The "Jekyll" in Hyde of L’arc En Ciel Photobook – the man and the spirit within

Found this at a branch of Popular Books in Jusco one Saturday afternoon. I couldn’t resist it. Got to have it.

Japanese singer Hyde is the lead singer, principal songwriter/lyricist and guitarist for J-rock band L’arc en Ciel and the photobook, published in 2003, beautifully captured the spirit of the singer.

He was snapped in various locations and situations with some pictures look naturally unposed even though I believe a great deal of planning had been put into the concept. Maybe that’s what the photographer intended.

The only words in it are excerpts of English translated lyrics of the band’s songs which are sung in Japanese. The songs are listed at the end of the book in Japanese.

“Horizons rise here in my eyes

A sound of silence calls

But in my heart, a distant hope

Is mine forever more”

~Hyde~

I found the photographing techniques used in the book very fascinating. It’s a beautiful representation of a rock singer and his music with the use of red and orange tones throughout which seem to symbolize the vibrant and dangerous life often lived by rock stars. The use of blue tones especially on pictures where he’s away from the stage balances and clearly split the life of a rock star into two. One, the star we see onstage. Two, the man behind the music. Jekyll and Hyde, anyone?

Some pictures had been arranged in collages of Hyde on stage, backstage, dressing room where he is the star to places like market places where he is unknown.

Every time I leaf through it, I feel like I’m on a journey into his world where he expresses his thoughts in his music.

“Can you trust me when I’m mad

Have no time to set things right

Can you love me when I’m sad

I have no plan but that's alright"

~Hyde~

Form the Government Today, Reduce the Oil Price the Next Day

In a move that was the first of its kind in this country, the leading Opposition figure and former Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and the current Information Minister Dato’ Shabery Cheek went head to head in a public debate shown live on TV on July 15^th 2008 with the topic I translated as ‘Form the Government today, reduce the oil price the next day’.

Overall, the debate was conducted in a fair manner with each debater given 4mins at a time to present their points. Despite a reminder by the Chairman/Mediator, it certainly didn’t take long for the Ruling Party’s rep to start personal attacks on the former DPM. He defended his action as “to create doubts and questions over the credibility of the opponent” especially the former DPM’s rebel years as a student activist in 1974 and his terms as a Minister and later DPM in the ruling government. Anwar chose to keep the personal attacks on his stride and went on to present his facts and figures the way he used to during his time as a Finance Minister. *Anwar was taken into police custody the day after the debate to testify against the sodomy charges upon him and released on bail on the day I wrote this*

For me, a public debate between TWO opposing parties has long been a turn in my country’s democracy (or lack thereof) I have eagerly awaited since my days as a student in the UK.

When I just arrived in the UK, the country was gearing up towards a National Election that would determine the fate of the then Ruling Party the Conservative led by PM John Major (the successor to Iron Lady Ms. Margaret Thatcher).

What I was fascinated by were:

1. The THREE major parties (Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat) were each given a fair “campaign time” on national TVs to promote their parties and persuade the voters as to why they should be elected.

2. When I registered myself for a UK National Security number in my 3^rd Year, I had a major surprise of my life when a letter arrived two days later informing me of which polling district I belonged to despite my status as a mere student.

3. The live airtime of the Parliamentary debates on TV where you can see the MPs showing their true colours and actual level of intelligence *sarcasm here*

At the same time Stateside, the presidential race was on and the one I certainly was drawn to was:

The series of Public debates between the candidates on their policies and major issues should they be elected.

Imagine my shock when I came back to Malaysia to face the following:

1. Even with my registration as a voter, the government conveniently made a rule that new voters had to wait 8 months from date of the registration to allow it to “mature” first. Then, you are qualified to vote after the maturity period was over. ~ Is there such a thing as a Database of people’s names that matures? What sort of crap is that?

2. Students were blocked from getting involved in any political parties because the powers-that-be claimed that “students are obliged to remain neutral and should concentrate on their studies and prepare themselves in building the Nation” ~ How hypocrite! I was once dragged by a friend of mine to vote for another student acquaintance in the ruling party’s sub UMNO UK division election. No politics for students? Hello! As long as it’s not in their home country.

