wePadding

Right.

So here we are in Suntec City blogging from an iPad. A display set in Epicenter jailbroken and running Cydia with the fonts replaced with horrible Times New Roman, but goodness it's a pleasure to type on this heavy baby when it's resting on a surface in landscape mode.

Also, the screen on the iPhone 4! Gorgeous. We had a side-by-side comparison with our 3GS and it was like comparing a plasma telly to a LED telly.

The things we do to walk off a heavy Japanese buffet lunch at Kuishin-Bo!

Collector's Curse

If there's a bane about collecting anything, it's the amount of space available for whatever there is to collect. From the usual stuff like books and pens to caps and cups and playing cards (okay we sorta described the stuff we've collected in our lifetime), we've reached a point where we can't really just buy whatever we want on a whim.

All covered by a single phrase: "There is no shelf space left!"

Which holds true when it comes to books, caps, and cups. As for pens, well, the pharmaceutical industry is one with multinational companies generous enough to hand out gimmicks so pens are ever plenty to the point where we've stopped collecting, unless we come across a nice unique pen that's worth keeping (like the bone-shaped Fosamax pen, or this large pen filled with numbered balls for a quick game of bingo or lotto, or souvenir pens). We've some three venti-sized Starbucks cups now filled with pens that most of them have dried up without even being used much (or at all).

Sigh.

Our Starbucks City Mug collection has reached its limit now that Kepong Biceps has brought back the Scotland City Mug (with the new design) for us (seeing how our old Scotland City Mug got chipped and mum immediately trashed it for us before we could stow it away, chip or no), and we may be expecting a London or Amsterdam City Mug from another friend too. There's also other coffee mugs we've gotten stowed together with our City Mugs, waiting for the day when they finally have a showcase/shelf where they can be displayed individually.

Books? We actually now blame BookXcess for considerably filling up the bookshelf we had installed under our cubicle, and am now considering a second bookshelf if we can find that particular model again. We actually find ourself walking into the store almost every single day of the week just to have a peek at what's new on the shelf (even if there hasn't been any new arrivals!) just in case we spot something that would be snapped up quickly, like Calvin & Hobbes treasury comics or The Art Of Discworld, and we don't care we're going to blame them for the fact that we have two copies of The Hounds Of The Baskervilles.

But we love them anyways. Where else can you find the complete set of Little Miss series (we'll wait until the complete Mr Men series are out before we buy 'em!) or audiobooks at the cheap? We'll be drowning our little niece with books from here!

Anyways. We sort of find that we need to cut down on the collecting especially after we've relocated and find that to our shame we have ten cups/mugs/glasses in the office, out of which we only use three - our KL City Mug for our drinks, a glass that looks like the A&W Root Beer stein from Chatuchak, and the third one technically a cafetier but take off the cover/plunger/filter bit and we can use it to drink water. As for the rest, well, they've just got to be stacked nicely into bags and stowed under the cubicle desk...

Filing Fail

We're in the midst of relocating, and it's at this time where all the old stuff comes out into the open. Stuff that we've sort of shoved into a cabinet and left till times like spring cleaning or relocating when we have to take it out and organize it into boxes, files and folders, or the rubbish bin.

And to our shame we'd come across a large bag (the largest plastic bag you'd get from the supermarket), filled chock-full with letters, letters, more letters, claim forms, product inserts, pay advice, magazines, and even something far more intimidating than enlarged lips pasted on a mask...

In those stacks of letters, we find our missing phone and credit card bills from 2006. Statements, blank envelopes for cheques, brochures and rewards booklets still in the envelopes. An archeological find indeed, of an era when Janvier had yet to develop the technology of filing! Much discovered today helped to fill in the missing gap of missing bills and statements, and now our archiving is far more complete than it ever was before!

Everything else, like old Guardian punch cards and claim forms, magazines, product inserts, credit card reward booklets and envelopes were either shredded or binned. Finally. Clearing up space and giving us some ease of mind.

Now that Technology: Filing has been discovered for over a couple of years, next in line is Technology: Digital Filing. This once we've relocated, gotten ourself a new PC and a second external hard disk and set up the scanner with paper feeder. Then we'll start transferring all our work dossiers and documents into digital copies, even though admittedly we prefer actual hardcopies.

Onerous Onlineness

The current method of anti-piracy prevention where you need an internet connection to play games irk us terribly. Not that there's a lot of games that do this, really, so far it's only with Steam that we have our gripes against but with games like Assassin's Creed 2, C&C4 and now even Starcraft 2 requiring an internet connection to play, we get a serious case of the irritables.

You're paying some RM250 for an original copy and there's still more hassle? In order to install, you need to connect once and create a Battle.net account and link your CD Key to your account, then you're able to play? In order to save your achievements in the campaign, you need to be connected. In order to play multiplayer, you need to be connected because there is no more LAN multiplayer.

Well. At least it's a mite improvement compared to C&C4, where in order to play even the single player campaign you need to be connected.

We have this notion that if we buy Starcraft 2, we're buying a game that we can play as we like at any time we like provided we have a PC that can support the hardware requirements. We kinda see Starcraft 2 as a single-player strategy game with additional multiplayer options, hence we think of it as a game where you can play offline and only connect online should you want to play with/against other players. Not, as it partly looks like, a multiplayer online game with a single player campaign story mode thrown in. Perhaps if we think of Starcraft 2 as a multiplayer online game then we wouldn't gripe over the internet requirement for gaming. But it's hard to think of it that way when Blizzard is releasing Starcraft 2 over three campaigns for the story!

So what happens if internet connectivity goes down again? No multiplayer then, yeah?

It's interesting how Starcraft 2 gets our goat while C&C4 doesn't. Sadly after Red Alert 2 we haven't really had any of the Command & Conquer games make us feel like how Starcraft 2 does - like we're back in college or university and off to visit the cyber cafe after lectures almost every day. We put this down to nostalgia and the love for Zergs.

You can label us as being 10 years in the past where 'connecting online' was an option limited by the speed of the modem and data charges, nowadays everyone is on broadband. But we don't like to take our internet connection for granted as being 'always there'.

Wax / Wane

Right. It's been a month now since we've waxed, and convenience-wise waxing definitely tops shaving. While we may like the feel of short prickly stubble, chafing stubble is no fun at all (especially when they're prickly enough to prick through clothes!) and we can only take a week at most before having to shave again. While post-waxing hair is soft and does not itch as it is not prickly! Also only need upkeep after 3 weeks! And we're told that after a few sessions the regrowth rate will slow down even more!

