Farewell, my StoryTeller

Yet another tragedy, an inspiring soul lost a month after Michael Jackson's.

Her name - Yasmin Ahmad.

She was a down-to-earth woman who stood up for who she is, a storyteller who had a voice and a highly respected culture-blender, (NEVER a culture polluter, mind you) of Malaysia. Her passion, visions and dreams of teaching fellow Malaysians the importance of love, family and culture inspired the nation.

Stories after stories, she has directed many extraordinary works throughout her life by conveying powerful messages through commercials and movies. All were meaningful ones.
One of her best advertisements is "Tan Hong Ming In Love".




Not to forget, "Funeral" was a clever one too.



I remembered watching her film, "Sepet", when it first came out and I was impressed by her daring approach in mixing romance of the never-to-be talked-about Muslims with the Chinese in the film. It was a beautiful work of art, capturing the essence of pure love and it makes me wonder why is it wrong to believe in that otherwise? Only repressed bigots would walk away from the reality of diversity, in denial of imperfections and bias towards the cynical world. The lady had GUTTS, so live with it! She spoke the minds and beliefs of others through the camera. Indeed, she was one-of-a-kind.

Like MJ, Yasmin Ahmad left us too soon. But she had a vision and she lit the torch - a start to a whole new hope for our country. Now her fight has ended and it is our turn to keep the fire burning and continue the torch within the future generations.

I bid you farewell, my favorite Storyteller and I truly thank you for embracing the nation with your love and sharing with us a trail of your hopes and dreams of what we see as the past, present and future of Malaysia.


Rest in Peace, Yasmin.

WE HAD HIM by Maya Angelou

Wonderful tribute poem by Dr. Maya Angelou representing fans around the world for Michael Jackson.
Truely, WE HAD HIM....

WE HAD HIM

Beloveds,

Now we know that we know nothing,
Now that our bright and shining star
Can slip away from our finger tips
like a puff of summer wind.

Without notice, our dear love can escape our doting embrace
Sing our songs among the stars and walk or dances across the phase of the moon

In the instant we learn that Michael is gone
We know nothing
No clocks can tell our time
And no oceans can rush our tides

With the abrupt absence of our treasure,
Though we are many,
Each of us is achingly alone,
Piercingly alone.
Only when we confess our confusion
can we remember that He was a gift to us
And we did have Him

He came to us from the creator
trailing creativity and abundance,
Despite the anguish of life
He was sheath in mother love and family love
and survived
and did not more than that
He thrived with passion and compassion
humor and style.

We had him
Whether we knew who he was
or did not know
He was ours and we were His

We had him,
beautiful , delighting our eyes,
He raked his hat
slant over his brow
and took a pose on his toes for all of us
and we laughed and stomped our feet for him
We were enchanted with his passion
because he held nothing
He gave us all he had been given

Today, in Tokyo, beneath the Eifle Tower,
in Ghanna's Black Star Square,
in Johanesberg and Pittsburg,
In Burmingham Alabama and Burmingham England
we are missing Michael Jackson
But we do know WE HAD HIM

and We are the World




I thank you, Michael Jackson, for everything... I really do.

Vinho Verde

Purple bar, Seattle, is known for its vast collection of wines. With a cylinder cellar located in the middle of the floor and a spiral staircase twirling around the 20-foot tower, anyone would be tempted to try their selection of wines. Not only was the food UPSCALE and AMAZINGly good, but their smart choice of combining wine into the picture scored them extra points, big time.

Ahhh~ My first tingling taste of Vinho Verde - a Protugal white wine, was at Purple and I knew there and then that I was in heaven. Originated from the northernmost province of Minho, Verde - green in Portugal, is named so not because of the color but because the region is very green. The waiter suggested the '03 Arca Nova to go with our seafood entrees, especially my seared pear salmon. One can easily taste a hint of sweetness at the end of each sip, balanced with its grape spritz flavor. The resulting combination gives a clean, light and refreshing after-taste in the mouth too. With its low alcohol content (only 10 percent, I believe), this wine definitely goes well with the ladies, not to mention at a lightly lit ambient environment like Purple. We couldn't resist but to order another bottle for the table. No doubt the price of the Verde was hella cheap but to me, this wine is definitely a great find.