However, we were not as stupid as they thought. It was obvious that:

They knew the young voters were more likely to have different views of the political world than the veterans and vote for the Opposition. It was further fuelled by the fact that Anwar was very popular among the younger crowds and this was acknowledged by many. It was risky for the ruling party and the stupid rule was implemented amidst outcries from the younger generation.

Despite his shortcomings, I still salute the Information Minister for his guts to come forward to speak for the ruling National Coalition party. It is due to his open policy that Malaysia’s top political Bloggers now have their chance to air their views on TV. One wonders though, why sent the Information Minister? Why not the Finance Minister? Or better still, since Anwar is the leading figure in Opposition, the PM or at least the current DPM should be the one to face him.

Nah!

Anwar? His true match will be and has always been the equally intelligent and formidable Tun Dr. Mahathir the former Prime Minister himself. *Here is Dr.M and his wife at the back in this sweet photo*

Maybe the Almighty sent Anwar to this world for this purpose. If it wasn’t for him and everything that happened, our country might not have been alerted to shift gears. I still see this as a step towards a more open democracy (without foregoing the Islamic values) and there is no need to call upon the Information Minister’s resignation as some Malaysians have called out for since the debate on 15^th July. This country needs more gutsy leaders instead of the cowards who choose to live in denial (I won’t name anyone but any sane Malaysians understand what I mean).

My dream is for this country to flourish with an uncorrupted democracy with a healthy balance of Islamic values and leaders who always put the people first and foremost.

When Dishonesty becomes the Policy

Got a feedback on my previous post about the dual-bands.

Rather than sexuality, it really is about dishonesty and how it hurts
innocent people.

The post was inspired by a dear friend of mine who shares his thoughts,
laughter, fear and tears with me everyday. About how he has been
manipulated sometimes by dishonest people he meets online and offline.

In fact, my blog is partly my way of showing him that there is sincerity
and beauty out there if he really wants to see it. That happiness does
not necessarily need to be sexual and it's ok not to have someone to
cuddle you to sleep at night.

Also, I'm frustrated with the way some people in my country Malaysia
take advantage of the conservative society here and use sexuality to
destroy anyone whom they see as threat to their positions.

It's the most convenient way. Currently, a leading figure in the
Opposition is facing another sodomy accusation to stifle his comeback
into Malaysia's political arena. A few years back, certain quarters
tried to accuse a rising politician who is also an unmarried intelligent
lady lawyer of being a lesbian just because they were jealous that she
was personally picked by the then Prime Minister to be in the cabinet
and lead a Top Post in the party's women's wing. She got to the top for
her impressive resume and not dirty political game.

Though I never intended for my blog to be a political vent, sometimes I
can't help speaking out when I see innocent souls getting hurt by
dishonesty.

The Dual-Bands justify my left-wing ideology

A friend of mine recently told me that he had been receiving a series of angry SMS from the wife of one of his Internet contacts. She wasn’t happy finding racy photos in her husband’s phone and blamed my friend whom her husband regularly contacted.

My friend wisely chose to calm the storm by saying it was all meant to be a joke. She seemed to accept it. Then, my friend told me about the actual story. Apparently, the “contact” posted his profile publicly onto the Internet claiming to be single and looking for “guys” to “connect” with, if you know what I mean.

I was shocked as it meant this guy, whose wife said would never divulge anything to her, really is living as a “dual-band”. That’s a term coined for people who swing both ways. It angered me as I felt that my friend was victimized by the situation while the culprit got away scots-free.

“Next time, just send the wife the URL!”

How does this relate to my left-wing political tendency? It was well-known in the international political arena how Malaysian’s former Deputy Prime Minister was charged for sodomy back in 1998. It was dropped years later after they thought his political influence had waned and even the former Prime Minister (the one who owns the Loaf) himself publicly declared that his former DPM didn’t do anything wrong.

Now, in another bizarre twist, the former DPM, who’s now the main force in the leading Opposition side, has landed in hot water again when his former assistant of 3 months claimed to have been sodomized by him.

Now, this is where the drama started. The former assistant is a young man of 23, tall and lean. The former DPM is now a grandpa already in his 60s with reports of having a bad back during imprisonment. The young man claimed that it happened a few times and it drove him mad to the point of going suicidal.

