Mythical Seahorse tee-shirt

I came home today and found another surprise waiting for me on my driveway. This time it's not from some anonymous sender. I got a tee-shirt from Singapore. Thanks Addie *muaks*. I promise, I'm gonna visit again soon... ;-)

It's a tee from divejunkie with a seahorse motif. This seahorse looks ready to kick ass and take names! With the tee was a tab describing the mythical seahorse.

Mythical Seahorse
Seahorses belong to the genus called hippocampus. Hippos coming from the Greeks, meaning 'horse' and Kampos, means 'sea monster'.

In early Greek civilisation, Greek poets wrote about legendary sea-gods riding on mythical half-horse, half fish creatures called hippocampi. Ancient Greek art portrayed these seahorses as large fearful and armour-clad monsters with wings.

How's that for the reputation of the humble seahorse?

Actually if you recall, I love Greek mythology, but they've always been focused on the major gods and heroes. I think it's time to dig a little bit more on these armour-clad seahorses. Other than the comic Aquaman, I must admit, I've not come across any stories of these. Of course there's the story about dolphins, but it's late and I can't recall it. Where's that book of mine...

Oh yeah, I checked this out too.. it's a nice site.

www.divejunkie.com.sg
"As much as humans have the right to admire the oceans, we must keep in mind not to destroy the underwater habitat while doing so."

Further Greek myths on seahorses and dolphins will have to wait.. I've gotta go pack.. I'm going sailing off Borneo over the weekend... woohoo, holiday!

Maguro!!!

Some things don’t change… one of them is my fondness for Japanese food. Specifically tuna, as sashimi or sushi. Unlike a large majority of people in this part of the world who love to eat salmon sashimi, for me the best sashimi is maguro or tuna.

Years ago, I’ve always wondered how dolphins could end up in a can of tuna. I’d used to think that it was dumb or something… a dolphin is huge and grayish, black even, whereas tunas would generally be silver and a lot smaller.

All that changed one-day when I realized there are a large variety of tunas in the world and they come in many sizes. D’uh, obvious rite? Now I understand and am also glad for the dolphin safe tuna fishing in use now.

• Albacore -- A high-fat variety, rich in omega-3 fatty acids, the albacore has the lightest flesh (white with a hint of pink) and is the only tuna that can be called white. Its mild flavor and prized white flesh make it the most expensive canned tuna.
• Yellowfin -- Also called ahi, the yellowfin tuna is usually larger than albacores, reaching up to 300 pounds. Their flesh is pale pink (it must be called light), with a flavor slightly stronger than that of the albacore.
• Bluefin -- Among the largest tunas are the bluefin, which can weigh over 1,000 pounds. Young bluefins have a lighter flesh and are less strongly flavored, but as they grow into adulthood, their flesh turns dark red and their flavor becomes more pronounced. Bluefin tuna is used in sushi and sashimi and is not canned.
• Skipjack -- Similar in flesh to the yellowfin, skipjack get their name because they seem to skip out of the water. They can weigh up to 40 pounds, but are more typically ranged from 6 to 8 pounds. This variety is also known as arctic bonito, oceanic bonito, watermelon and, in Hawaii, aku. Skipjack is the most commonly canned fish.
• Bigeye – Known in Hawaii as ahi, bigeye tuna are similar in general appearance to yellowfin tuna and are the deepest occurring of all tuna species, with the depth range of greatest concentration at 150 to 250 fathoms. With its mild flavor and desirable fat content, the bigeye is often used in canned tuna.

Last year, when the boys and I went to Japan, we dropped by Tsukiji, one of the largest wholesale fish market in Japan. That was when I really saw how big tunas can get, up close. They were huge, measuring easily up to and more than 1.5m. I was so amazed at the sizes of these fishes. At Tsukiji, I’m certain it is literally every seafood lover’s heaven to see the varities of fresh seafood they had to offer. The sushi and sashimi we ate right outside the market was the freshest one will ever find. It almost made me want to stay there and not come back. I guess it’s one of many reasons why I’m trying to find every single excuse to go back again. Definitely on my to-do list for 2006!

Although we went there for other reasons, I was hoping to drop into some fancy Jazz bar like the New York bar made famous in the movie Lost in Translation at the Park Hyatt Tokyo. That didn't happen as the boys were too busy hunting for r/c parts or stuffing down ramen.

The other reason was obviously to eat as much Japanese food as I could while I was there. Indeed the delicious food became the highlight of the entire visit. My personal favourite was when we were in Shizuoka where we had krill in a variety of dishes and cooked bonito. Yummmm…

Of course DC was obsessed with the ramen, which we ended having many times including once at 2am after getting back to the hotel after a long day out. I wasn’t complaining, I mean, there we were in Tokyo, what else did you expect?

