兔年行大运

After living in Kuala Lumpur for the past 10 years. I would have considered myself as a KLite. And every chinese new year (cny) to me is more of a ritual or a pilgrimage for me to visit my parents back in hometown. Nothing much!

However, this year in particular, a bout of excitement hit me way before my trip to travel back home. I just can't explain the reason behind this. Somehow, I'm just so thrill to be back.

Today marks the cny eve for the arrival of the Bunny Year 2011, which is also my 5th day back home.

I'm still at awe how much home can be that comfortable and as I'm blogging this page, I can hear intermittent fireworks and little firecrackers popping and firing around the neighborhood.

I just hope that the next remaining 5 days of my stay here will be as mesmering, enjoyable and thrilling as can be. I have been complaining to everyone I know that time seems to move faster and faster these days. In a blink of an eye, we'll all be back to our individual office doing the same daily routine again. So, I do learn to treasure the time I have with my family especially my aging parents.

To all chinese out there who's reading my blog, I would like to take this lovely opportunity to wish you all
新年快乐，万事如意，身体健康 和 财源广进！

Holidays

Who can deny the fact that holidays could never be enough? I for one can vouch that holidays always end sooner than expected.

Just recently I had to take my compulsory leave; 5 working days altogether. That means all in all, I had exactly one week long break.

With that in mind, I hastily kinda commanded my bf to go to Bangkok(BKK) for a break. He's a regular to BKK for all I know. I believe almost every year, he would make a trip there. As for myself, my last trip to BKK was like 2 years back. So, for me, it's due to repay BKK a visit, hahahaha..

I really have pleasant and fond experiences for all my trips to BKK. I find the Thais have such patience, respects and ever so friendly; and all the Thai cities I have visited so far, I can safely say that Thailand is such a safe place to visit despite whatever riots that had happened past and present.

Our 4D3N trip to BKK was spent visiting places that both of us had never been before. The day of arrival was a casual day. As we arrived way before hotel check-in time, we went around shopping and going to restaurants we love to revisit. We also talked about how we should spend the next 2 days.

For Day 2, we booked a trip to the ruin city of Ayuthea. It was the 2nd (out of the total four) Capital of Thailand and the entire trip took the whole day with several stops to nearby temples and noted places of visits.

I was amazed by the beautiful ruins of the temples. If it had not been destroyed by the Burmese during the war, I believe this UNESCO World Heritage Site should be one of the most magnificent structures one could find, not losing to any Seven Wonders of the World. The Buddha head wrapped by the tree trunk simply took my breath away. I am easily amazed by images of such site. I simply have to acknowledge that wonders do exist in this world.

Another breath-taking site was the reclining Buddha structure. Although it was only a stand alone Buddha with no temple to house it, I was still pleasantly mesmerised by the beauty of it and wondered how one was able to build such temples, Buddhas and architectures in days where no machineries or equipments were available.

After a long and hot day, we took a cruise back to BKK along the Chai Phraya river. As it's the monsoon season, we noticed the banks were filled to the brim and several temples seemed like flooded by the overflowing river.

Day 3 was spent by a half day trip to the infamous floating market. Again, the long tail boat together with the paddle boat rides sent me giggling like a child. I just could not believe my ears when I was told that the locals brushed their teeth as well as washed their clothes using water from this murky river.

This floating market is like any other markets you could find on land. The merchandises range from fruits, drinks, meat to hats, souvenirs and even kitchen ware. All boats paddled swiftly cramping in this narrow river, and I must salute how the boatmen were able to manoeuvre safely in it. The remaining of the day, we went around some shopping malls and ended up the night with a nice 2 hours foot + oil body massage for only 600 Baht. Nothing beats a good massage after a long and tiring day.

After spending 3 nights in BKK, I am still glad to have made this trip. Bangkok is still one of the friendliest city for me. The food, the people, the prices and the places make Thailand one of my top priority whenever I wanna take a short break. Would you agree with me too?

Lovely Evening

It has been a long time since I managed to find time to hook up with some close friends. I'm a person who's not very good in keeping in touch, but that does not mean I do not cherish the friendships.

Tonight was a really wonderful and fun night as I was looking forward to taking this gym mate of mind for her birthday dinner. She is someone special to me in a sense that she was the first person and till now, the only one whom I had confessed me being gay. Although the entire episode requires another blog to explain, in short, she accepted me for being who I am. And for that, I truly appreciate her friendship.

We had made reservation at a very nice Thai restaurant. My bf also tagged along together with another friend to make it a foursome dinner so that we could order more varieties compared if there were only two of us.

This Thai restaurant which is situated in a secluded residential area is quite popular. So I was told. Judging from the crowd and later on, confirmed by some other friends, I could not object to this notion.

Luckily, we had made a reservation as when the time we arrived, we saw a string of customers seated at the waiting area outside the restaurant already.

We were ushered to a table for four at the end of the room which I think was nice as we could have some privacy not being surrounded by the crowd. We hurriedly ordered as the birthday gal and I were starving arising from not having our lunches.