*CHEERS!*

Remember the time...

... when you sat next to the old, silver radio, listening to Beat It, Billy Jean, Black or White, Man In the Mirror? Well, I remember that clearly, - the times when his songs were the best hits in the music chart, rows of Uncle Keng Teik's MJ collection on cassettes, "Heal The World" harmonization back at the school gym, We Are the World... I grew up with all his songs and so did everyone else, for that matter.
Michael Jackson was and still is a living legend. He has carved lots of sweet memories into everyone's lives. His music was the soundtrack for every generation and his passion has touched many.

His passing on June 25 2009 left a devastating moment for all but I couldn't thank God enough for bringing his existence into this world. No one can EVER replace the Michael Jackson we once knew. He will truly be remembered and missed as The man who moonwalked, The Peter Pan who never grew up, The hero who inspired the world... he is The King of the Pop.

WE LOVE YOU, MJ.

Happy Ending, Alright

Been complaining for the past few months about my aching back - how it's been killing me to the bones! I'm not joking. Pfft* Ah frack, what to do... I'm gettin' old. How I wish I was back in New York, when Qi Gong massage places were so easy to find. Hmm, as far as I could remember, the best Qi Gong I've experienced was close to Psyop. around the corner of Essex, maybe? Lower East Side, Baby. Man, those were the days.... At $48 per hour, the room was totally shady, but boy, was I enjoying the hard core massages MIMI usually does.....

I recently found this other place that outbest the NY pad. I was hesitant at first because clean and nicely decorated massage places could simply be a rip off or a payment for luxurious pampering. Hell no, that's definitely not what I was looking for. I want a proper MASSAGE... and a real one, too!

So, they seated me close to a man-made stream, with sounds of birds chirping from a peaceful audio recording. As I waited for her to arrive, I checked out the surrounding of the space. Funny enough, I spotted an old spitting cannister old Ah Mas used to have. I was tempted to leave a memorable spitting souvenir in there but I was nice that day. Hah....

She introduced herself as Nina and suggested that I relax my body with my belly on the floor. She then did a smooth opening massage on my back for a minute as a warm-up, slowly increasing into huge steps on my lower back. Clinging onto a hanging batik cloth, she stepped her way on every location points, slowly pushing through the tensed sections of my muscles. As she headed towards the most crucial spot, I suddenly heard a loud CRACK on my shoulder blade... Then she slid her way towards my lower back, another CRACK follows. Crack after crack, it was definitely not painful at all but rather, a sigh of relief as my bones loosen up... "AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH".... LOVE IT! LOVE IT! LOVE IT! O wait.... this is just the beginning. I could feel as though she was kneading a dough behind me, smuthering me with dry lotion and loosening each and every tangled muscle. Her movements were like kungfu-taichi-yoga all combined, moving you to a certain posture, pausing for a few seconds to acknowledge the pose, then move on to the next. It was my first experience where someone literally folds you into an unusual knot that was surprisingly great! Posture after posture, I felt like my body had achieved a good stretch. Never have I experienced stretches as well defined as this. At one point, she literally took both my legs (bear in mind, I was still lying on my tummy), and pulled me upwards, away from my body. At that point, I wish I had met her when I was younger as I'd like her to elongate my body with the pullings. Her best pose was pulling my arms towards the back, while supporting my back with her knees. She then wrapped her arms around mine, still with her knees supporting my spine, she wheeled me like a steering wheel around to a point where I started laughing.

But all in all, an hour is definitely not enough for a sigh of relief. And yes, Nina really is a pro. She has proven to me that she has alot of experience with her hands. She not only hits the right spot but the fact that the massage was damn KUAT, just gave me the right OOh and Ahhs.... No doubts, just compliments. It was an AMAZINGLY AMAZING HAPPY ENDING, I tell you.

Check it out. http://www.sfthaimassage.com/

Bay 2 Breakers

All I can say is.... HELLO NAKED PEOPLE! FLAUNT THOSE BOOBS and BALLS! LET YOUR PACKAGE HANG!