Well, that was Japan… last year... otaku tendencies, glorious sashimi, seemingly free-flowing sake, late nite ramen, forgotten passports and boring radio-controlled planes. But it was one very memorable holiday, as far as food was concerned. Unfortunately for now, I’ll have to stick to my usual places for Japanese food in KL, like Spring Hatsuhana, Genji or Kampachi. There are a lot of others with great Japanese food, but I guess being a creature of habit, these are the ones I usually gravitate to.

Comic strips

Bored as usual and just plain surfing, I came across this hilarious webcomic site Least I could do. It focuses on sexual comedy and has been around since 2001 apparently. And they’ve got a couple of books out too. Well worth checking out. Here’s one that I liked… *grin*

click for a larger image

Speaking of comic strips, Calvin & Hobbes was my all-time favourite. Like many millions the world over, I was saddened when the strip ended at the end of 1995. Incidently, I came across an article about the incredibly private Bill Watterson on CNN.

But if you ask me, it was a plug for the recently released three volume “The complete Calvin and Hobbes”, which apparently contains every single strip of Calvin & Hobbes.

As many would know, Calvin was the ultimate precocious 6year old and Hobbes was his best friend, pet tiger, stuffed companion. Their antics and some of their quips are just so classic. I have so many favourites from this strip I can't begin to list them. Maybe in some future post.

Another favourite of mine and thankfully still in current circulation is Zits by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman. Based on the exploits of a 15-year old teenager, his circle of friends and his parents, this comic strip focuses on teenage and growing up insecurities and to a large extent the relationships many teenagers share with their parents. As I understand it's won a few awards and if you ask me, they were very well deserved.

Like Calvin & Hobbes previously, Zits is also available in paperback, with Pimp my Lunch: sketchbook #10 released recently. Both Calvin & Hobbes and Zits always cracks me up and would have me laughing away without fail whenever I pick up any of the books, regardless of the mood I'm in. Classics and well worth owning and keeping.

Subconscious reality check

Today has been sort of emotional for me, and I find my thoughts are of someone I least expected on this day. I dreamt about Leen last night. It was really odd. In the dream, Leen was living happily I think in a place familiarly like Japan. She looked the same, maybe her hair has greyed, but she was still leading a healthy lifestyle, with her strict controlled diet. And she had a job, as an administrator… something she was very good at and I believe she was happy.

I was trying to convince her to come home. How odd was that? I was obviously a visitor and I had a backpack with me and was rushing to catch the flight home. She was insistent on staying and was also still very adamant that we were finished and she was going to stick to her life and that I had to go. It was as if this was what would have happened had she not succumbed to cancer.

I normally cannot remember dreams. They flit off immediately when I wake up. This time it was different. Even before waking up, I knew it was a dream and I was also so very aware.

Some belief that when you have a vivid dream of someone close to you that had passed away, is a case of that person visiting you spiritually. Personally, I don’t know where I stand in this belief. But I did find this dream pleasing and a little re-assuring. Is it weird that it felt good to see her? But I think the reality is I’m holding on to something and even my dreams are obviously telling me to move on.

I find sometimes certain events and situations I go through or even being with certain people, tend to trigger feelings and emotions in me and send me into some melancholic mood. And this leaves me wondering many times, that I might have adapted to a new lifestyle, but I’m far from having moved on and days like these make me think that I’m just spiraling on. And in reality, it’s not just a spiral; it’s a spiral in an endless loop, sometimes heading up, sometimes down.

Also, it makes me realize how fleeting good moods can be. I’m certain I was feeling great not more than 24hrs ago. Something about October…

Happy Birthday, Waterbaby...

It's October 19... you once wrote...

If kisses were water
I'd give you the sea

If hugs were leaves
I'd give you the trees

If love is forever
I'd give you eternity

right-back-atcha...

Happy 30th Birthday, Sally Hooi.

Thank you for the Rose

Sometimes when I go off for a holiday, I’d inform my newspaper fella to hold the deliveries. This time, I forgot. I was away for the entire weekend and only got back on Monday afternoon. By then, there are 3 copies of the daily paper lying on my driveway.

This morning though I found my paper folded over on my gate and wedged between the pages, a surprise. There was a single red rose wrapped with a ribbon, wedged between the pages. As I was already late and had been away from work 2 days now, I didn’t give it much more thought and left the rose on the chair in my driveway. I’d forgotten about it all day until I got home this evening and saw it again, albeit not as fresh as this morning.