The only problem is, waxing will wax our wallet free of cash too if we keep at it every three weeks, compared to shaving. And we could just let hair grow back again, that would be even more wallet-friendly.

Oh well. If we didn't like it we would have stopped shaving a year back, heh.

Wax On... Wax Off

...don't forget to breath. Very important.

So. Stewerdess Sal opens her own aesthetics shop, and she needed help from her friends. Specifically, she needed volunteer models so that her staff could practise their techniques when it came to brow treading, manicures, pedicures and waxing. Volunteer male and female models.

Everyone was apprehensive about the waxing thing, whether it was the axillae, the legs, nose hair, and most balked at the idea of going brazilian. The private bits, open for viewing, subjected to scrutiny, and soon shorned of shrubbery.

The thing is, everyone has this idea that waxing brings about an entire world of pain never felt before. The closest we think waxing may feel like, is like having a Handyplast plastered to the leg where there is hair, and yanking it off. Already as it is, peeling the bloody plaster off slowly may sting, what more will waxing feel like!

Since it's for a friend, most of us agreed to lend a helping hand, or in this case, helping arms and legs. We had the impression that it would be just us and the trainee after all. A trainee that we didn't know.

We were ok with volunteering, so our only question we needed to ask Stewardess Sal was, "What's the minimal hair length required for waxing?"

'Cos it's no point us volunteering when the hair length isn't long enough to wax off, isn't it? We've been shaving for close to a year now and it's been taking a toll in razor blades, as we have to shave every other day. If we leave it, at the most after a week it'll start getting prickly and we'll have to do something about it. And we were curious about two things about waxing: just how painful waxing really is, and how long does it take before hair grows again.

And so we made an appointment, and as the day drew closer we received and email from Sal saying that we're the first male model for waxing and that she would be the one to attend to us as the other trainees are working on other volunteers. If we weren't comfortable with that, we can come in later that day after she's done with another volunteer.

Naturally we hesitated. It's one thing having a complete stranger wax you, it's another when it's a friend that you aren't that, er, close with.

It's also a good thing Sal told us this earlier and not on the day we arrived, 'cos we had time to think it over and in the end we thought, what the heck, let's get this over with. If she told us upon arrival we might just have chickened out for good, or else gone through with the thing but felt as if we were doing it against our will.

So when we arrived we got a quick tour of the place, and when it was time we were shown into a room where we changed and waited for Sal. Sal then tried a brand of hot wax on our right axilla. Smelled of rose, and while we couldn't see her applying it we could definitely feel something warm there. Not searing hot, but comfortably warm.

Then we felt a slight pinching feeling.

Then she yanked. And immediately after that, using a gloved hand, pressed on the area waxed.

And in our opinion, it's not that bad. Certainly nothing to scream about!

Then she informed us she was trying a different brand of hot wax on our left axilla (the, well, advantage of being the first volunteer, you get to try a few different stuff!). This time we felt it sting a bit more, so for the rest of the session Sal used the rose-smelling wax.

It was all professionally done. And the pain nothing that would cause us to take pause and breathe or whimper. All the while the two of us chitchatted about this and that. And in under an hour we were finished! With, admittedly, bits of beeswax stuck here and there on our skin, as there was no shower room to clean up after a session.

So our take on waxing? Not the horrifying scream-inducing painful experience that you hear about, probably because hot wax was used and not wax strips. And we're now three weeks past without feeling prickly!

And we gather we had an easier time after all - Rambunctious Ron was the next to be waxed, and in his session he had Stewardess Sal overseeing two trainees waxing him! Turns out he was ticklish during his session, and his laughter could be heard outside the room! Would have made anyone wonder just what was going on in there. Well at least it wasn't the three girls who were laughing!

A Mouse In The House Redux

Back when we stayed in our old house, there was a time when we also had some problems with pests (can't remember if it was a mouse or a rat) and we had a mouse cage set up to catch it. Can't remember if we did caught it, but we guess we did in the end, because of this: somehow or other we heard that you'd to kill said pest by means of boiling water, this will discourage further pests from infesting the house.

We're not sure just how true this is. The idea that its death squeaks will frighten its ilk far away had some appeal, though. But we must have caught it, because if we didn't this form of ridding said pest wouldn't have been a topic, and we wouldn't have heard of such a thing.

In fact, we'd actually forgotten about the whole thing, until we mentioned about our mouse problem to a friend. We told her that we were not sure of the mouse's fate once it was caught but we did consider releasing it somewhere far from home rather than killing it. She then told us to make sure to wash the cage with hot water so that the mouse can't smell its way back to our home. When she mentioned hot water, that reminded us of the hot water killing method and we suppose that that was the fate meant for the little tyke once it was caught.

Yes well the prospect of actually killing it didn't really appeal to us, not when it's in a helpless state, but we'd rather that than it infesting our house, piddling and pooping all over the place. Ted already showed us the methods he took to combat his rodents, and we were considering what to do with the mouse depending on what was used...

With the mouse cage, there was the option of releasing it somewhere far away once we've caught it, keeping it as a pet, giving it to someone else as a pet, killing it via boiling water, letting it die of exposure and starvation by leaving the cage out in the back lane, typing up the mouse in a bag once caught and dumping it into the garbage truck, taking it to a vet to be put to sleep, or by attempting to stab it with a sharp and pointy metal stick.

Then there's rat glue. Once stuck we thought of leaving the trapped mouse out in the back lane for the cats to play with it, releasing it in the nearby park for the snake to go for it (and probably get stuck in glue too!), or to swiftly hammer its skull in for an instant death, or set fire to the thing, or stab it with a sharp and pointy metal stick.

Then again, we don't have a sharp and pointy metal stick...discussing the merits of life or death and a few methods of death with the Chief, the Chief too was against releasing it and rather the boiling water. In the Chief's opinion, it's an instant death. We don't think so - we sort of likened scalding to boiling tar poured on soldiers sieging a castle. It scalds, the eyes pop, the skin peels, the heart rate shoots up and the body goes into shock, and somewhere along the way it dies. The Chief reacted far worse to our suggestion of rat glue and leaving trapped mouse in the back lane, though. And thought that our releasing it elsewhere would just make it someone else's problem, and delay its inevitable death, heh.

So when the mouse was caught the other day, we left its fate to be decided by our parents. We could have taken the initiative to take the cage, drive all the way to Klang or somewhere far enough to necessitate paying toll, then setting it free to scavange and survive, but thought against doing so because our parents may assume that the mouse remained uncaught or there was the possibility it will return (you never know). Plus our car might smell in the end. So all we did that night when we saw the mouse in the cage?

