Halloween MAiZE

The very same day after the BBQ party, I headed home to freshen up as it was already 6.30pm and I had plans to go to Union City (part of Fremont county), for some MAiZE~!

It was a huge corn farm that was recreated into a maze! It was also Halloween weekend so they made the maze more interesting by, say, adding in a few ghouls and ghosts!




It was really packed that time, but being 'kiasu' and couldn't wait any longer, we 'potong jalan' and got our tickets within 5 minutes!!! It was only $7 for my first Halloween in a MAiZE~!

Being very acute in my sense of directions, the maze totally overwhelmed me as the corn walls were really high and we couldn't see a single thing in the dark. There were many branched paths and many times we just went in circles.

Nevertheless, it was what was lurking within these dreaded paths that made us shiver in fear... There were many instances when ghost leaped out and scare us! It was instant shock, but what was most horrifying was when some of these "ghosts" were pitch black and we couldn't see what was ahead of us until we were so close to find out that there was a really huge shadow in front of us and reveals its horrifying face! I must say, I'm not often scared of such sheepish effects but this time it really broke a sweat!!! But wait, the biggest scare hasn't revealed itself!


Ghouls after ghouls and ghosts after ghosts we passed, we already knew what we were facing and were being very vigilant about it~ But let me tell you this, ghosts can come from anywhere and everywhere!!! You see, we always assumed now that the ghosts will be ahead of us or jumping out from the walls. The biggest shock and that made me jump out of my shoes was when the character of the f**king scary little girl in white with long hair from the movie 'The Ring' just stood silently behind my shoulder and I felt a breath on my neck, turned around and there she was!!! I ALMOST F**CKIN SHAT IN MY PANTS!!! And it was TOTALLY AWESOME!!!



Took us about an hour to get out of there. This is one heck of an event you should not miss during Halloween!

Negaraku

Do you remember 'Negaraku'?

It has been almost 6 years since secondary school that I actually even bothered about the existance of the Malaysian national anthem. We sing it every day during school assembly, and as a prefect, I actually HAVE to sing it while all the other students murmur the song or just move their lips pretending that they are singing so as not to get caught. However, having sung that song everyday did not bring any special meaning or significance to it anymore. It became a boring chore~! Yes, I have to admit that I hated that song, but not neccesarily hated the country (in general of course...); especially when they modified the song to a fast beat marching band version which totally made it sound like a circus/carnival song. Thank God that they reverted it back to the original version in 2002 I believe.

Do you know the origins of Negaraku? This question was piqued when I was reading Su Sien's blog about the same subject. You can read the full history of Negaraku at the Malaysian Monarchy website, but let me give you some of the tunes to the evolvement from a Hawaiian song to a national anthem!

Mamula Moon
- Not referenced by the monarchy website, the Sultan of Perak used to live in exile in Seychelles and a French band used to play this song. The sultan liked this song and when his majesty returned to Perak, it became the state's anthem.

Terang Bulan
- A popular contemporary song that time, Terang Bulan was actually sung by the Sultan of Perak on his visit to England as required by the British for all visiting dignitaries to sing their state anthems. His majesty did not have any notes, so he sang it and the lyrics could be tracked to the the song, Terang Bulan.

To my readers who are not Malaysian, the following is Malaysia's national anthem. Believe it or not, orchestra concerts actually play this song in their performances (with different renditions) and always receive high accolades~ I didn't believe it myself after further research...
But here it is... Negaraku (arise and stand up straight people~!)


I mentioned that singing this song became a boring chore while in secondary school just because we are forced to sing it everyday. But now listening to it piqued certain emotions, memories and you can even say pride to be a Malaysian. I hope my Malaysian readers living abroad who have not bothered to think of home very often feel the same... because I have~


Malaysia Boleh... copy-cat~! hehe

Los Angeles Visit

Let me see... it has been exatly 10 years since I first visited Los Angeles when I was 12 years old~!

A week ago, I decided to hitch a ride from my colleagues who have families in LA and crash at Adam's place (friend since Taylor's College in Malaysia). I went down on Wednesday afternoon after a very spontaneous decision since the trainer at work was going at turtle speed, and that my friend, Hektor who was driving decided to go that afternoon.

So I rushed home, packed up, repaired the clogged toilet from the previous day's disaster and jumped in the wagon and sang all the way to LA-LA-Land!