So what was this rose doing wedged in my newspaper? No accompanying note, no indication who it's from... An appreciation from my newsagent? Can’t be… I think I’ve not been home for him to collect the last 2 month’s bill… princess seems to think it’s from a secret admirer… if it is, then I’ve been getting myself into trouble again… *sigh*

In any case, whatever it was for and whomever it was from, I guess I have to say Thank You. So…

To whomever, for whatever… Thank you for the rose.

The Crimson Room... revisited

A friend sent me this link to a flash game. It's quite interesting. You're supposed to find your way out of the crimson room by using the items lying around the room. Sad to say I'm still stuck in the room. I've gotten 12 items and am facing the safe... but I don't have the combination... or I have not figured out the combination and am not planning to try every single possible combination either. So if any of you figure it out, do let me know...

October 13
From my stats, this seem to be a fairly popular searched page in my blog, so I guess I better update it. Since the original posting, I've managed to get out of the room. The reason I was stuck was due to the incorrect url given in the version of the Crimson Room I had. This version has the proper url. The code to the safe is actually found at the url found in the note. After that, it's easy-peasy to get out.

Crash and unfinished projects

I found Crash and managed to watch it. It’s an intense crime drama all right, but so very much more as well. Once past the opening scene, it’s bigotry and racism coming at you thick and fast, in every aspect, thought and action. It may be a little disconcerting to some, disturbing even, as you imagine that this might really be what it’s like everyday in America.

It’s an enthralling movie nonetheless. Definitely worth watching and the story is built up very well. As you get introduced to the characters, their actions and situations, the story carries you as it moves through all the characters' lives and actions, which are in the end intertwined in one way or other. A good story overall.

The thing that really stands out for me is the musical score. It totally carries the movie and the emotions as the movie plays out. Excellently done. My favourite is Bird York's In the deep.

In the Deep - Bird York

Thought you had

all the answers to

rest your heart upon.

but something happens

don't see it coming, now

you can't stop yourself.

now you're out there swimming

in the deep.

in the deep.

Life keeps tumbling your heart in circles

till you... let go

till you shed your pride

and you climb to heaven

and you throw yourself off.

now you're out there spinning

in the deep.

in the deep.

in the deep.

in the deep.

INTERLUDE

and now you're out there spinning

and now you're out there swimming

in the deep.

in the deep.

In the silence

all your secrets will

raise their weary heads

well, you can't pin yourself

back together with

who you thought you were

Now you're out there living

in the deep

in the deep

in the deep

in the deep.

and now you're out there spinning
and now you're out there swimming
and now you're out there spinning

in the deep.
in the deep.

in the deep.

in the deep.

On a separate note, something you may have noticed, is my project on the sidebar to the right. At some point in my life, oil paintings featured almost on a daily basis as it helped pass time and kept the mind pre-occupied. There are 2 unfinished oil projects. One was to be the centerpiece for our home and is probably lying around the art studio in Bangsar Shopping Centre where it’ll remain.

The 2nd was a promise made in 2003 but was never started, until now. It’s the piece I have featured in the sidebar, called Breakfast at Malibu. Our friends came across it in a magazine and they obviously liked it very much as they had it framed even with the tear in the middle. The promise made then was to reproduce it as an oil painting for them.

Anyway, I started on it on Sunday 8 Oct 2005 and have been posting the updates in the sidebar. Once it’s finished, it’ll head out to Perth, Australia for Janet, Sam and baby Sylvia.

Crash

I was browsing at my local music store and was walking by the Soundtracks shelves and saw these…

I will understand you. I will judge you. I will protect you. I will berate you. I will help you. I will need you. I will punish you. I will guide you. I will forsake you. I will abandon you. I will love you.

CRASH
Moving at the speed of life, we are bound to collide with each other.

Reading these tag lines, seeing the picture on the CD cover, I couldn’t help but pick it up… it just caught my attention and instantly grabbed hold of me. My first reaction was that it was another movie taking advantage of the airplane crash survivors’ theme ala Lost. Far from it…

Hollywood.com had this to say…

A raw and unsettling morality piece on modern angst and urban disconnect, Crash examines the dangers of bigotry and xenophobia in the lives of interconnected Angelenos.

Apparently it’s an intricate, explosive crime drama… what more can I say.. with a title like Crash but a synopsis about crime drama instead, I was captivated.

I love to watch movies. And when I come across interesting titles like these, I just had to dig for more info. So, I went to the Crash website and was greeted by this audio clip, obviously spoken by Don Cheadle.