The young man’s fiancé declared to the press that she’ll stand by her man. It means she will still accept a guy who has had sex with another person (while being engaged to marry her) as her future husband. Hey, gay or straight, sex is still sex. Wake up girl!

I know that Malaysian right-wingers would certainly want to believe that it’s all true and want to see the former DPM gone for good. I just want everybody to take a moment to think of this.

1. How come a young man of 23 couldn’t even fight the sexual advances of a 60+-yr old man?

2. Are you people totally clueless about sex? Do you know how the act of anal sex is actually done? Do you honestly think that it’s easy for a 60+ yr old man to get someone taller than him to drop his pants and get into that submitting position where he can be unwillingly “entered”? (The young man certainly portrays the thing as non-consensual)

3. So, is the young man going to prove that it was forced or rape? Shame on him for not being man enough to physically fight back. Calling himself a man? I’m not talking about a boy who has been manipulated like many of the pedophile cases we’ve heard. This is a fully grown educated man who should’ve been able to use his better judgment.

Why my left-wing view is justified?

Being a left-winger means I believe that the act didn’t happen and that a 23-yr-old man and a 60+yr-old grandpa are NOT the Dual-Bands who cheat on each other’s fiancé and wife respectively. That another educated young woman isn’t stupid enough to think a man who could let himself be “sexed’ by another is still a man worthy of being the father of her future children.

Vanilla Muffins Recipe 1

This is my third attempt at making Vanilla Muffins. I liked the crispy outside or was it my oven?

Ingredients:
360g self-raising flour
1/2 tsp soda bicarbonate
125g caster sugar
125g butter
125ml fresh milk
2 egss beaten
2 tsp vanilla essence

Method:
1. Beat the butter and sugar till light and fluffy.
2. Add in the eggs one by one then the vanilla. Continue beating
3. Add in dry ingredients i.e flour and soda. Mix well.
4. Add in the milk little by little till all the lumpy bits dissolve.
5. Bake till brown. Please ensure that the oven has been pre-heated first to 180 deg C.

The recipe can yield about 24 normal-sized muffins.

I actually halved the recipe fearing I might waste more food if the recipe turned out a disaster.

Fret not. My siblings demolished the things in no time at all.

My parents' gallery of wedding favours

Weddings have become a more and more expensive affair nowadays. It's a big business and there are people who quit their jobs so they can enter the lucrative business of being a wedding planner, supplier, makeup artist etc. After all, recession, inflation and what-not, people still get married.

My parents have a fascination for collecting wedding favours especially those which we are highly unlikely to buy ourselves.

The Egg casings made of porcelain and printed with flower motives.

Porcelain Pot Pourri Cases. Super pretty but I think my father would go mad if I ever try to take any of these.



Pink, cream and gold.

That golden basket is a tiny little bag for an egg. The White Tiger is mine. I won it at this Grabbing machine in Meadowhall Shopping Mall, Sheffield, UK. I wouldn't mind plushies for a wedding favour though.

Recycling the Egg Flowers.

These are given out all Malay weddings. My parents collect them and turn them into a multi-coloured Egg Flower Bouquet. When we have any little feast, we take them out to be given to guests. Recycle....recycle!

The Flowers upclose. Made of various materials. Fabrics, rhinestones, beads etc.

Wanted - The Movie and what I saw

Before leaving for the capital city of KL, my brother left me and my sister a pair of free passes to any movie at the nearby MBO Cinema.

After discussing with my sister, we chose to watch Wanted because we are big fans of Angelina Jolie. The only slot I could find was a 10.15pm show.

“There’s a possibility I would fall asleep during the movie” – I told my sis as it often happens to me. Needless to say, I’m no midnight-show goer.

The only seats for two were at the back where there was a possibility of me, being the shorty that I am, getting my view blocked by someone in front.

What I saw of Morgan Freeman during the movie.

Now imagine if it had been him sitting in front of me! Bill Kaulitz! But I wouldn’t bother about the movie then …wink…wink. This hair is a Work of Art itself!

My eyes were starting to act funny.

I did doze off!

Woke up to see this scene. I was like, why suddenly the kiss? Even more puzzling when his character's girlfriend was watching the kiss!

Hello....hello....sis!