It took us about 6 hours to reach LA from Fremont. Adam picked me up from Hektor's place, did some grocery shopping at 99 Ranch Market, had dinner nearby at Maxim's Cafe and headed to Adam's beautiful house in Diamond Bar, shared with his other housemates; all of them from Northwood University in Michigan.

I did not do much on Thursday and Friday as everyone had to work. Jon, which I just met took me out for lunch on Thursday and took me around the area in his blazin RX-8! On Friday, Daphne took me to Little Tokyo in downtown LA to have dinner at a ramen shop after strolling around the town and we headed to Korean Town for a drive. We wanted to go to a bar and chit-chat but Adam could not go in as he was underaged... oh wait, no, he did not bring his ID~! :-P
But it was fun anyway driving around Korean Town as it was probably the biggest Korean Town I've ever seen. Nothing was more exciting as what is to come the next day~


Remember Doraemon? Remember Doraemon's favorite bun, Dorayaki? That's fresh piping hot Dorayaki! Yum~!
*Note: No, I'm not saying that I'm Doraemon!*




Saturday, was probably declared 'Sean Visits LA Day' as everybody had me on their schedules; and because of that I am truly grateful to everyone in LA! They were probably so nice also because I made them char-siu (grilled pork) for them which was heavenly (well... I want to believe it that way~)!!!

Visited Hollywood Boulevard, Beverly Hills, and Rodeo Drive. All very upscale and happening, especially Rodeo Drive as it is probably the most upscale shopping district I've ever seen. EVERY single shop over there was high-class and branded. And the shops themselves were luxurious too. Most of all, there was eye-candy everywhere~ hehe! I know Daphne had her own share of eye-candy too~ *tsk!* tsk!*
Then again, its all See-No-Touch! Heck, I was trembling in fear when I brought my cup of coffee inside Gucci, fearing that I'd spill it onto something and become a slave for the rest of my life paying off that $1000 dollar button!




Thank God I did not screw up, and to relief that fear, we drove back to reality and had dinner at a Thai restaurant in Thai Town. Food was pretty good and authentic and there were even Thai performers dancing.

Later that night, Daphne, Annie, Jon, Melvin and me went to Garden Of Eden, a nightclub and it just happened that it was Asian night, so the crowd were all Asians partying away! It was sooooo... good! Tasted Blue Adios too~ which was strong... the way I like it!

It was time to say goodbye on Sunday as I headed back to Fremont. Almost every meal and expense were treated to me while I was in LA, not to mention the wonderful hospitality~!

You guys from LA ROCK~!!!
Special Thanks to Adam and Izet for hosting me!
Visit San Francisco soon and I'll bring you around!

San Francisco Love Fest 2006

****WARNING!****

*READER'S DISCRETION ADVICED!*

THIS POST CONTAINS OBSCENE PICTURES AND NUDITY. IF YOU THINK YOU WILL BE OFFENDED BY ITS CONTENTS, PLEASE LEAVE NOW!


On September 23rd 2006, I experienced the greatest culture shock of my life~!
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And it lasted for 5 seconds~ cuz after that it was eye candy the whole way... in terms of experience, that is!

You see, I went for the Love Fest in San Francisco with Wei Foong, Shae Hui, and Hillarree after lunch at an ASEAN food festival. Richard and his friend joined as well.

The pictures speak for themselves...












































































Overall, the event was really interesting as I've never experienced, seen nor heard of anything like this before. I'm now culturally enlightened!

After that we headed to Japantown for dinner at Tampopo ramen house. I had the Kyushu Chasu Ramen and it was simply delicious! I totally felt like Naruto enjoying his bowl of ramen!

We then headed to Fisherman's wharf and strolled around before meeting up with Han's and gang at a lounge and had wine and appetizers. I should have taken photos! ***yells***

Isn't this picture of Ghirardelli Square so mystical as it is blanketed by fog. It really felt that way that night!


There was a bakery that bakes animal shaped bread. Oh, did I mention that we drove down Lombard Street too?!?!?!?! How exciting!

Headed to Han's place in San Jose to hang out and chit chat for awhile and headed home afterwards. It was a full day and I really enjoyed it as I've never really got to experience San Francisco first hand. One thing I hate though is the endless hours of looking for a place to park!!!






Ujun, this is for you!!!
Taken at the Ghirardelli Square where they make their finest chocolates in front of your eyes!!!