Asked (in English) if it understood us. And if it knew how to cook. Nod its head or shake its head if it understood.

It did neither.

So, instead of leaving it in the kitchen where it would continue piddling all over the newspaper laid underneath the cage, we took it out to the back yard and left it to the parents. And jiggled the siew yoke bait off the hook for it to enjoy its last meal.

Surprisingly mum actually thought to release it somewhere far away! Seeing how the pest has been causing mum to go into a furor cleaning the entire kitchen and areas affected by mouse droppings we thought mum would rather end her troubles there and then. But dad commanded for the water treatment, and so the pest was scalded to death.

Mum later on found the mouse's nest somewhere in the store room, by the look of it the mouse was running a solo gig and there was no family of mice to worry about.

So we came home after a rather heavy dinner today, and as we walked into the kitchen we see the mouse cage set out once again, this time with a piece of char siew as bait! Mon Dieu! Pourquoi? Pourquoi??? Merde!!!

Campfire Story: Iron Cave

The troop sat in a circle, ears pricked as they paid attention to the scoutmaster.

"There is a story long ago that involved another scout troop when they were out in the wilderness, foraging supplies for their camp. It was getting dark, and they were in foreign territory that looked unfriendly and rather scarce on readily available food. But the troop perservered and managed to find water, and survived on their remaining rations, and managed to gather a few fruits. For three days they camped out in the wilderness, waiting to earn their badge after a week's camping out."

The scouts ooohed their admiration.

"Then on the fourth day, a scout brought back meat. Part of a cooked chicken. This worried the scoutmaster, although the rest of the troop cheered because four days of dry rations and fruits left a lot to be desired in their diet. A few things worried the scoutmaster, where did the cooked chicken come from, who else was staying in the wilderness for the scoutmaster saw no sign of any other life around, and if there were others out here did the trooper steal from them."

"So the scoutmaster questioned the little one, and the scout reported that he found it in a metal cave."

"A metal cave?" asked Frank.

"Yes. Specifically, an iron cave."

"Did he mean a mining cave where there's iron, scoutmaster?" asked Nancy.

"Very sharp of you, Nancy, but no. What the scout meant was a cave made of iron. As it was late already, the scoutmaster told the little one to bring him to the cave the following day."

"On the fifth day, while the rest of the scouting party went on with their duties at camp, the scoutmaster and the scout headed to the place where the cave was to be found. Instead of having to go through the woods, the scout led the scoutmaster through the grasslands further away from the camping site, until they reached the stone grounds that lie past the edge of the grasslands."

"And lo and behold, there stood the iron cave."

The scouts aaahed their amazement.

"Now, here's what happened...the reason why this story is told around campfires."

All the little scouts leaned forward, as the scoutmaster's voice dropped to a whisper.

"The scout had already told the scoutmaster that he found the chicken hooked up on a wall near the back of the cave. There was nobody else in the cave, and the cave did not have an inhabited feel, so the scout assumed that someone else must have brought the chicken to the cave to eat, and not being able to finish it, left the rest in the cave."

"Left it hooked up on a wall?" blurted Joe incredulously, eyes wide.

"The very same question the scoutmaster asked! However, standing outside of the cave, the two of them could smell roast pork coming from inside the cave. Very mysterious. The scoutmaster looked in and, would you know it, he saw a slab of pork hanging on a hook at the far wall of the cave! He told the little one to wait outside while he went in to investigate."

"He inspected each wall near the mouth of the cave, then moved deeper into the cave tunnel. There was no sign of anyone staying in the cave, no tracks at all, no scent...the scoutmaster arrived at the slab of pork. He touched the pork..."

The scoutmaster's voice here was barely a whisper.

"When BANG!"

Some scouts squeaked in surprise.

"The cave mouth started falling in! The little one got a shock of his life as the scoutmaster was trapped! "Go get the others! Don't try to do this yourself, in case you get hurt!" ordered the trapped scoutmaster. The frightened scout rushed off to gather the rest of the troop, and assembled outside the iron cave. Tried as they might, they did not have equipment that could pry an opening big enough for the scoutmaster to escape."

"The troop stayed by the iron cave all night, sharing the pork and thinking of ways to rescue their trapped leader. But the scouts were not strong enough and soon they were all tired out, and slept."

"They did not sleep for long, however, because all of them were woken up by the sound of something approaching. Something large. The earth shook and there was a loud whistling heard in the air. The scoutmaster, concerned for his troop's safety, ordered them to hide. The troop did so quickly, but it was too dark to see what it was. All they could see was the iron cave suddenly rising up and floating in midair, the blocked entrance angled upwards."

"And then, as the whistling sound stopped, a waterfall of boiling hot water rained down into the cave, billowing steam rising from the entrance."

The eyes of the scouts listening grew wide and some gasped in shock.

"The little scouts ran in fear, the sound of their scoutmaster's dying shrieks following them as they fled the grasslands, back to their camp to gather their belongings, then running for their lives."

"Scoutmaster, is it true?"

"This was a long time ago. The story has been told from generation to generation, as a lesson to be learned: when foraging for food, use the knowledge you've learn and do not simply pick food where it does not naturally belong. As for the troop members, all of them emerged from that incident with hair as white as snow. Their families believed their story, for apparently even from their homes they could hear the final screams of the poor scoutmaster. None dare return to that place, and all were warned against going there."

---

Too late, a forager remembered this story told in his younger scouting days...

A Mouse In The House

A mouse! A mouse!
There's a mouse in the house!

It scarpers up and down the stair,
We have no idea where's its lair,
It's got us all pulling at our hair,
We've got to learn to fight unfair!

'Cos now we have to watch out for our food,
Leaving things as they were's no good!
For this mouse can be hygienically rude,
It doesn't care for where it's poo'ed!

A mouse! A mouse!
There's a mouse in the house!

We saw it last night in the hall,
It came and stood, a mouse-height tall!
On two feet it looked at us with gall,
This mouse, it really has some balls!

A mouse! A mouse!
There's a mouse in the house!

We're wondering how to rid this pest,
Which way, we wonder, is the best?
Cage, trap, glue, or poison; lest,
It brings it's family and all the rest!

A mouse! A mouse!
A frickin' mouse is in the house!

Video Killed The Radio (In Our) Car

Well, actually CDRs did. Our original CDs, once converted to MP3s to fill our iPod, sits safely on our shelf while we burn our own selection of songs onto CDRs to keep in our car. To be honest why we opt for CDRs is because we don't have a radio with an auxilary cable port, otherwise we would be lugging our iPod Video along with all our music.