The movie itself can certainly quench the thirst of someone who loves lots of Hollywood physics-law-defying action such as :

- slow-motioning a spinning car,

- flying cars without wings,

- broken windshield with “zero” shards of broken glass on the driver,

- getting thrown all over in a 100mph moving car with the lady’s hair remain perfectly in place,

- the guy sweating buckets and the lady’s makeup remain dry and unsmudged,

- ONE bullet shooting through the flesh and skulls of at least 6 people (how economical) etc

For me, it’s a mixture of The Matrix, A Beautiful Mind and should I say Harry Potter thrown in together. The one chosen to save the world and that one is most certainly a loser. In today’s context, a loser is potrayed as someone who Googles his own name wondering if anybody out there somehow have a link with him. Oh, what does that say about all of us?

However, the THREE leads make it worth watching. Morgan Freeman, Angelina Jolie and James McAvoy are all great actors who you can rely on for Oscar-worthy performances. Maybe not on this one but I think we all know from the rest of their body of work.

Check out those pecs!

Talking about “body of work”, who would’ve thought the friendly, warm and topless Mr. Tumnus could work out that upper body to this? I’ll have tea with THIS Mr. Tumnus any given day.

Interest-free credit Card period scrapped!

Shock! Shock! Horror!

Thanks to a former colleague who got me alerted on this matter today.

I do not remember reading it in any newspaper. Maybe I missed it.

Malaysian National Bank (Bank Negara Malaysia) has implemented from 1
July 2008 that the 20-days interest-free credit is only eligible for
those who pay the bills in full before the due date.

For those who only pay minimum amount or anything less than the full
amount, you will be charged interest from the day that the transaction
is posted to your account.

Yes, the yearly interest rate will be reduced to 15% for those who pay
on time. However, the last time they said it was only a move to
encourage users to pay on time to curb the escalating credit-card debts
by Malaysian consumers. They never said anything about removing the
interest-free days.

As always, when a Malaysian top authority decides on a policy, the
"reasoning" is to be "in line with international practices".

So, credit card holders nation-wide, check your last bill for the due
date and make sure you charge your next purchase on the day after that
date so you won't get double interest.

The Flaming Hibiscus

Fell in love with this Flaming Hibiscus two weeks ago when I saw it at the night market. It was selling for a whopping MYR25 which was quite pricey for a plant from a mobile nursery. The last time I got a hibiscus, it only cost me MYR6.

I do not in any way know the real name of this species but I;m happy to call it The Flaming Hibiscus because of the vibrant orangey sunburst colours.

I failed to get this flower the week after that as they were sold out apparently.

Went again the following week and spotted one which actually had been already booked by another buyer but I managed to talk the seller into selling it to me with a discount of MYR1.

Wait a minute.........what? MYR1 only? A buck? Well, better than nothing.

See the sunburst colours. Photo unretouched.

It's a joy for me to see new flower blooming from it every morning even though it's only been at our home since last week and the plant is still quite small.

Disney’s Goofy - The Paternal Figure and Role Model?

The Disney Channel showed The Extremely Goofy Movie not too long ago. Honestly, I never was into watching a Goofy movie because he’s too much of a dimwit to me. Somehow, this time I was drawn to watching it when the movie started with Goofy putting up a Banner for his son to celebrate him going to college.

Wow, I was truly in for a nice surprise from Disney.

You see, there is one thing I find intriguing about Goofy because out of all those famous major Disney cartoon characters, Goofy is the only one with a child despite the lack of romantic adventures in his life unlike Mickey and Donald or even Pluto. The mother of the child Max has never been revealed as far as I know. Not sure why Disney ever decided to make Goofy a single father.

Back to the movie, despite his dimwittedness, Goofy is nothing but a loving dedicated father who adores his son Max for whom he would give the world to. In contrast to his father’s character, Max is agile, lively and bright. Maybe a clue to the kind of mother Disney is hinting to us for Max.

First of all, watch it with your heart and only your heart. This is no brainy stuff. It's Goofy after all. Yes, it's puzzling that Goofy managed to produce a son minus a lady in his life but then I felt the same way when watching I Am Sam with Sean Penn and Dakota Fanning in the leads. How did Sean's character, a retard, end up with a kid was never really explored in that movie either and somehow it won rave reviews from critics. This Goofy movie was basically slammed by the critics judging from reviews I found on the Net but then why would you expect critics to have any heart at all?