The appetiser soon arrived and swiftly followed by the rest of the dishes and beverages. We served ourselves with wine and slowly devour the aromatic authentic Thai cuisines. This was the second time I came to this place, and the food still maintained it's quality.

We chatted, ate, laughed, drank, snapped pictures and drank somemore.

Soon it's time for cake-cutting session. The birthday gal was a bit embarrased that we had to sing her a birthday song amidst the crowd. She sheepishly obliged. And followed by more photos taking and laughters.

As tomorrow is a work day, we'd to end the gathering slightly earlier so that everyone could rest early for a brand new week the next day.

Although the gathering was short and brief, it's not short of fun and love.

Who says we must meet every so often to stay connected and build deeper love. It's all in the heart to make it happen!

Expect the Unexpected

Today was a horrible day which if given the chance, I would love to erase it from my life.

As I was driving back after working out at the gym, I met with a car accident. Until now, I still do not have a full recollection of how it all happened.

I was approaching a traffic light which was still shining it's red code. However, when I passes by this yellow boxes, old memories of my car accident 2 years ago flashed across my mind; and I told myself to be careful. As I was checking out if there was any car crossing the yellow boxes, out of a sudden I realised that I was running into a car right in front of me.

I stamped on the brake as hard as I could. I could hear the brake jammed but my car was still lunging forward. I swerved to the left but unfortunately, it was not good enough to avoid the car. As a result, my right corner crashed into it's left backside.

Oh God, I just could not believed that this had happened to me.

We got down to check out the situation. My car was pretty badly dented but his continental car was only 10%  of my condition. However, his back light crushed.

The male driver was fortunately a very nice, soft spoken gentleman. Meanwhile, his wife did not interfere in our discussion. I thank God that nobody was hurt in the process. I knew it was my fault and I admitted upfront. He was nice enough to assure me that it wasn't purposely done and no one would have wanted this to happen. That really helped calming me down.

We exchanged contacts and I promised to bear the costs of his repair. He assured me that he would try his best to get the best quotation. I would not have imagined if I had met a road bully. I have seen enough of road bullies posted over the Youtube and I might not be able to handle such situation.

I hurriedly sent my car to a workshop nearby where I live. After handling over the necessity to the mechanic, I packed all valuable items from the car and the mechanic sent me home.

To our surprise, while approaching my condo, we saw a huge crowd gathering in front of the premise. To our horror, a car turned turtle right in the middle of the small lane leading into the guardhouse. I was wondering how could a car turned turtle in such a small lane? The marvellous thing is, it landed in the middle and none of the cars parked on either side of the lane was affected.

I had no mood to stay any longer trying to figure out what happened. Too much had happened to me in one day already.

Later today, a friend posted something on Facebook pertaining to "Expect the Unexpected", and I told myself, it wouldn't have been more apt seeing this after what had just happened.

I believe, I have to budget about RM2,000- for the costs of repair for both vehicles. I just hope and pray that the quotation for the other car would not give me a heart attack come Monday.

To all of you out there, please drive carefully and Expect the Unexpected. Take care! 

Rest & Relax

Nothing beats a holiday whether it's a short break spent locally or an overseas trip.

I recently had a chance to visit Redang with a couple of friends. I could not remember how long it has been since I last had an island trip. The last one that I had was to Perhentian Island at least 3-4 years back.

Back then, it was an all PLU trip about 8 of us. The topics of course were pro-gay. But this time around it was more of a mixed group with some female friends.

I didn't expect much from this trip as I was kinda disappointed with my last Perhentian trip perhaps due to high expectation. The current wet spell also kinda dampened my spirit for this trip.

However, when we landed on the island at Laguna Redang Resort, I was already impressed with the facilities and the layout of the structure.

The moment I laid eyes on the beach, I was all thrilled with excitement. Who wouldn't scream with excitement when you are being invited with the blue calm sea and the clear blue skies?

Later that day, we joined the open sea snorkelling. Although it was only a 5 mins boat ride, the fishes and corals were breathtaking. My bf brought his newly bought water-proof camera, and we tried taking some underwater pictures with the fishes. I must say, it takes a lot of effort and energy to hold one's breath for underwater picture taking.

After spending our time and energy snorkelling, we were all exhausted and hungry. Soon, it's time for dinner. The buffet dinner spread was more than enough to fill our growling stomachs. The cooking were surprisingly quite palatable. And I'm surprised thus far, I haven't had any complaints as yet.

The next two days were spent snorkelling at the marine park, stroll on the soft white beach, frolicking in the swimming pool and more cam-whoring. The marine park was awesome. You do not need to swim far from the beach to view thousand of colorful marine lives swimming inches from yr face. If you were lucky, you could even catch a glimpse of 7-8 foot long eel.

Soon it was time to bid goodbye to our 3D2N trip and I give a of vote 8/10 points to this wonderful yet brief trip to Redang Island. I could safely say that I would not hesitate to come back to this haven again.

