EID FITRI 09/1430 Hijrah

Just a short note.

Will be busy the whole day with prayers, visits and eating. Food, food and more food. Much like Christmas in other part of the world.

So, have a great EID FITRI. Wherever you are.

 

Some of the food that we will meet (and eat)

Have a safe journey home (and back)

Today is the final day of Ramadhan and tomorrow will be a grand celebration day for Muslims all over the world. We have fasted for 29 days and when we break fast today, that will be 30 days of fasting from dawn till dusk.

Eid Fitri is a celebration of our triumph in completing our fasting during Ramadhan. It is a 'must-do' celebration that we are disallowed from fasting.

And as today is the first day of a very long weekend, here in Malaysia (4 days), most will be driving off somewhere, either to be with families, visiting friends and maybe going on holiday. So, there will be a lot of cars on the road. A lot of it.

So, as accidents are prone to happen at these times, be extra careful, lower down your speed and remember your love ones. No matter how far the journey is, if you are tired, have a rest. No point in not reaching your destination.

So, again, HAVE A SAFE HOLIDAY. Anywhere you are.

 

Do not be another statistic

Men never mature

Heard one caller called a radio station the other day and as the topic was about women dating men younger than them, she exclaimed "Do not date younger men!". When asked why, she simply said "They are so immature". Then she said that she marries someone who is 3 years older than her.

I think she need a reality check. The radio announcers should have asked her whether that husband of hers is a real matured man or just as immature as any other men? Did he sulk if scolded or did he know where he stands in life? Does he pick up after he discarded his clothing? Does he helped around the house?

Just to make a point, most men don't do all this. And what does this falls under?

Yes, ladies. We never mature. We are all just big boys who have grown in size but we will always be boys, nonetheless. Whatever our age. 

Just check out that sulking old men whom you call your father.

Gay partner

With no malicious intent (which can always be construed whether I say this or not), I call any two guys or gals, who seem to be always together at events or whatever, when I refer to his or her other half, asking about the other person, I will always say "Hey man! Where is that gay partner of yours?".

Some will play ball and answer it good naturedly but some do take offense of this and protest vehemently that they are not gay and they are not a partner. I usually just smile back and ask back, "If you are not gay, and is comfortable with your sexuality, what is the problem? Will girls suddenly wouldn't like you when they heard me saying you have a gay partner.

As this is Malaysia and last I heard, there are still more heterosexual than homosexual (if what I know is correct) and I bet all women love to 'turn' any one of those handsome homosexual into a red blood heterosexual male. Especially in view of most men being too crude for their taste.

Hey, even I have a few 'gay partner' that my wife even mentioned that I always drive by a house of one of this guy I always hangs out with so that I might into him, just like a lover driving past his or her lover's house.

This note is more biased towards gay as in between men and men as women are more intimate with each other even with their best friend in contrast with men.

 

Gay partners of yesteryears

How far would you go to mend a broken heart

I was having my iftar meal at the Curve with the wife last week when I saw a familiar face, eating alone. I was a bit unsure whether it was the right person but when he passed my table, I said his name and when he turned, I knew that it was a client/friend whom I have not met for nearly 4 years. I sent him Eid Fitri card every year but it was always returned. I got my answer as to why that happened then.

He no longer owns the company which I dealt with 4 years ago. He has sold his share and he has actually moved to Vietnam. He is a through and through Malaysian and that prompted my wife and I to ask why did he do that? Moving to a country which has nothing to do with him. He is a Malay who was born in Brunei with a mix of Chinese blood.

The answer was easy enough as we touched a bit on his beautiful house in an expensive 'village' area just near the place I met him, called Kg. Sg. Penchala. I mentioned this to my wife while explaining to her who this man is. He smiled and then said, he is divorced from that wife and gave her the house with everything in it. Then it hit us, he is based in Vietnam (with a Briton as his wife) as he is nursing a broken heart and building a new life (he did affirmed this as the conversation progressed).

Just out of curiosity, as I realise Vietnam is not that far from Malaysia and is nowadays accessible, how far would one go to nurse a broken heart? Some just go on with their life, picking up the pieces in the same town. Some, like my friend, travel hundreds of mile, building a new career and even selling of everything (he has nothing in Malaysia anymore).

If it was you?

