Tiring Video Shoots But Fun

Well, really want to say kudos to the Teenage Girl's Life's drama team that pushed themselves to the limit in getting their video shoots done. A few of them were involved on their video shoot since 4pm on Fri afternoon. That 4pm scene depicted 3 girls in one of the girls' room where they had girls' talk.

I went over to the Curve to have my dinner while waiting for the team to have their video shoot at the Cineleisure Damansara.

Could see that Curve's was having a Malacca Day with performances by the Malaysian Portugese community. Had a quick dinner at the Paddington's with my family.

Oh yeah, my sis has a shop at the Curve, called ETC (stands for etcetera???) which is just above Marche restaurant or opposite of Colonial Times restaurant. Her shop sells coffee machines, coffee beans, higher grade chinese tea leafs and lots of kitchen wares (will blog about it next time).

Actually I didn't ask her why it was named ETC.

The night is here and walked over to Cineleisure Damansara to meet the team.

We had our first shooting at a shop called Seraphina at around 8pm plus. (more pics in next blog posting)

Wanted to blog about this yesterday but I can't seem to log into www.blogger.com. Of late, it has been like this.
Tags: The Curve, Cineleisure Damansara, ETC, Christmas Drama, Christmas, Marche, Colonial Times, Seraphina

Car Models Over the Years

In order to capture consumers' interest in their car models, car manufacturers tend to change the car's design to catch up with competitors' car models worldwide or the trend of current market. Toyota kept up with the changes from year 1995 to 2004.Peaugot ensured that its Peaugot 406 model is up to its mark as well.Honda, with its worldwide market, will match its Honda Accord model with consumers' want.Proton, the Malaysian car manufacturer that is being courted by Volkswagen, produced the Proton Saga model in year 1985 and stucked to its same design for the next 20 years. They call it consistency!

Tags: Toyota, Toyota Camry, Peaugot, Peaugot 406, Honda, Honda Accord, Proton, Proton Saga, Car Model

Foreseeable Increase in Daily Expenses

Yeah, yourself for a huge increase on your daily expenses next year. The rumour is saying that, immediately after the general election (which is soon from year end to next March), lots of prices for the daily stuff used by the general public will definitely be increased.

Starting with the petrol. It could shoot up above RM2.00 per litre from the current pricing of RM1.97. The last increase was a hefty RM0.30 per litre when oil price was US$70 per barrel. The oil price has since shot up to US$90 per barrel as of yesterday. It's targetted to hit US$100 per barrel by 2008.

Here’s a compilation of how the petrol price has increased over the decade in Malaysia:-
before the 90’s - RM 0.89
1990 - RM 1.10 (increased RM 0.21)
01/10/2000 - RM 1.20 (increased RM 0.10)
20/10/2001 - RM 1.30 (increased RM 0.10)
01/05/2002 - RM 1.32 (increased RM 0.02)
31/10/2002 - RM 1.33 (increased RM 0.01)
01/03/2003 - RM 1.35 (increased RM 0.02)
01/05/2004 - RM 1.37 (increased RM 0.02)
01/10/2004 - RM 1.42 (increased RM 0.05)
05/05/2005 - RM 1.52 (increased RM 0.10)
31/07/2005 - RM 1.62 (increased RM 0.10)
28/02/2006 - RM 1.92 (increased RM 0.30)
2007 - ????
(Extracted from Galvin Tan)

And on 18 Oct, Malaysia's Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister has re-iterated to the Malaysian public - "that the Government would keep its promise not to increase oil prices this year". So, be prepared for next year then!!!!!!

Next in line for an increase - Malaysia's Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board, had on 4 Oct 2007, stated that the Board is reviewing plans to allow for increase in taxi and bus fares respectively. The taxi operators had asked for 600% increase and bus operators had requested for a 100%. The Board said that, if approved, it could be implemented by 3rd quarter of 2008.

When transportation costs (am sure goods transportation companies will ask for it as well) increases, it will certainly cause a domino effect on almost any goods/materials/stuff in Malaysia as everything relied on transportation.

For Kuala Lumpur habitants, the City Hall Council may impose an entry fee if your vehicle enters the city centre. Apparently, it's to improve traffic conditions in the city centre. The proposal will be submitted to the Cabinet Committee early next year.
Tags: Transportation, Daily Expenses, Oil Price, Petrol, Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs, Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board, Taxi Operators, Bus Operators, City Hall Council, Cabinet Committee

Camera is Rolling Already

Yeah ........ the camera is hitting the road and going places to get our dramas on video. Our brother Kerk is the man behind the scene. Together with my co-director, Lud Lee, we arranged for a shooting at Vista Kiara condo located at Mont Kiara.

Preparations started prior to 6pm and ended at 8pm plus and the outcome was only a 2minutes 50seconds video........ manyak susah..... toil and sweat but the outcome was so little but we were satisfied. The fun we had, the laughter, the excitement, the tense moments, the quiet moments (during shooting) .... was worth it all .... like how Mastercard advertised - priceless!

The husband & wife team was depicting a conman and a corporate lady having a dinner arranged by a matchmaking agency. Bear with pictures as it was taken by a camera phone at 2MP at 7pm plus.

As for tomorrow night, we are hitting Mutiara Damansara area. Will be shooting in a boutique shop in Cineleisure Damansara (next to The Curve) followed by another scene in a karaoke. Then karaoke all the way???