It’s the sense of touch. In any real city you walk, you know, you brush past people, people bump into you. In LA, nobody touches you. We’re always behind this metal and glass..

It stars an ensemble cast including Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, Jennifer Esposito, William Fichtner, Brendan Fraser, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Thandie Newton, Terrence Howard, Ryan Phillippe and Larenz Tate.

I haven’t found this movie yet… and am not sure if it came to Malaysia or is ever coming… I’m not even sure when this movie was released. But I’m captivated… by the soundtrack as well as the CD with music from and inspired by the movie… I wanna watch it…

It's the sense of touch, I think we miss that
touch so much, that we crash into each other so we can feel something.

Better days

Whenever I need new music, I usually head to my local music store, Victoria Music at Bangsar Shopping Centre. The guys there are incredibly friendly and helpful. If I haven’t been there for a while and there are new CDs they think I’d like, I’d get a call from them; and they’re usually spot on with good music recommendations.

This time however, I was browsing the web for some new music recommendations and visited some of my favourite artiste’s websites. I came across this new single from the Goo Goo Dolls called Better days. From the short clip I heard, it sounds good.

Unfortunately it’s not to be found at my local music store… yet... *sigh* Looks like I gotta wait or buy online... or maybe check if goddess can get it for me... *hint* ;-)

Better Days

And you ask me what I want this year

And I try to make this kind and clear

Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days

Cuz I don't need boxes wrapped in strings

And desire and love and empty things

Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days

So take these words

And sing out loud

Cuz everyone is forgiven now

Cuz tonight's the night the world begins again

And it's someplace simple where we could live

And something only you can give

And thats faith and trust and peace while we're alive

And the one poor child that saved this world

And there's 10 million more who probably could

If we all just stopped and said a prayer for them

So take these words

And sing out loud

Cuz everyone is forgiven now

Cuz tonight's the night the world begins again

I wish everyone was loved tonight

And somehow stop this fight

Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days

So take these words

And sing out loud

Cuz everyone is forgiven now

Cuz tonight's the night the world begins again

Cuz tonight's the night the world begins again

Writing is therapeutic... really?

Someone once told me that writing was therapeutic and that I should try it. I’ve always resisted, as I was never really the writing type. Well, now that I’ve tried it, I gotta say, it’s not all that it’s been made out to be.

When I really think about it, I’ve actually tried writing many years before. Not in the journalistic manner or in poetic verses. It wasn’t a journal either… I mean c’mon, guys don’t normally keep journals, aight? Anyways back then my attempts at writing were normally along the lines of short stories. But I can’t remember what exactly… besides, even if I did recall, you didn’t think I’d reveal it didja?

I’m digressing again. Writing’s supposedly therapeutic. Well maybe to some, after all, bloggers have been stereotyped (perhaps only by me) as a bunch of folks living with a lot of issues. Bloggers are supposedly an angry bunch with stuff to get off their chest, angst to relieve, a whistle to blow, depression to deal with… or just plain genuine anger at something. They supposedly write what they feel in their hearts when they’re angry, upset or something.

Well, I can’t say I share this sentiment. I just realized over the weekend that I can’t write when I’m upset or depressed or just simply feeling down. I find when I’m in this emotional state, I seem to switch off… my mind blanks out… it’s amazing, time goes by and I have no recollection of what I was thinking about or what I’d done.

Over the weekend, I’d been feeling rather crummy and just didn’t feel like socializing or being around people. So I decided to stay home and just laze around, surf the net and maybe post a blog or something. I think I managed maybe 2 sentences? Nothing else… I just couldn’t form sentences… words refused to come. Therapeutic? It was stressful! It took me 4 days to write about the Watergames over the weekend and that is a crappy post if you ask me… just bloody got no character, la.

So, I can’t understand it when folks say bloggers have so much to say and say it best when they’re a depressed, angry and upset at the world or about something they ate or the way the wind blew… I just don’t get it. I guess I’m not much of a blogger cos it just doesn’t do it for me. I can’t write when I have issues… so how is it that it’s therapeutic?

You want therapy and writing also doesn’t do it for you? Try music. When I’m in a crummy emotional state, I shut everything and everybody out and withdraw to my music. Music therapy… that’s how I deal with issues. I guess that’s why I listen to such a wide variety of music. Whenever people asked what type of music I’m into, I could never give them a straight answer, cos I listen to almost everything and anything that my mood feels like at that point in time.