And the FM transmitter that we got? Best used during our road trips. Otherwise, we get interference sometimes from other stations sharing the same frequency occasionally and that irks us, although by the time we'd gotten a mobile windscreen mount and fixed up our iPod Touch to play BBC's Pride And Prejudice on it via the transmitter, we haven't been experiencing intereference any more.

Ayup. Happiness was finally being able to watch videos on the iPod Touch, instead of being limited to Happy Tree Friends and Dilbert video podcasts and whatever free videos the iTunes Store had for us. The availability of good DVD to video converters were rare (or we just didn't know where to find them, or we had to buy them) and we didn't have much video files to convert, too, the only videos we had were some funny ads our friends sent us a long time ago and videos we'd recorded using our iXus.

Then YouTube Downloader came along and gave us more videos to store on our iPhone! And otousan suggested Format Factory, which did the same thing but with two additional features: the ability to convert certain files that YouTube Downloader couldn't, and mass conversion!

And so, our iPhone's finding less and less space for music, to make way for more videos to keep us company during red traffic lights at peak hours, during our meals when we don't have a book to read, or even in bed before we call it a night.

From book juggling, we now add on video juggling, on the go! From episodes of the Sailormoon anime to YouTubes of the Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, to episodes of series we're helping the Chief to obtain, and in the future we'll be thinking of using Handbrake to convert Sailormoon S and Super S into video format, not to mention what other shows we've yet to watch, and the free episodes of old sci-fi tv series currently available on the iTunes Store, we've considered removing more music from our iPhone to make way for the videos...

...then again, that's what our 30GB iPod's for! And it's far better than what we hear on the radio some times!

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon

You know, it's rather a fortunate thing that we have YouTube now, because we can see what we're missing. And it's a good thing too, because what we see on YouTube so far really, really, helps us hesitate when it comes to buying the DVDs of the live action version of Sailormoon, otherwise known as Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon.

Perhaps we were looking for a lot more realism, where their sailor suits don't look so bright and their bows aren't so big, or for Sailor Mercury to have a much darker wig in blue...or the four Shitennou to actually keep the costume design they had in the manga or anime, rather than have totally new radical costumes...or their poses. And we haven't seen enough to decide if Luna is supposed to be an animated doll, or that, not being able to use a real life cat as Luna, substituted a doll instead but everyone has to act as if it's a real life cat...And Tuxedo Mask's tuxedo, instead of looking refined, was spoilt by a cheap mask and shiny costume cloak.

Perhaps it's because we want the live action series to be a serious, realistic and rather yau yeng kind of live action series, rather than a more playful show...

We remember the first time we saw the transformation scene on YouTube. We almost died of embarrassment and almost went blind, figuring that Usagi was going to perform some ecchi scene but thankfully she was clothed, and instead horrified us with a less-than-elegant transformation scene with a far too bright background. Tuxedo Kamen's transformation, however, was so bad it should have just been done away with!



Took some gnashing of teeth and a change of perspective of what we expected from this live action series, but we sorta braved our way through the transformation scenes and snippets from the show and we must say, it probably isn't too bad.

Some plus points (based on what we've seen on YouTube, that is):



The characters don't have the hairstyles as in the original design (Usagi with blonde hair or Ami's blue hair etc) but only after they transform (it's funny watching Ami transform, she looks so serious until she waves her arm past her head, and then there is this suddenly bubbly cheerful face with blue hair), hence it's not like the manga/anime where it's odd wondering why people don't recognize that Usagi is Sailormoon in costume;

Luna does have some funny expressions (we think there's a few dolls with different eye expressions!);

There're more different attacks, like in the manga! Jupiter's Flower Hurricane, Venus's Rolling Heart Vibration, which never made it in the anime, get screen time here! Plus, we're not treated to stock footage of their attacks every time;

The script is rather different from the manga/anime, so there's something new to watch here! There's a Dark Mercury for one thing, although dressed far too weirdly!

Well, from reacting rather badly the first time we watched it, we're getting even more curious as to how the series really is.



It may be that the show could be bad enough to tear our soul apart and absorb it, turning the series into a Horcrux for us. It may turn out to be quite ok (but honestly, we kinda liked how the anime portrayed Zoisite and this new white, slit-eyed piano playing Zoisite isn't doing it for us just yet...). First, we gotta do some more teeth-gnashing and part with a pretty hundred or more to buy the DVD set.

An Artful Attack

There's something about the Sailormoon anime that bugged us: the different art styles found in different episodes. Initially we didn't bother much, as we continued watching, there would be episodes we would happily rewatch and enjoy and some that we wouldn't bother with unless we were going to rewatch all the episodes in a season, like what we're doing with season 1 on our iPhone now.

All because of the artwork: how the characters look, how they move, expressions, and sometimes even the jokes.

So for four seasons, from Sailormoon till Sailormoon Super S, there are four art styles that we commonly see.

The 'Smooth'. Because of the way there are no sharp edges and everything is slightly rounded. More obvious is when a character is facing off-center to one side but not totally sideways, the face looks absolutely flat. Rei's hair seemed extraordinarily large for her head! When we first saw this artwork we weren't too affected by it, we had not built up high standards for anime artwork for Sailormoon then (not like how we expect the Dragon Ball anime to really mimic the manga!). But when the other, far more aesthetically pleasing art styles became more frequent, we began to dislike this style.

The 'Stocky'. This was another style frequently seen from season 1, although there's been quite a fair bit of refinement in Sailorstars (by then they'd actually come up with an artist's guidebook we think). Thick lines, and everyone seemed shorter. While rather different compared to the other art styles, the movements in these episodes were rather fluid, and some of their expressions were enjoyable (meaning funny) too.

The 'Svelte'. The faces had a certain shape to them, legs were longer somehow, the details stood out, everyone had perfect pose and posture! These episodes were a pleasure to view! We don't recall which episode this artwork appeared, we were only aware of it from the second half of season one (also because the two comic books we had featuring anime stills featured a number of episodes with this art style!).

The 'Sharp'. We think this art style only appeared from Sailormoon S? We'd bought the anime stills comic books for this season when Popular sold them at one point, it didn't matter that the books were translated into Chinese (whether Chinese or Japanese we wouldn't have understood it anyway), and happily enjoyed looking at the pictures to see what we were missing because due to the lack of merchandise the only two seasons we never got to watch were Sailormoon S and Sailorstars.

Anyways, reading (figuratively) the comics we noticed quite a lot of good artwork, which made us even more keen to watch it. Now that we've watched them all, we think this art style appeared most only in S, and less so in Super S and Sailorstars...we think. Will need to rewatch them all!