The walk was not as bad as I thought and the weather was surprisingly nice that day. Alot of them were complaining about how hot it was but growing up in Malaysia, I barely sweat or thirsty for that matter. Joanita and I walked 5 out of 7 miles this time and we got bored. So, we decided to take the bus back home. A pat on the back for BEE JIN TAN, at least! As for the costumes, it's more of a let down to me and the only ONE that stood out was the Blue-Bearded man. O well, another weekend of NONSENSE.

It has ARRIVED!

At last, the long awaited ONE has arrived. Last I heard, it was set to sail across the pacific ocean. Malang tidak berbau, I waited for 3 months, yet not a single news from Mr. Postman for its arrival. Hu Imm even predicted that it had been stolen by the pirates or eaten by hungry sharks. But NOOOO, my friends.... they were all wrong. The little brown bag has safely touched down, in the land of San Francisco.....

The package - my most... precious.... and beloved.... K-U-I-H K-A-P-E-K....


Already lost its triangular shape and crushed into cereal pieces, the yummy crumbs still taste like freshly baked kuih kapek Ah Ma used to make. As I stood at my kitchen counter, I scooped the crumbs with a spoon and chowed them down within minutes. No complaints.... just sighing with disbelief that it has finally arrived. Indeed, it was a satisfaction to be hold.

I thank my lovely Ah Mei for her annual shipment of kuih kapeks. It was a long wait but definitely a good one. The remains shall disappear into my greedy mouth within a few weeks, just you wait. Muahahahaha!

Zuni Cafe

Mechanchanny and I wanted to have a nice dinner together last week. Not familiar with San Francisco, I asked Dav for good restaurant recommendations. His first question as soon as I popped out the subject was "You going on a hot date?" Hah! You damn right I am, but not with my MAN.... *SIGH*.... But anyways, he first recommended Serpentine. Then he went goo goo gaa gaa about Zuni Cafe. So, after an hour of discussion, we decided to go for Zuni.
Inspired by French and Italian cuisine, this fusion restaurant comes with a few staple dishes, one would be their famous roasted chicken in which you'd have to wait for at least an hour prior to order. I also found out that this place was listed in the "100 Things to Eat & Drink before You Die" in The Big Eat SF.

The restaurant was a medium triangle-shaped pad, just like the Flat Iron Building in NY. The ambiance was warm and cosy, lit with dim lights all over. As we enter the restaurant, I could hear bustling sounds of utensils and waiters walking around with trays of oozing delicacies, fresh from their famous brick oven. The place was obviously packed with well dressed business crowd at the bar and quieter ones, enjoying their food on the second loft. Dav suggested sitting close to the big oven but unfortunately, they sat us at the second loft of the restaurant, obscure from the happening site.
But man, all I gotta say is, the food was A-MM-MA-ZING-LY-D-LI-CIOUS! I ordered a grilled salmon. It was plainly rubbed with butter and salt and lightly grilled in the oven, then, served with baby carrots and zucchinis. The texture of the salmon was just perfect and I could feel the moisture of the fish as I bite into it. Believe it or not, I'm still thinking about my first bite up til today. Never have I had such great fish in my whole entire life. This was definitely a memorable meal for me.

Cupid Luna

Was going through old pics, found a few cute pictures I took of Baby Luna when I was back in New York. Can't help but to post these up. She's sooooooooo cute!
One of my all-time favorite picture-perfect babies, and I'm not joking. A mixture of Italian and Japanese blood, she has the cutest feature I've ever seen. Her eyes are just like Baby Cupid's. When I first saw her, she was soooo shy but warmed up to us in no time. She can even speak in three different languages now too. I really miss her dearly.

O LADIDAS...

LADIDA.... Me first blog posting. Should this be a special HELLO-post? Eh.... I'll just make it SUPER short, fair enough?


=VELKKOM VELKKOM=
=你好 =
=こんにちは=
=안녕=
=שלום=
=हैलो=
=Bonjour=
=здороваться=
=Hola=
= Ciao =
=përshëndetje=