging my new job at Nut Graph. Particularly how it freaks friends out that I have a job that requires my presence in an office.

The day before I got some calls from concerned friends, telling me the Inspector General of Police released a statement that the recent tomboy-fatwa protests were a threat to national security (read: ISA). Yeah great, the IGP thinks a dozen of us kids are going to bring the country down. Just fabulous.

As long as I'm paying RM80 a month for a private security firm to guard the street I live on, I'm going to be very ticked off about all the politics our police force plays. Like we have no shortage of robbery, break-in and snatch thief cases for them to investigate?

I told my friends I didn't have the time to worry - because unless the police are knocking on my door, I have a more immediate pile of deadlines to worry about. I can't focus on so many things at a go, and yknow, that pile of deadlines gets higher if I don't work.

This is not the same as saying I would not be worried if I was detained. Even if I do bitch about I, I enjoy the press of the people (and people of the press?) around me.

I told my colleagues about the IGP's announcement, and Zedeck was like "Yeah, we know. We carried the news on the website".

I mean, I only work for a website that uploads the news, and I only bloody read plenty of the stuff before they get published. But yeah, totally missed that. My bad.

KUALA LUMPUR, 13 Nov 2008: Inspector General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Musa Hassan today warned certain non-Muslim non-government organisations (NGOs) to stop challenging the National Fatwa Council's ruling that tomboyism was haram.

He said such action could affect national security and trigger retaliation among Muslims.

"I'm warning them and will take stern action as it involves national security," he said

From IGP warns NGOs against challenging fatwa.

Lainie: So if I can't come for work because I'm detained, can I call that an MC?

Cindy: No, you're not sick, you're just detained! (laughs)

Lainie: .......

Anyway, calling Katagender and Food Not Bombs non-Muslim NGOs doesn't seem accurate. We are also, for example, non-Christian, non-Buddhist, non-Taoist, non-Hindu, non-Sikh. People familiar with Food Not Bombs will be in a better position to notice why that statement (inaccurately) presumes a lot about the members.

As for Katagender? Even Katagender people don't know who's in Katagender.

Still, he is right about one thing. KG and FNB are non-Muslim NGOs. Otherwise our names would sound something like Sisters in Isl....oh wait. 

 

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The laptop I am blogging on crashed twice (all I did was type.....). Which is why I need a new laptop.

I am switching from PC to Mac. 99.9% chance.

I will be heading over to the Mac Discovery week in Pavilion. There'll also be performances:

Otam (Sat, 15 Nov 2008 @ 4.15pm)

Paolo Delfino (Sun, 16 Nov 2008 @ 3.30pm)

Yuna (Sun, 16 Nov 2008 @ 4.15pm)

Couple (Sun, 16 Nov 2008 @ 5.00pm)

So, plenty of reasons to be there . I hope the new Macbook Pro is in KL. Last I checked, Machines was saying they were 1) waiting for SIRIM to approve the laptops, and 2) encountering shipping problems. As for Apple Premium Reseller EpiCentre, they were shipping them over from Singapore but didn't have the model I want (Macbook Pro, 2.53GHZ).

And otherwise, there's also the Comic Fiesta Anime Comic Fair happening in Times Square Sunway,Saturday and Sunday. I need to stop mixing up my subscriber lists. I hope it'll be awesome

 

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Update: Status of Macbook Pros in Malaysia.

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Machines website - no stock of the new Macbook Pros.

Monthly promotions are the best reason to purchase from them (November, third generation iPod nanos or 4G extra RAM with purchase of MBP and Applecare).

Decent website, but calling-in is usually a pain.

 

EpiCentre website - Macbook Pros are available, but not the 2.53Ghz version.

Apparently, 2.53 is stuck in customs. Which means it could take fricking forever. The person I called made a guess that it should take about another 2 weeks.

Mediocre monthly promotions (prepare to go WOW at the.....laptop sleeve. And thumb drive. Or buy a MAC and get....a complimentary GSC movie voucher). I mean, seriously people, buck up. Pendrives are the default "marketing people are too lazy to think this year" gift in office parties.

Unhelpful website, but good customer service if you call.

[ Edit ]

I went for the fair they had at Pavilion over the weekend. Turns out the information I got over the phone is different from what I get at the shop.

I now have the Macbook Pro I want, and guess what - the promo was exactly the same as Machines. 4G iPod nano. Along with keyboard protector, laptop sleeve. 

The staff at EpiCentre speak a lot better than they do at Machines, but they screw up information sometimes too. Understandable, but it just goes to show they need a website that better states the kind of promotions they have. Too many misunderstandings.

 

Apple Malaysia website - Macbook Pros are available, along with everything else

The promotion is an exclusive gift - The FUGLY PURPUR TSHIRT giveaway, order now and get one! Only available in size Large!

Best website! WTF-est promo of the three! It's almost like they're saying "purchase your Apple products from a reseller".