Still, the question is why?! Why are there so many styles when other anime had one standard art style? Wait, we think the Naruto anime also had a couple of art styles. It was because of the differing styles that, when it comes to recording episodes onto VHS tapes, we were rather selective, often overwriting 'Smooth' art style episodes for other episodes (because we couldn't afford to buy VHS tapes by the dozen).

Then in Sailorstars we noticed that there's some sort of standardization: character faces followed the 'Svelte' style, and legs sometimes were ridiculously long...

...but overall Sailorstars were much more aesthetically pleasing to watch!

As with all the transformations and attacks! We think Moon Princess Halation was done in a refined Stocky style, and Moon Healing Escalation is in Svelte, but the rest could be Sharp or Someother for all we know. What we're thankful is that they're not Smooth.

Yes, well, there were some other art styles seen in the series (like that one-off style in episode 29 where Zoisite attacks Motoki's girlfriend for her Rainbow Crystal) but those four are the common ones seen. And we appreciate it's no easy task to draw and produce the cartoons. But why couldn't there be some standardization much earlier, to have, say, every episode look more Sharp or Svelte?

And we're not sure which one Hyperion means when he refers to 'bloated, bun face'.

A Moon Star Is Born!

Welcome to Sailormoon Week!

We were wondering, if Sailormoon was a recent manga/anime instead of appearing in 1992, whether we would have been interested. We suppose, if the artwork never changed, we would have given it a miss. 'Cos, currently we're rewatching the episodes of the first season and we're thinking Usagi is rather difficult to like sometimes in the early episodes because of her immaturity, and with the storyline progressing slowly every episode we might have just stopped altogether.

But we started when Sailormoon was aired on...goodness, what was that tv channel called?! It wasn't Metrovision, that was the Justice Bao period. TV8? TV4? Maybe it is Metrovision!

We could check it up, since we've recorded episodes of Sailormoon, but they're on VHS tapes and we don't have a VHS tape player any more, and we honestly don't want to look at the tapes just in case they are now overgrown with fungus. Sigh. All that hard work we did recording, copying from tape to tape, the money we've spent buying more VHS tapes to record most of the episodes, the one or two VHS tapes we bought from the comics store...

Oh well. At least they were well watched during its time.

So we got hooked onto Sailormoon, mainly because of the anime. If we just read the mangaka, we might have stopped halfway. Ever seen the artwork? Honestly, not the kind of artwork we appreciate, especially when at the same time we were hooked on Dragon Ball. Reasons why we got hooked?

Introductory exposure to animes. Asides from Doraemon, we haven't watched any Japanese anime before this. Ultraman and Mask Black Rider doesn't count as they weren't cartoons (we don't think when some ridiculous situation comes up characters will fall down or lose their footing!) and the high-pitched Malay dubbed Doraemon was a bit trying even for our young patient selves. We survived on a healthy serving of American cartoons during our youth, and when Sailormoon and Dragon Ball started airing on tv we lapped it up readily. And the Japanese humour was a novelty to us then! Expressive actions! Falling down at odd situations! Tears streaming down eyes like rivers!

Faithful Cantonese dub. Unlike Doraemon which had high-pitched Malay dubbing (shudder) Sailormoon (and Dragon Ball) were done in Cantonese! Now it turns out that there were two Cantonese versions, one by TVB and another that isn't (what we find on YouTube tends to call it the 'VCD' dub) - we were lucky to watch the 'VCD' dub as the characters there were very much similar to the original characters.



Usagi is loud and expressive, Zoisite was very effeminate (you'd expect limp wrists as well), senshi attacks were shouted rather appropriately. You should hear the English dubs, we get goosebumps and often enough cannot watch an entire episode in English because the dubbing and script was terrible. Outer senshi attacks always sounded like an echo from far away...



Translated manga. BM-translated mangas were on the raise, and we were buying the Sailormoon and Dragon Ball mangas when they came out (at RM3.50 per book then!). Of course, the Chinese translated mangas were probably out much earlier but then again we don't understand a single thing so why bother, eh? The fact that the manga was so different from the anime kept us interested in both ie Jadeite would send his youmas aka Monster-Of-The-Day again and again rather than fight Sailormoon head on, while in the manga he dies straight away. That, and that the other sailors had more attacks in the manga compared to the anime...

Censorship caused curiosity. Fairly obvious when Sailor Mercury and Sailor Mars made their appearance. They'd raise their transformation pens, shout out their transformation phrases, and -pop- we'd suddenly see the final tranformation bits along with a skip in the background music. And then in one episode, they'd forgotten to snip off those bits and we went, "Oooh so that's how it looks like!" And of course, we wondered how Jupiter's and Venus' transformation scenes look like. Oh not to mention what we missed in the episode where Zoisite dies.

Lack of merchandise. No such thing as the internet then, and there weren't many Japanese comics stores selling posters, DVDs and soundtrack CDs then as you can find nowadays (not counting the Chinese comic stores). Then, whenever we came across any Sailormoon merchandise we would have pounced on it, whether it be Japanese comic books using stills from the anime (which we bought during our stopover flight to LA!), or a soundtrack CD with all the songs used in the opening and closing scenes, or even the Cantonese-dubbed VHS tapes of Sailormoon episodes. We never did get to buy any VHS tapes (until Form 5, when the Chinese comic store near one tuition centre suddenly brought in Cantonese Sailormoon Sailorstars episodes and we bought a couple), but we did get to borrow tapes from a friend who had a fair number of Sailormoon Super S episodes!

Knowledge about future seasons. When Sailormoon was on telly, we were wondering if they would continue airing Sailormoon R, or they'd just stop there. Then Speedy Video had VHS tapes and VCDs of Sailormoon R in Cantonese, but the dubbing was by TVB which unfortunately made Usagi less livelier and the entire thing sounded muffled. And then there was Sailormoon S, Super S and Stars to think about too! What if they didn't air those seasons? We'd read the manga and wanted to see how different those seasons were from the manga! How does Uranus's and Neptune's attack look like?

The transformation scenes and attacks. The one thing that made Sailormoon (the anime), well, Sailormoon was the transformation scenes and the attack scenes. Almost every episode, they'd transform, Sailormoon will give her speech (in some episodes this was made fun of!) and they'd do their signature attacks and the Monster-Of-The-Day will die. On YouTube we've come across some kids trying to do transformations scenes and Sailormoon's Moon Spiral Heart Attack using ribbons and honestly we felt embarrassed for these kids even if they do not feel it themselves - they were asking to be ridiculed in our opinion.

At times we do wonder about how long she actually takes to perform her attacks - her Moon Princess Halation takes ages!