The plot is simple and typical Disney.

Max is leaving for college. Goofy holds a celebration party attended by a neighbour and Max’s friends. Goofy reminisces of Max as a little tot who still sleeps with his teddy bear. Max leaves without his teddy bear nor eating the sumptuous brekkie Goofy has painstakingly prepared for him.

Max immediately gets on the track toward becoming the most popular freshman on campus on his own right without joining the Uppercrust frat.

Goofy misses him so much that he ends up losing his factory job after failing to concentrate at work. Reflecting the current economic condition, he is not equipped for today’s job market and has to go back to college to finish his education which stalled in the 1970s.

Goofy enrolls in Max’s college and immediately becomes the popular cool daddy, accidentally of course. It’s Goofy after all. He enjoys life to the fullest and even lands himself a lady. Max starts to lose his identity overshadowed by his daddy. The youngster sees Goofy’s attachment to him as burdensome and embarrassing. Daddy is cramping his style.

The Uppercrust fratboy seizes this chance to get back at Max for rejecting his offer early on and lures the poor Goofy into his team to beat Max at the college’s X-Game. By accident, Goofy discovers Uppercrust’s plan to play dirty and quits the team to warn Max.

Max snubs his father but has to fall back on his old man when Uppercrust’s dirty ploy causes Max to lose a teammate. Off go the father and the son on the X-Game thrill of their lifetime.

Disney moments abundant as Max realizes how important his father is to him and how silly he has been. Goofy finishes his education with straight A’s as a result of his devotion and all ends well.

A quarter into the movie, we already know how it will end but that’s not the point I’m trying to make here. I said about watching it with your heart.

• Watch it for it has hearts in all the right places.

• Watch it for the quirky characters consisting of the cool friends Max surrounds himself with. The friends who poke senses into his head when it balloons way out of proportion.

• In spite of his embarrassment of his out-of-style old man (to his eyes only as the rest find his dad really cool), Max never rebels by falling into the wrong crowd and he picks his friends carefully.

• Watch it for Goofy’s straight-laced way of behaving around a new lady friend (he doesn’t even try to kiss her on the first date).

• Watch it for how Goofy never forgoes his fatherly responsibility even as his own life is getting exciting.

• His Disney peers Mickey and Donald may have the luxury of permanent lady friends, who, despite their charms, can certainly bully the guys into submission. Instead, dimwit Goofy gets himself a lady who accepts him the way he is, admires him for his heart and uniqueness, becomes his pillar of strength when he’s falling and does not stand in the way of him and his son.

Never thought I could learn about life’s valuable lessons from Goofy.

To any single loving dedicated fathers out there, watch it.....with your heart please.

Below are the gems I found…………:

“You admit defeat and defeat will admit you into permanent custody” – best quote from Max’s lady pal

“Do you know why we …like…err….wear gloves all the time?” – funniest line by Max’s buddy

“You don’t understand the bond between a father and his son” – Goofy to Uppercrust

Dieting when there are Moist Choco Cupcakes?

I admit that I've been eating quite unhealthily lately. Proof is my tummy feel bloated for weeks. Unlike people who eat and see food as a source of comfort, I eat simply because I love food and am grateful for it.

To me, the ability to eat and taste many different food and recipes is a gift from the Almighty. He can easily take it away from you if He wants to. So, I'm thankful for everything that enters this mouth.

I'm not that concerned about getting slim but rather it's about health reason. Don't want to end up old, bed-ridden, sick and lonely someday. I want to be healthy, smiling, beautiful (inside out) and surrounded by the people I love.

Ok. Went through this healthy diet plan I got from a health product about a year ago. Just an example of what the plan lists for a day of healthy eating.

Example of a 5-meal a day healthy eating

Morning : Green / herbal tea (150 mL) + 2 wholemeal biscuits
Mid-morning snack : 1 low fat yogurt
Lunch : 100 g boiled rice + 225 g grilled chicken breast
Afternoon snack : 1 apple
Dinner : 150 g green beans + 50 g boiled potatoes

Hmm......I think I'll get hungry easily with that.

Ooh.....my sister-in-law asked for Fruit Cakes and Chocolate Cupcakes for her sister's engagement ceremony. My mother and sister made them respectively. My contribution was that they used some of my equipment.