All 5 dramas will be acted live on stage and certain parts of each of the drama will be in videos. All in the month of December, each Sunday and Christmas Day. Of course, you are invited too!
Tags: Christmas, Christmas Drama, Video, Priceless, Vista Kiara, Mont Kiara, The Curve, Cineleisure Damansara

Don't Call BLACK

Ah Hua went for a job interview to be a secretary. When the manager saw Ah Hua's colorful attire and gold, white-highlighted hair, his mind is screaming, "NOT THIS WOMAN!!!". Nevertheless, he still had to entertain Ah Hua. So he told Ah Hua,"If you could form a sentence using the words that I give u, then maybe I will give u a chance! The words are "Green Pink Yellow Blue White and Purple"

Ah Hua thought for a while and said,"I hear the phone GREEN, GREEN, GREEN, then I go and PINK up the phone, I say YELLOW.....BLUE's that? WHITE did you say? Aiyah, wrong numberlah.....Don't PURPLEly disturb people and don't call BLACK, ok? Kum Siah (thank you)."

The manager fainted....
Tags: Ah Hua, Secretary, Interview, Jokes, Funny, Humour

Palace of the Golden Horses

The name sounds like a place belonging to a royalty family but actually it's the name of a 5-star hotel located on the outskirt of Kuala Lumpur. Palace of the Golden Horses' design is very unique inspired by the Moorish era.
My family decided to go for a buffet dinner at this hotel after we found out that Shangri-La Hotel's Lemon Garden Cafe was without air-condition for that night. The other reason we chose it was because we have not been there for their buffet dinner.

It was about 10-15 minutes drive from my house. We reached there around 7.35pm and went to Carousel Cafe which housed the buffet dinner. Quite empty, maybe most of the city folks were back at their hometown during the long weekend break. The price was RM60 and RM40 for adult and child respectively at this cafe. With that pricing, we expected the food to be satisfactory. To our dismay, it was not. We were disappointed with the food that was served.

* The supposedly fresh salmon fish was really bad as the moment you bite into it, you can tell that it was not fresh at all.
* The mee rebus' gravy was thick but without much taste.
* Prawns cooked in chilli and spices were not fresh.
* Butter for bread melted like nobody's business ....... u can drink the melted butter on the spot.
* I wondered what kind of mushroom soup was that as it tasteless. * Their readily cut fresh fruits were so pale and was off its original colours.
* Cooking style for various dishes were almost the same.
* About 12 main dishes but its quality/taste were not up to its 5-star hotel status.
* The first few tables' lighting at the entrance was too dim.
* The food that I enjoyed were the roast lamb and ice-cream.

Would say that it was a shame that we were the only diners left at 9.10pm (even though officially, it was opened till 10.30pm for the buffet dinner). Need I say more. Everyone has left except my table. Are we supposed to leave as well so that they can close the cafe earlier? Was very sure there was no emergency evacuation at that time. Not long after that, walk-in hotel guests came for their ala-carte meals. If you look at their decorations, it's so old already. I wondered how long this cafe has been in such state (low patronage by diners).

We left around 9.45pm as the mood was not there and right after dinner, we went to a friend's house at Sri Petaling and told them our ordeal. This couple had been previously and had even decided to take this hotel off their list of places to eat forever. So have we!

Shangri-La Hotel has to take the blame partially .... hehe. If not for their air-condition situation, we would not have gone to Palace of the Golden Horses (noticed the hotel area was full of horses).

Please take away the word 'Palace' as the food served at its Carousel Cafe doesn't justify the use of it. The hotel's ambience was beautiful and hopefully their other restaurants are up to its 5-star standard.
Tags: Palace of the Golden Horses, Carousel Cafe, Buffet Dinner, Food, Shangri-La Hotel, Lemon Garden Cafe

Tioman Ferry Disaster

A ferry operator, Seagull Express, for the route from Mersing to Tioman Island was responsible for several human lifes when fire broke out on that ferry.

Insufficient life jacket, improper evacuation procedure and overloading contributed to the deaths and injuries suffered.


The unfortunate event of the fire onboard (left pic) caused 4 deaths and 3 still missing where the search would be called off on Friday if still not found.

Personally, I have not been to Tioman Island before but been to nearby islands for diving. Remembered seeing those long queues at the Mersing jetty waiting for such ferries.

I was not surprised that such ferry operator was still operating even though operating licence and passenger certificate had expired on 16 March 2006 and 18 March 2005. Such ferry operator only thought about the income/profit that they could reap off from the unsuspecting customers. Yet 2 days ago, the ferry operator claimed that they have complied with all licences. I propose that they be banned for life from operating such services again.

It seems that two ship inspectors from the Marine Department have been suspended from duties too. Another clear cut case of close on eye to the ferry operations??? These people were playing with human lifes. It seems that prior to departing the port, a clearance was required from the Marine Department. I always wonder why respective government agencies only take stern actions (checking all ferries in Malaysia now) when such tragedy had happened. Can't they be pro-active a bit. Buck up man!

You could also get some first hand news from another Johnny, Johnny Tan, who is the boyfriend to a girl, whose brother Wong Hann Wen is still missing at sea. The Star newspaper didn't report any negative statements but in this blog, the full account of what has happened when the victims' families requested to go out to the sea were not granted.

Blog is the way for the future as newspapers nowadays wouldn't report it (as they are under close supervision from the top).

The other licensed ferry operator, Bluewater Express, must be laughing all their way to the bank now as they would be the only one now. But you travellers beware as Bluewater is not that safe either as highlighted in this letter by a traveller who went through dangerous moments during her journey to and back as well. Just the same as Seagull Express and disaster waiting to happen too, as quoted by the traveller.
Tags: Tioman, Tioman Island, Pulau Tioman, Seagull Express, Ferry, Marine Department, Bluewater Express