Anyways, we think what really helped keep us watching Sailormoon was that we were young and had all the time in the world!

Wedding, Subak Style

Dengarlah kisah persekutuan si nona Pengembara Dunia dan jejakanya Penginap Laut. Dalam perjalananya untuk menyelamatkan dunia sebelum masa tidur, dia pun menemui temannya, dan selepas beribu-ribu lemon kini bila bulan menjelang di akhir pengembaraannya

Frak that shyte. This is why we stick to writing factual BM essays for school exams, our vocabulary and flair was limited. We still remember our Form 5 BM tuition teacher giving an example of how fictional BM essays need to be written to really score well: "the leaves danced in the currents of air under the ceiling fan" or something along those lines, it sounded much fancier in BM.

So anyways, HL and JT tied the knot last month (yes, late posting...), and while invites were handed out a couple of months before, due to forgetfulness on our part we've only received the invite (via Lad Express, the impressions were still fresh on the card when we got it cos he sat on it, haha) after the wedding dinner. Thankfully HL texted us a reminder and we could check with the others regarding dress code and dinner venue, so we weren't to worried.

A quick check online as to where Subak was and we were initially quite confident we could get there easily - it was a straight road from TTDI into Kampung Sungai Penchala. We knew we were checking up the correct place too because the website informed that they were closed for a private function in the evening!

It was only when we were on said straight road that we had a slight niggling doubt that we might be missing some bit of direction. Puddy even made a U-turn back at first!

Finally we arrived at Subak! Could tell we were at the right place when there were rows of cars parked on both sides of the road.

The setting was certainly a different one! One thing we knew beforehand was that we were to expect a outdoor garden dinner setting, so there was no need (for us guests) to come in black tie. Which was fine, Subak made sure that there were plenty of fans fixed up and the drinks were all chilled. What we didn't expect was them handing out insect repellant patches. Not that we got bitten any time at all during the night!

We were unfortunately late and missed out the speech that had HL with damp eyes...

But in time to appreciate the effort put into the venue and celebration.

We're not too sure how Subak is on normal occasions, and am a bit afraid it doesn't live up to this anymore.

The food, however, was enjoyable. And colourful! Of note is their Balinese Chicken Soto soup, because...because it's the only photo we took with a label and we remember it as being good.

There was the band, who slowly made their way from table to table to serenade us all with songs (and have the more tipsy guests sing along with them).

And after dinner and speeches and the toastings, it was time to dance.

Certainly it was something different. If we concentrated we could probably convince ourself that the dinner was held in Bali and we were all invited guests each with their own private villa, where at the end of the party we could head back and ease ourself into the outdoor jacuzzi pool that comes with each villa, surrounded with scented candles and nothing but a scenic view and undisturbed by other guests...

Ok, maybe not. And the Chief and us didn't dance.

But as wedding dinner goes, HL and JT's goes to show that you don't really have to go to the end of the world to have a beautiful wedding.

Congratulations on finishing one journey, and on beginning another longer one!

Phuket Revisited 2010: An Incubus Of Viral Plague

Now before we left for our trip, everyone seemed to be sick or getting sick. People in the office were hacking away. Updates on Facebook detailed how friends were getting sick. In fact, a day or two just before the trip we started feeling a little trickly at the back of our throat - not a good sign.

However, once in Phuket and with lots of sleep, we'd not felt sick in the slightest!

Not until our last day in Phuket. We woke up then with a bad case of backdrip that kept us coughing nonstop.

We figure that we never got better before the trip, and that it was the R&R throughout the trip that kept it at bay. After all, we slept at the beach twice in our trip...

...had facials at the different competitive stores. We're talking some pampering facials (of course, not with Leonard Drake cosmetics and the likes, but still we were in good hands literally and dozed off now and then...) at a price of around 300 baht! 'Course, here in Bolehland we've never been for a facial before, we consider it a luxury where we'd rather spend our money on something else.

Asides from two facials, we also had two massages at the C&N Hotel within the five days. During our Bangkok trip we had a traditional Thai massage and an oil massage, both cases we told the masseurs we wanted a strong massage, resulting in us sometimes being unable to breathe due to extreme pressure and pain. This time, we opted for relaxing massages instead.

Maybe make that three massages. First was the oil massage. Then on our fourth day, just as we arrived at the beach we were approached by this rather aggressive Thai woman who'd offered to do an aloe vera massage for the two of us, saying that it protect from sunburn, very cold, good for us. We weren't keen on it, especially since we've got our own sunblock and aloe vera lotion, but the woman offered to slather on a bit of aloe vera on the Chief as a sampler.

After a bit of haggling, we had the woman slather aloe vera on the both of us. She takes a piece out from her bucket, where it's all soaked in iced water, scrapes the aloe with a comb, and proceeds to butter us with it.

It's cooling because it's been in iced water. Best described is that it's slimy. Whether or not it did help with sunburn, we cannot say, although true enough we didn't get sunburnt at all this trip. We did regret getting that aloe vera massage just as we arrived on the beach, though - it's all washed off after we went to swim a bit in the sea.

Oh and we did help with her business, as soon after we saw her applying aloe vera for a couple of girls nearby.

And that night, after the 'authentic' aloe vera massage, we went for another aloe vera massage. This time it was aloe vera lotion (we suppose) replacing massage oil, and it was roughly the same as an oil massage.

After all that, on our final day, we started getting sick again. Sigh. And once we touched down on Bolehland soil, it was two weeks of nonstop sniffling, guzzling lozenges of all sorts, and progressing from irritating backdrip with unproductive coughs to chesty phlegm and sore throats.

But at least we're grateful for the fact that we weren't sick for our holidays!

Phuket Revisited 2010: Take Me To My Beach

And we were reminded of All Saint's 'Pure Shores'. One of our favourite songs, even though we've never watched 'The Beach'.

Our first trip to Phuket could be considered as an introduction to the things to do on Patong, and this time around we decided to add on something else so that we didn't just do the same old, same old. And since we were staying in Phuket for a longer period this time, we slotted a day in for island hopping around the Phi Phi Islands.

Details of the island hopping package wasn't clear, and at a cost of 1000 baht we weren't too sure if we were getting much out of it when we started checking out websites on touring Phi Phi Islands. Still, pricewise we actually thought 1000 baht to be fair, and when we arrived at the hotel we asked for more details (since we got the hotel to book the package for us).

In the end, we vaguely knew that we were going to go around the island, we'd to bring a towel, sunglasses, swimwear, probably a spare change of clothes, sunblock. And that, we did. Along with our iPhone as our camera (sadly we did not pack our iXus battery charger for this trip) and some cash as well.