Body & Diet

After falling sick for the past 2 days, my body felt lethargic for not being able to sweat it out in the gym. I guess, there's some truth in there when they say "old habit dies hard". Eventhough I was absurdly busy today at work, my mind kept on saying that I must work out tonight no matter what. Hence, I made sure all my work was completed on time without much outstanding tasks so that I could walk off from the office early without worrying my boss beckoning me back with, "is this done? is that completed?".

So at 6pm sharp, I walked gingerly towards to the window to check if traffic was smooth during such after office hour mad rush and to my surprise, there wasn't a gridlock like what I would have expected on a normal workday.

Hence, I swiftly took my wallet and car keys, and walked doubly fast out from my office. In order not to waste time figuring out if traffic was smooth at the other side of town, I drove to the nearest gym and changed. Looked like I was still in time for a session of bodycombat.

I really have no idea when was the last time I did a bodycombat class, and since I had no other options, I just walked in and squeezed myself among the full crowd to find a small space to myself.

When the class was conducted midway, I felt that my jabs, punches and hooks as well as my kicks were really out. I felt like a newbie again doing it. This shows how long I have not been doing bodycombat.

The instructor was one of the best I had experienced before, and he really made me worked doubly hard, even approaching me and challenged me to give my best. I believed he could sense that I'm not optimising my level best. Was it that obvious? I asked myself.

Just half way of doing it, I was huffing and puffing, panting like nobody's business. I told myself that my stamina is going down and you'd better pull your socks up, pal! 

Just as I was doing my abs exercise, my bf sms me if I wanna joined him for bak kut teh dinner as he would be doing some chores nearby my place. Well well, who would want to reject such nice temptations after surviving on plain bread for the last 48 hours, right? 

So there we were ordering our usual portion of bak kut teh, braised chicken feet and a plate of vege. When the scrumptuos food arrived, I could not wait to whack them all but somehow, my inner self kept reminding, "watch out! You are not fully recovered yet, and you had just exercised. Do you want to waste the calories you have just burnt?"

That hit me hard and I slowed down. Eventually, I only had half bowl of the rice provided =)

I kept on reminding myself, you are going to Redang next week and you do want to have nice pics of yourself taken, right? The thought of photos with big belly immediately made me stop eating. Admittedly being a vain person, I can't accept looking at photos of myself with a protruding beer belly.

Then again, which gay man does not like to have nice photos to be taken and to be complimented on?

I still have a few days more to lose some weights but judging from my working schedule, it looks like a tall order to shape up myself in time.

Well, I can't change the world but if I can stop putting on a few pounds within this few days, I believe, I can't complain much.

I just wonder, how did these guys managed to tone their bodies into such beautiful crafted shapes? Are they humans? Guess, you must be thinking I'm out of my mind again, hahaha.

Sicknesses & Health

Health to many is nothing until sicknesses dawn upon them or there's a sudden lost of somebody important and dear.

For me, my cases are pretty peculiar. I can go on for a long period of time feeling great and energetic. However, when I fall sick, It would be something major or takes a slightly longer time to recover. Mostly, I would need more than a day of MC to .be back on my feet again

This year has been pretty unfortunate in terms of my health. In May, I experienced a prolonged tiredness as well as bout of fever. Little did I realise that I was hit by dengue. I had read so much on the news that dengue cases here in KL were on the rise, and there were friends who had suffered from the same sickness. But, it just never crossed my mind that I would one day be a victim of this ailment brought about by the vicious mosquitoes.

This sickness had left me with greater respect for my health and the way that I should take care of my body. The ordeal of fighting with dengue fever is indescribable. You were left with no strength and energy that all you could do was lie down at all times.

Just a few ago, all of a sudden at about 10pm, I felt that my throat was pretty dry and sensed some mild aching when I drink or swallow. At the same time, I realised that pimples started to find their ways on my forehead, side of my jaw and even at the corner of my mouth.  I was advised to drink more water, gargle with salt water, feed on some vitamin C, take 100 Plus and all that one could think of

However, neither of the remedy worked but instead, the sore throat got worse the next day and you know what, 3 mouth ulcers appeared on left, right and centre underneath the tougue. Swallowing my saliva and drinking was already a painful challenge, the tinging sensation brought about by the ulcers made it even worse. And annoying too.

While bracing myself for recovery, this morning I was hit by a serious case of diarrhoea. It was so terrible that I could hardly walk straight. Once again, lying down seems to be the best option. I could not recollect how many times that I visited the toilet but I can assure you that I could not sit for long before the next visit.

Talk about luck, I can't stop thinking why is this happening to me? Oh please just give me a break.

I just got back from the clinic not long ago, the doctor (well, young and not so bad looking..hehehe) assured me that I would be as good as new tomorrow.

There I was, wasting my Sunday idling at  home lying either on the couch or on my bed surviving on bread and 100 Plus.

Oh yes, did I mention that no one took care of me today? I guess it's time for me to evaluate my list of friends >.<!!!

To all those out there, wishing all of you the best of health!!