Which brings me back to being crummy over the weekend… so I turned to music therapy but couldn't find something suitable. I realized it’s time to visit my local music store. I need some new CDs, but I think I spend too much on CDs. I thought about giving this music downloading a try, but I got no fricking broadband at home… besides, I gotta be PC and say no to piracy… uh-huh… rite…

MSC Watergames 2005

According to the astrologers, Gemini is an air sign and is apparently ruled by the planet Mars. Well, as far as I’m concerned... other than geeky interest in the rovers roaming around on Mars and fascination about jets in the air, that’s about all Mars and air have to do with me. Put me somewhere with lots of sun and sea or any other large bodies of water and that’s a different matter altogether.

I love water. I love playing in water in the sun. Unfortunately I live in KL, where the nearest large bodies of water are former mining pools & so, I don’t get to play in water in the sun very much. So naturally, I grab at every opportunity that allows me to do that.

On the 1st of October, MDC organized the inaugural MSC Watergames. Participating this year were teams from Shell IT, DHL, IBM, MDC, PJ Holdings and a combined team of smaller companies (Shell Global Solutions, Setia Haruman, Nokia, national level rowers, etc.)

I’d not been rowing for more than a year now, mainly because I got lazy, lost interest and just didn’t feel like being at the lake by 7am. Being one of the more experienced rowers in the company, both me and J were sort of expected to take part… we didn’t have much of a choice… not that we’re really complaining anyway. The only problem was we’ve not been rowing together for a while and synchronization as well as balance is a fairly key factor in this sport. As busy as we were (J was busy… I was lazy), we managed to get one practice session done… the day before the actual race. Supremely dedicated sportsmen aren’t we? I have friends who practice daily for months in preparation for competitions.

Race day came and we’re there early, all excited cos we’ve never participated in a large scale rowing competition before. I had my single scull heats first, followed by the single kayak and finally the double scull heats. Won the single and double heats easily, so confidence was high for the finals.

The kayak was a different matter altogether… I have very little experience with it but I do recall being able to handle it the last time I tried. This time it was a disaster… I couldn’t kayak straight if my life counted on it. Getting from the jetty to the starting point itself was an achievement. There were 4 of us in the heats, 2 ladies and 2 guys. This lady from Putrajaya holdings beat us pants down… well, she was the only one who was going straight… but if it was a distance kayaked competition, I’m sure we’d have beaten her with all the circles we were doing. Amazingly I came in 2nd, a full 2 minutes behind and to my horror, realized that means I made it into the finals.

The other excitement of the day was that by getting into the single and double scull finals meant that I had to do 2 final races back to back. So we worked out a plan that while I was in the doubles race, the team would prepare my single scull for me to jump in and scoot off. Also, I was thinking, we’ll probably win fairly easily as well, so I can sort of conserve my energy for the singles final. Unfortunately our other team wasn’t having any of that. When the klaxon blew, they went flying off the starting line and was almost a whole boat length ahead. Now I can't have that, I introduced the sport and trained these guys!

All plans for conserving energy for the more difficult race went overboard. Our boat surged to catch up as we dug in and rowed out hearts out. Brushing off near disaster when my oar dug into the water and leapt out of my hand, we clawed into the lead and went ahead. Eric B & Victor rowed a great race. Unfortunately they lost concentration, went off course and almost collided with the Putrajaya team on correcting.

It came as a slightly costly win as by the time I jumped into the single scull, I was fairly tired. It wasn't a smooth switch either as just before shoving off to the starting line, I realised the team had rigged the oars incorrectly. By the time I reached the start line, I'd rowed over 1000m and was not in any shape to challenge for the medals for another 500m, but it ain't over till the fat lady sings rite? Or in this case, the fat mermaid...

Although I started well and kept up with the lead boats, I was exhausted and had to concede the race to them two-thirds down the course. I coasted home the last third of the race, taking advantage of a bad start by the other Shell scull to finish 3rd. All in all, an acceptable result considering the amount of training I had. But by now, I was in no condition to compete in the kayak final.

The main event of the day was obviously the dragon boat race. Shell was in the final with Putrajaya Holdings. Although not an MSC company, they were invited to participate as they owned the only 2 dragon boats in Putrajaya. Naturally that meant they were the strong favourites.

The Shell team surprised everyone as they kept in touch with Putrajaya for two-thirds of the race. Putrajaya’s experience saw them through as they surged ahead when their strongest rowers took the kneeling position and powered their dragon towards the finish. We’ll be back next year and we promise we’ll learn the kneeling position. And I promise I’ll train at least one day more than I had for this year’s.

Overall, we finished 3rd which was the highest between all the MSC companies anyway. Overall Champions were the combi team followed by Putrajaya Holdings. All in all, a very successful and enjoyable event and is sure to stay.

More photos can be found here:

Mark's @ beanz
Dennis' @ fotopages