This, you got to take note: the tour has been paid for, which includes the transfers to and from Rassada Harbour, the boat ride, our lunch, which technically means if we're not interested in buying souvenirs we don't need to bring any money. Somehow we thought it better to bring a bit of cash along, just in case. The Chief brought some too in case there were souvenirs worth buying on Phi Phi Island. In the end, we only paid for an entry fee of 20 baht to Phi Phi Island (we weren't told of this at all), which is used for upkeep.

Imagine if we didn't bring any cash along with us. What to do then?

So anyways our day started rather early, where we'd to be up around 6am, have our buffet breakfast, then wait for our transport which was scheduled to leave at 7am. Our transport arrives, we've gotten towels from the concierge, hop onto the van along with a Singaporean Malay family and two Malaysian Chinese couples, and...

...had to wait for some more passangers who were late. 20 minutes late. By the time four Indian guys climbed up the van, they were soundly scolded by the Malay mother: "Look at the time! We were suppose to leave at 7! What happens if we're late? If the boat leaves without us and my children cannot go, what are you going to do?" The Indians muttered their apologies only to be told, "Sorry no cure!" Garangnya mak ni... The Chinese guys also voiced loudly in Cantonese that even the latecomers knew the gist of displeasure everyone had against them (in our case we sent out a strong silent wave of displeasure).

Not halfway through the ride to the harbour, one of the latecomers opened a window, letting in a drought that brought in dust and smoke. These latecomers were getting less and less popular. One of the Chinese guys asked them to close the window, and that's where we all learned that one of the latecomers was feeling nauseous, not that we could see it.

Being very late in the first place, plus the fact that it wasn't apparent why they wound down the window in the first place, it was hard to be sympathetic to the nauseous fellow. If he'd actually thrown up we think everyone would have kicked out the four and head on our way.

Interestingly, the four Indians came dressed quite proper in shirts and jeans. Without any bags, without any towels, without any change of clothes. And throughout the entire trip they never changed out of those clothes either.

Luckily we arrived on time to board the cruise boat (our package was with the Sea Angel Tours), were given our tour stickers, and we were on our way! On our way there we somehow found ourself on the top deck as the inner decks (with proper seats and air-conditioning) were full with a large tour group. The top deck was still empty so we managed to set up chairs at the front of the deck, prime spots for the trip.

Here then poses another choice: start suntanning on our way to Phi Phi Island, or not? The angmohs were already in their swimwear and/or shorts and slapping on the sunblock. In the end we decided to suntan too, since we were on the top deck and it was bright and sunny and we weren't too keen on sweating our tanktop into a wet rag. And a good idea it was to begin tanning, too! It was bright and windy so we didn't feel hot and sweaty after all, and it took about an hour before we reached the Island.

Our first stop, Tonsai Pier, where another tour group got off. Here we went down to the inside decks to enjoy the air-conditioning (when the boat isn't moving, the upper deck heats up fast!) and soon we were on our way sightseeing around the Phi Phi Lay islands. Admittedly once sitting inside we couldn't pay much attention to what the guide was saying over the loudspeakers.

After the sightseeing bits we were stopped at Monkey Beach, given lifejackets and snorkels and allowed to go swim! We were worried that the lifejackets might have some smell, but thankfully not. The snorkels, however, we decided best not to think so much about who has used them before. Then it was time to dive!

Last time we did this was end of 2001, if we're not wrong, during our Redang trip with university coursemates. We snorkled then and even did a bout of scuba diving, where we donned on the snorkel, had a gas tank, and was dragged by a professional diver while we took snapshots of the sea bed and fishes with a disposable underwater camera that gave us...proof that we did go scuba diving, at least.

Anyways it was good to get to snorkel again, and we even swam all the way from the deepwater where the boat was anchored to the beach area, where there were loads of monkeys on the trees.

We just wonder how safe our belongings are when we go snorkelling, since not everyone will want to swim. But since everything was still in place when we got back, so we dropped the issue.

Arrival at the Phi Phi Pier...

...and we're informed that we need to pay a fee. Somebody did complain that this should have been informed early on the brochure, or that it should already have been inclusive with the package.

Directions were given by signboard...

...and where to go for lunch!

The PP Princess.

They've got these nice big pavilions set up but we're surprised at the lack of fans. Surely, some form of ventilation could have been fixed up?

After lunch, it was time to roam the island! The Thais show their sense of humour not only via their advertisements, but also their signages...

So reminded of Portal in a way looking at this photo.

Unlike Patong beach where the waves are consistent (but very relaxing as white noise), here the waters were calm. And if you want a deckchair it'll cost you 100 baht. We decided to walk about the shops instead.

Soon it was time to board the boat once more, and we didn't find anything to buy so we decided to head back to snag some good seats. Climbing up the boat we were initially shocked to see this.

Not wearing our glasses and whatwith the sedate nature of this trip, instead of immediately identifying them for what they were we thought they were memorial photographs of victims.

Another incident on our trip back to Rassada Harbour. Seats were getting full as the boat picked up more passangers for the return trip, and soon enough there was this Indian chap who came up to us, tapped our shoulder and asked if anyone was sitting on the seat next to us (where we had our towel draping to dry after wiping down from snorkelling).

Now to be fair, we do think that this Indian chap was self-consciously polite. When he flagged over a staff with a rubbish bag to take his trash, the chap wanted to take away our disposable cup that we've left in the netting on the back of the chair in front of us. When he wanted to go somewhere for a while and come back, he'll tap our shoulder and tell us in broken English his intentions.

Only...we left that cup there on purpose should we have any rubbish to throw, so we weren't happy and stopped him. And when he sat beside us, he had totally no concept of personal space, and so both of us had our elbows and arms pressed against each other as we fought for armrest space and his knee tried to make friends with our hip (oh chappy was slightly chubby). Plus he tapped our shoulder rather hard, which we considered as not polite. Not to mention, we already had a bad encounter with the latecomers this morning.

And he's really pressing onto us as if we were Siamese twins. We tried sleeping. Not too much luck.

Nearing Rassada Harbour we couldn't take it anymore and abruptly sat up straight, knocking his left arm out of our personal territory (also way way past the armrest and separating line that divides our seat from his).

Back at Rassada Harbour we were greeted by more souvenir photographs! But we've decided that, if we were to have people take photos of us, we'd like the background to show more of where we've been (ie Phi Phi Island) rather than of the harbour.

Plus the Chief had already bought us the souvenir aka memorial photographs earlier on, heh.

Phuket Revisited 2010: When We Shop, The World Gets Better

...At least, for us.

