A walk to remember?

The Penang Starwalk was held on the 17th of September this year. So I guess it's time I wrote about it!

The week before the walk, we had to go and collect our goodies at Penang Times Square. (we paid RM10 to participate) Here's what we received:

t-shirt

food

sunblock, shampoo, and medical aid (in case we get injured from too much walking? lol)

coupons

and a walker's guide

While walking we came across some wire art (I call it wire art but it's more like steel bars)

See how high up this one was

tok-tok mee seller

We received wristbands (which were actually hairbands) at the starting point and at another checkpoint.

We could participate in the lucky draw only if we had both bands at the end of the walk. (but they ran out of hairbands so some people only had one. So I guess everyone got to participate in the lucky draw. Not that it mattered much to me, I'm never lucky in these circumstances :P )

We also passed by one of the famous wall paintings. There were too many people posing with it, we didn't even bother.

I was lucky enough to get this photo without anyone there.

Then I saw this cute little Doraemon bag :P

And then...the finish line.

After 6km and 2 hours.

That wraps up the news on Starwalk; there'll be more photos of the wire art and wall paintings...but that'll have to wait a bit. :P

Snake fruit

Do you know this fruit?

A friend gave it to me, saying that it was from Sarawak. (though I later found out that it can be found in Peninsula Malaysia as well) When I first saw it, I exclaimed, "It's like a snake!" And no kidding, it really is called snake fruit. (buah salak in Malay)

This is what it looked like, being peeled:

There were three lobes inside, this being the largest (there were two big and one small):

I didn't like the taste at all...I'm not sure whether it was because it wasn't ripe enough (how do you know whether it's ripe enough?) Anyway it was a bit sour, a bit...strange (haha, not really sure how to describe it), and it left a rather dry aftertaste in my mouth (the kind you get after eating pisang tali, which is why I don't eat that particular variety of banana)

So, I guess I won't be buying this. :P

Company annual dinner

I've been a little lazy lately, which is why there have been no updates here.

Last night was our company's annual dinner, so here's just a photo of my table (without me)

This was in Vistana Hotel's ballroom.


Photos of me will have to wait till I get them from other people. (or maybe I won't post them :P )

Another post coming right up!

Queen of hearts

It rained really heavily last night and this morning...and there was a massive traffic jam on the way to work. So for the first time, I was still in my car listening to the radio after 9am. Turns out that Lite.fm plays old Billboard chart songs at that time. I heard this song by Juice Newton this morning, really catchy, upbeat tune: Queen of Hearts.



Hope you like it... I love it! :D

Of not thinking an ad through

There's a new ad on breast cancer (by Wacoal) on the radio. It starts by saying, "There are some things that are meant to be in pairs. To lose one of them would be devastating." (or some word like that, I can't remember exactly) And it goes on to name those "things": "your parents, your other half, your breasts".

I feel that they really did not proofread this ad properly. Firstly: To lose one of them would be devastating? So to lose both would be okay? That's what the ad implies... And secondly: Your other half? That is not meant to be in pairs, it's only one person. *sigh* Some people would say that I am being nitpicky again...but really, when you write something that is going to be broadcast nationwide, you should at least make an effort to check it properly...

But then, maybe 90% of the target audience wouldn't be listening properly, anyway... :P

I don't want you

Me: Come, I'll play with you.
Him: I don't want you.
:'(

He wanted his dad. :P

Wrong pronunciation

Last night somehow we got to talking about different names for meats.

WW said, "Lembu is mutton right?"

I burst out laughing and told him, "Lembu is beef!"

He said, "Oh yeah, that was what I wanted to say. Wrong pronunciation."

I just started laughing hysterically...and I thought, yeah, I've got to blog about this.

My phone knows that I'm an engineer

You know the T9 input on mobile phones? The predictive input where you tap each key only once and the phone guesses the word you want to write.

Usually when the keys I hit have more than one option, if I use a certain word more often, after a few times that particular word will be the first one to come up when I type those keys again.

Today I was typing out an sms and I wanted to write "biscuits". The first word my phone suggested was "circuits". (the second was "biscuits") But the thing is, I don't think I've typed either one of those words into my phone before. And isn't "biscuits" a more commonly used word than "circuits"? For the average person, I mean.

So I can't think of any reason why my phone suggested "circuits" to me...unless if it knows what I do for a living. :P

You choose lah!

The other day we went to a porridge/mixed rice place for lunch. We decided to share the dishes, and two of us went to select them. We wanted one vegetable dish, and after staring at the available dishes for a while, I said to my friend, "You choose lah!"

And she went for the bitter gourd.

I went "No no no, anything but that." (No, I do not like bitter gourd...it's bitter!) So she said, "You choose lah!" I thought for a while...and I decided on the brinjals.

It was her turn to go "No..."

What are the odds of each of us choosing the exact thing that the other doesn't eat?? Must be our lucky day. Haha...

Anyway, we ended up with long beans.

Be nice, it confuses people

Who was it who said "Be nice, it confuses people"? I remember it being the title of a music album.

Anyway. In my part of the office there are two air-cons. One day only one of them was switched on. My colleague, whose seat was more in the direction of the other air-con, remarked, "Isn't this air-con switched on? No wonder it's feeling a little stuffy today!" I didn't feel it because my seat was directly in the air flow of the first air-con (the one that was switched on), and I said so.

Now his seat is in a corner...whereas I was right at the entrance (bad seat! Everyone sees you when they walk past. And your PC screen, especially. :P ) So I went off to get the air-con remote control, to switch it on. (also because I wasn't in the middle of anything especially urgent) Oh yeah, this is where I should explain that the remote control is shared with another part of the office.

As I walked off, he said something...I guess he was going to say that he would go himself (since he was the one feeling hot). But seeing that I was already halfway to the remote control (it's not really that far away...6 metres, maybe?) when I turned around, he said, "Ok ok, you go..."

And when I came back with the remote control, he said that after switching on the air-con he would go and put it back. Haha...


A search found me the album I was talking about...it's actually Smile... It Confuses People and it's by Sandi Thom. I think I've only heard one of her songs...when I was in France listening to UK radio: I wish I was a punk rocker. (oh, I miss listening to that, there are some gems to discover, like this other song by Mumford and Sons that I will embed below)  I quite like it... so here it is. (the music video is blocked in Malaysia, so here's a lyric video)



And here is Mumford and Sons' The Cave.