Most Expensive Champagnes 2006

When it comes to food, normally I'm quite flexible with the pricing. But how much am I willing to spend for a bottle of champagne? US$30? US$130? US$400? High quality champagnes are labor-intensive and their prices usually reflect the quality and craftsmanship that went into them. Their prices also reflect the luxury lifestyle that is associated with champagne and what consumers are willing to pay for it. Forbes has a list of the most expensive champagnes of 2006 which you may want to buy off the shelf for the coming year end parties.
1. Krug, Clos du Mesnil 1995 (US$750)
2. Bollinger Blanc de Noirs Vieilles Vignes Françaises 1998 (US$575)
3. Dom Pérignon Rosé 1996 (US$400)
4. Salon Le Mesnil 1996 (US$300)
5. Krug 1995 (US$200)

Tags: Luxury, Lifestyle, Wine, Champagne, Forbes, Krug, Bollinger, Dom Perignon

Kenyan 'Miracle Baby' Pastor Held

Weird things sure to happen somewhere around the world. That's the reason for naming my blog as such "Life's Happenings". When I did a general search on that same blog name via Google Search, to my surprise there are a few blogs which has similar blog name too.

While reading the BBC News/Africa, came across this news on a so-called Pastor using religion to camouflage his misdeeds. Apparently, Gilbert Deya, a Kenyan evangelist who claimed to have created miraculous pregnancies through the power of prayer has been arrested in London by British police. What superpowers! I don't doubt that God could perform something beyond our belief but in Kenya itself, DNA tests showed that 20 babies were not related to women claiming to be their mothers that were supposed to have conceived after being prayed over by Gilbert Deya.

Kenyan authorities said their investigation revolves around the disappearance of babies from Nairobi's Pumwani Maternity Hospital. It was after the arrest of his wife, Mary, in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, that exposed Gilbert. She arrived at a hospital with a newborn baby to which she claimed to have given birth, but doctors who examined Mrs Deya, aged 57 at the time, said her claim of recently having given birth was false. (source: BBC News/Africa)

How true is the above report or claim? More about Gilbert's 'ministry' can be found in his website, Welcome to Gilbert Deya Ministries. After going through the website, there are conflicting statement 1 and conflicting statement 2 made by Gilbert Deya on his wife's pregnancy. A conspiracy theory that is being put up by the Kenyan police??? In his website, the Kenyan police has bribed many people to conceal the truth on his wife's birth and has hid his wife and the baby boy in unknown places till his family/relatives/lawyers could not locate. Date of birth was on 10 Sept 2005.

I'm confused.

Tags: Kenya, Gilbert Deya, Deya Ministries, Baby, Evangelist, Prayer, Pregnant

The Departed - movie review

The Departed - starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson & Mark Wahlberg. Directed by Martin Scorsese. The cast is good enough to draw your attention. But I'm very careful with that already since Lucky Number Slevin. Somehow this movie turned out real good and it has gained some nominatons for the Golden Globe Awards.

Leonardo was brought up in a not so good environment where his family members were involved in notorious matters and it almost affected his application to join the police force. Whereas for Matt, his actual parents were gone and were brought up by a non-related man. This is a movie of the police and the bad guys placing their mole into each other's camp. One is to discover the bad guy's next bad intention and the other guy will leak out the police's next operation. Intense cover-up here and there led to the death of the police chief.

Both of the moles were trying to find out and expose each other. Both moles fell in love for the same girl not knowing that the mole has the same crush too. This is one of those movies where all the main cast actually died. Unbelievable. A must watch movie but it was a bit slow in the beginning part. The heat will pick up in the middle. You need to watch the whole movie instead of forwarding it to the middle since I told you so that you can understand the movie in the end.
Tags: Movie, Review, Cinema, Action, Mole, The Departed, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon

Luxury Perfumes

The most expensive perfume in the world, Imperial Majesty, comes at a royal US$215,000 (RM783,771) a bottle with crown granted by Queen Victoria. Could it be because the perfumer used rare flowers that can only be handpicked at certain times of the year, or precious oils from animals that are almost extinct?

All Clive Christian, a British designer-turned perfumer, did was to pour 16.9 ounces of his limited edition scent – No.1 – into a Baccarat crystal bottle and stick a five-carat diamond into the 18-carat gold collar.

This he unveiled at Harrods in London and Bergdorf Goodman in New York, and three out of the five bottles released for sale were grabbed by collectors.

On a more affordable scale, Annick Goutal also sells Baccarat crystal perfume bottles filled with selected scents. At RM5,500 (US$1,528) a pop, Annick Goutal “Songes” comes at a fraction of the price of Imperial Majesty. And you only have to share ownership of this handcrafted, hand-blown piece of crystal with 149 other people.

It would be rather nice to own a Baccarat bottle but if you don’t have extra cash lying around, you can always settle for the hand painted “Songes” moon bottle or “Mandragore” butterfly bottle. These are sold at RM1,400 (US$389) each and only a limited number are available (350 pieces) as they’re individually hand-painted. It takes around three to six hours to painstakingly colour each bottle with acrylic paint. (source: The Star)

Tags: Lifestyle, Luxury, Perfume, Fragrance, Clive Christian, Imperial Majesty, Baccarat, Annick Goutal, Songes, Mandragore, Harrods, Bergdorf Goodman

World Soccer's Player of the Year

Fabio Cannavaro who skippered Italy to victory at the World Cup, was named World Soccer's World Player of the Year on Friday -- only the second defender to win the honour in the awards' 25-year history. Fabio Cannavaro also won the European Footballer of the Year ("Ballon d'Or") last month. Details of past winners for the Ballon d'Or are found here.

He got three times as many votes as Barcelona striker Samuel Eto'o of Cameroon and Frenchman Thierry Henry of Arsenal, who finished second and third respectively.

Other award winners were Marcello Lippi of Italy, who was named coach of the year while European champions Barcelona were named World Team of the Year. Lionel Messi of Barcelona and Argentina was named Young Player of the Year.
Tags: Sports, Football, Fabio Cannavaro, Samuel Eto'o, Thierry Henry, Marcello Lippi, Lionel Messi, World Soccer, Player of the Year

Rate of Increase for Highway Tolls

After first blogging about it on 16 Oct 2006 upon hearing from trusted sources, I also did blog again on 27 Nov 2006 that the government has finally admitted that they will increase the toll rates effective 1 Jan 2007. Today, Malaysian newspapers finally came out with the rates effective 1 Jan 2007 as below.

Nevertheless, this drastic increase will definitely put cause a high increase in cost of living to all people living in the Klang Valley. The Malaysian newspapers have been directed to tone down on the reporting of the toll hike so as not to incur the public wrath.

Recent months, the water and electricity authorities have increased their rates too. What next?
Tags: Toll, Highway, Transport, LDP, Kesas, Cheras-Kajang, KL-Karak, Guthrie Corridor

Proton Saga vs. Foton Saga

What is the difference between Proton Saga & Foton Saga? Almost the same name.

Proton Saga is a car manufactured by Proton Holdings Bhd in Malaysia whereas

Foton Saga is manufactured by Beiqi Foton Motor Co Ltd in China. What a joke!

Tags: Proton Saga, Proton Holdings Bhd, Foton Saga, Beiqi Foton Motor Co Ltd, Car, Transport, Malaysia, China