And what's there to shop in Phuket? The souvenir t-shirts? The beer branded tank tops?

One reason to shop overseas is to get stuff we can't find back here in Bolehland. And off-hand, two things comes to mind when it's Thailand: foodstuff, and Boots (it's amazing, there isn't a Boots in Sporeland too!).

During this trip we'd two malls to cover: Jungceylon at Patong and Central Festival in town.

It's a bit odd to see this on the chairs around Central Festival. Makes us wonder if kids go missing...

Jungceylon being the nearest, it was our first stop after lunch on the day we arrived. The main reason? To stock up on drinks and snacks that you don't find back here. This included a brand of mixed fruit yoghurt drinks, packets of soya milk mixed with honey and bottled water (the two bottles the hotel provide daily sometimes just isn't enough). Oddly enough this time we weren't interested in buying junk food to snack on when in the hotel, though...normally we'd jump at the sight of those little packets of Twisties or some other flavours you can't find back here.

Guess we were rather focused more on the eateries, then.

And Boots (and Watsons), also for stuff you can't find here. Both have their range of products, like Boots with their Body Wash with a watermelon and mango scent, or Watsons with their Classic Pooh creams and lotions, packaged very nicely (only recently has Guardian's packaging taken a turn for the better with their own stuff). Also not to mention we get Decolgen there cheap, and we still tend to get shocked to find contraceptives available off the shelf, along with other stuff that's considered Pharmacy Only or Prescription Only back here.

Anyways seeing how we've not used the stuff we've gotten from Boots since last year we refrained from buying more, even if they were on offer.

However, we did get this from Carrefour in Jungceylon.

Assorted pork-flavoured instant noodles and crispy pork slices snacks. Because you don't find pork flavoured instant noodles here, and the crispy pork slices go oh-so-well with the instant noodles! Supper takes a whole new turn of satisfaction.

And in Central Festival, we'd not find much in Tops but we did come across this.

Hersheys in a tin box. The Hersheys were good, and it wasn't long before we'd finished one box. Now, if only we have any idea what to do with the box...

Our best buy considered from Central Festival and for this trip, was this iPhone cover.

The Q-Pot Loves iPhone chocolate case.

We'll blame a YKLS member for our looking around at iPhone cases. While we may not be singing with them this year, we still drop by once in a while to say hello. And one day when we were visiting, we'd recently bought the SwitchEasy Capsule Rebel case (aka 'The Watermelon' as it was in two tones of green) and we were dressed in a green t-shirt and in green shorts.

So this fellow, he asks us, did we buy the case to match what we wore? No, we answered, we just like the colour green. But that got us thinking along the lines of getting more iPhone covers, although probably not the ones you can get from Machines or Mac City as those can easily cost over RM100. But even those sold outside tend to be somewhere RM35 or more, and we've not come across any other casing we'd fancy.

Until the Q-Pot. Left upside down and in the box that comes with it, it could really pass off as a box of chocolates. And while this casing is much more bulkier, we can actually stand it upright without needing a stand! Makes it easy watching Sailormoon sometimes!

And as far as we know, there's no such cover here in Bolehland yet! We've a totally unique cover! We're chuffed up over that, haha. To our shame, otousan has also asked if we could get him a Q-Pot cover too, but we're declining to do so for now (well not to mention that we aren't going back to Thailand anytime soon).

As for the Chief's best buy, it would be when we walked into McThai. With football fever going on at the moment and McDonald's having this Coke Footbal Glass collection going on, the Chief has so far three of the glasses. And when we walked into McThai, we saw this.

All the glasses, in a special collector's box, at a rather attractive price of 199 baht. It's at times like these that we feel justified in bringing a rather large and sturdy luggage even for a trip that doesn't require much in terms of clothes or shopping. So naturally we bought the entire thing!

Oh, and since the Chief's already halfway through collecting a set of glasses, the Chief's still going to finish that set. Which means we've got at least three days of large McValue meals with sundaes as we've to help complete that set. We'll get the glasses when we have a craving for fried chicken, then.

Next up, island hopping!

Phuket Revisited 2010: MEALWHAT(tm) Phuket Picks

MEALWHAT(tm) interrupts the Bangkok Photolog series to present you this special edition!

We begin with LUNCHWHAT(tm) on the first day at Phuket! After checking in and resting at the hotel, we head to a favourite spot for lunch: Restaurant No 6!

This place serves decent meals that doesn't cost a bomb and most of their drinks are either served in tall glasses with lots of ice, or in bottles with a foam cosy to keep the beer icy-cold.

After some mulling for where to go next, we decided to splurge a bit for DINNERWHAT(tm)!

Two people.

Four dishes.

All of them, mouthwateringly delicious.

Although we must admit, the butter and garlic sauce may be just a little bit too much for two people...

Every morning, for BREAKFASTWHAT(tm) we would indulge in a heavy buffet breakfast consisting of porridge, pastry buns, toast, pancakes, pork sausages, ham, scrambled eggs, juice, and tea or coffee.

On our second day in Phuket, whatwith a heavy dinner the night before and a heavy breakfast in the morning, LUNCHWHAT(tm) saw us taking it easy and sharing just one dish once we arrived at Central Festival!

After some shopping what better way to rest than to indulge in some ice cream?

And after even more shopping later, it was time for DINNERWHAT(tm)!

We decided to walk into Yayoi after seeing a poster of the yakisoba with omelet.

And while we're able, most of our dishes will feature pork!

Day three in Phuket had us going island hopping to Phi Phi Island for most of the day! LUNCHWHAT(tm) was a simple buffet lunch setup that filled the stomach after our snorkeling session.

For DINNERWHAT(tm) we were introduced to MK Gold by the Chief! However, the branch at Jungceylon was a steamboat setup and not the barbeque setup that the Chief intended to introduce to us. Nevertheless the food was still good!

Everything was poured into the bowl and it all came to a boil quickly.

What we're really reminded of with the sauce is the sweet sauce you get when eating dim sum. What else is in that sauce, we've no idea. But it's tasty!

Day four saw us having our meals at Restaurant No 6 again! A very convenient place for food indeed.

Day five was our last day in Phuket! Yes, somehow we either have been having Thai food or Japanese food when dining in Phuket.

Fuji's food was still good, although must make note for Chief to not order the Fuji Green Tea Fit in the future.

The pork rolls were a delight, mixing pork and cheese!

In future trips to Phuket, we will explore Deutsche Kneipe if they still have their All-You-Can-Eat offer, and Hard Rock Cafe (to get the Phuket Hurricane glass!), and perhaps one of the other recommended seafood restaurants!