This is the real mobile broadband

Nowadays, when you subscribed to mobile broadband, you will receive a USB stick which you can put into your laptop or even desktop and get connected to the internet. However, you may sometimes reach places where there might not have connection. So, you have to move around. There is even a telecommunication company which offer these mobile broadband which enable you to create wifi within a certain radius. Wouldn't it be wonderful if you can create a broadband wifi area on the move anywhere you go. I thought this was not possible yet.

Then I meet this car :

 

  

That is one big USB stick on top of the taxi. Maybe the passengers can use the wifi it generates

What is wrong with this picture?

I have received a few emails and even seen it in a few blogpost. I always thought these pictures are all doctored pictures which used photoshop or all the other modern technology altering the real image. Then, I saw this cactus in front of my house naturally looking a bit like human's anatomy. Maybe nature do have a sense of humor...

 

  

What do you think? Coincidence?

Gamers are too nauseating to be enjoyed

I got another free tickets to watch a movie called Gamers on Wednesday thanks to Advertlets. I asked for it when they announced in their website they have free tickets to give and if one would want it, we only needed to send an email. I did and I clinched two tickets.

It was actually a great idea of a film. Real life gamers controlling their own people who will do their bidding (this can be seen in the trailer). If your avatar is dead, he or she is dead for real. The war scenarios were simulated and the greatest of them all was Gerard Butler (yes, I watched 2 of his movies back to back and I still think he is fat) who nearly won everything. All the avatars were convicted felons and if they won 30 rounds, they will be pardoned.

What Kable (Butler's character) wanted to do was to get back to his wife and daughter. Of course, it was not easy. With the help of his gamer and a few revolutionary cyber-fighter, he did. And that is the whole story.

Great story right?

Except that the cameras were too close to the characters and the movements might make you sick. It may even makes you want to leave the cinema (which is not good for a movie). Other than that, the scissor-happy censor board of Malaysia made the whole story a bit incomprehensible, which come to think of it I can't blame them as there were episodes which were too much even for a movie that violent. And even then I managed to see 2 or 3 scenes where a full breast and sexual acts were displayed.

As I said, great storyline, bad execution...

Movie reviews are to be read and not trusted

I have this one moment in my life where I always read reviews and then determine whether I like a movie or not. Without even watching the movie itself. I have faith with the movie reviewers then like all those devotees of cults. I just couldn't bring myself to watch a movie which was said to be bad or too dull or just didn't meet the reviewer approval.

Not anymore.

After a few years, I realised, you have to watch a movie and experience being in a cinema to experience the movie as a whole. Trailers and all those teasers that have all the crash, boom and bang, do not make a summer blockbuster as enjoyable as it should.

Cases in point. I think if I need to choose between Transformers 2 and G.I. Joe, I consider the latter to be better. The Ugly Truth for me was an enjoyable movie despite it is being considered to be a box-office bomb in the USA. Although I enjoyed Up!, I consider it good but not great (I love Toy Story better).

So, after all this while, I truly believe my own taste when it comes to movie. 

Next movie I just couldn't wait : G-Force.

The ugly truth is despite myself I love the Ugly Truth

By posting the above result on my blog a few days ago, I managed to catch the movie The Ugly Truth earlier than most people. It was all thanks to Adverlets. And despite the review that I have read about how the movie is considered as a box office failure by the media in USA, I consider it to be a very good romantic comedy (see, I even refrain myself from calling it a chick flick).

I have been reading film reviews either at home here in Malaysia or from internet websites originating from the United States and they have been giving the movie low ratings. The usual "nothing new" has been bandied around.

I begged to differ as after nearly a hundred years of film, how can there be something new in your normal love story unless you are talking about some Oscar driven love story movie based on some real event or a famous book. Even some classic books have been rehashed countless times. 

The movie of course borrowed from those movie called screwball comedies from the 40s and 50s where the main characters couldn't stand each other and their banters is what keep the film going. It has My Girl Friday premise as a television network served as the background. There was one borrowed scene from the movie When Harry Met Sally which is the 'climax' of that movie. My only complain is how the movie ends with all the loose end ties up, which is a normal way for a romantic comedy to end.

Everyone seemed to enjoyed The Ugly Truth and at certain scenes nearly everyone in the cinema laugh. What other movie can make most of the patrons in the cinema laugh on cue other than an Adam Sandler's or those Frat Pack's movies? Go watch it, bring your girlfriend/boyfriend and expect to enjoy yourself, in spite of the bad reviews.