The Moist Chocolate Cupcakes under the morning sun by the kitchen window.

I took this picture in the morning when my sister was still asleep from staying up all night making them.

I found this irresistable. Dieting can wait.

Yeah. Delicious food really is a gift from above but then so is health.

Dilemma.....dilemma......but a nice problem to have x-))

The Kenko Fish Spa.....discount day!

My friend brought me to a Fish Spa during my trip to the capital city.

The spa is the first of its kind here and they happened to have a promotion going. A 30-minute Fish Theraphy session for MYR28 instead of the usual MYR38.

Being the discount junkies and freeloaders that we are, we grabbed this opportunity.


Fish theraphy is basically like this. You dip your feet into the water and the fish will come and nibble on your dead skin leaving you with smooth feet afterwards.

These little darlings had been featured in an episode of Ugly Betty where Whillemina had to do it to get it on with Danny's dad because apparently he has a foot fetish. Yikes!

Yes, it tickled so much and most of the customers giggled non-stop but I just looove the feeling of my feet after it was all over. I wish I could have these fish on my own and do it everyday. My feet have callusses at certain areas from moving and stepping on my manual-drive car pedals everyday.

Oh. The staff were very friendly too and they'll take your pictures and ask you to "autograph" it for display. I felt like a celebrity...ha...ha.

Check out these links for more info.

First Look : Little Fish perform Great Feat - Joanna Saw (NST)

Fishy therapy - Sandra Low (CloveTWO)

The Loaf boutique bakery at KL Pavillion and the Melon Bread

I was super excited when I made the trip to the capital city last weekend.

My friend took me to KL Pavillion for a spot of window shopping when I spotted THIS sign.....

Hey, that's the bakery owned by Malaysia's former PM. Gotta check it out.

I was super excited when I found the bun I'd been yearning to eat since I watched Yakitate anime.

The Melon Pan or the Melon Bread!

I bought TWO Melon Buns. The one with the Almond is called Gallette and I think it has bits of dried Apricot too. The Swirly Curry Puff isn't from the Loaf but from a stall nearby monorail station.

I love the taste. This is what Melon Bread should be. I think there's a hint of lemon in the crusty cookie dough top. Downside is, the buns are TINY. Half the size of buns at other bakeries but double the price.

Just look at that BEAUTIFUL bun again glistening under the light.

These uglies are how mine turned out to look like the first time I made the bun.

Hey, I still haven't got the recipe right. When I do, someday, I'll post it here and tell the world about it.

Till then, I can ogle at these pictures :-)

Fuel Saving Tips that I actually Use.....for REAL!

Before all the brouha-ha about petrol prices, I was into fuel-saving for environmental reasons. I don't like it when those multi-millionaire Hollywood stars talk about saving the environment by buying themselves "environmentally friendly" electric cars, soy-oil-converted, hybrid thingy. Easy to say when you have the mega-millions. Believe me, those mega-stars pollute the environment in mega-ways with their mega-extravagant lifestyles.

I found many fuel-saving tips but most of them don't have the tried-and-tested true accounts from real drivers. Annoyingly, there are people out there who only copy and paste these kinds of info onto their blogs without really verifying the contents.

Anyway, these are mine. Tried and tested. Any questions, you may refer to me.

1. Fill up the tank slowly and really really slowly. Tried this and even with disastrous result once (read it here). A colleague gave me this advice a few years ago though I wasn't quite convinced. Reason being the higher speed the fuel flows out, the more it turns into vapour and vanish into the air leaving you with running metres at the fill-up station but less of actual petrol in liquid form. I tried it but I don't find the savings that much significant. OK. I did the incredibly slow manual fill-up (holding the trigger with my fingers) with a full tank worth MYR82. I used the minimum trigger notch and left it there for a full tank of MYR85. So, MYR3 huh? About a litre difference. Problem is you have to know ALL the stations in your area to identify which one has "user friendly nozzles". Or else you'll end up like my Niagara Fuel incident.

2. Switch off the Aircond when stopping at the traffic light and when going uphill and of course in the evening. Tell anybody from a tropical country who advises you to drive minus Aircond to get real! It's freaking HOT here. It's not like you can drive on the highway all the time. Most of us drive through the city with traffic lights, buses, trailers, schoolkids and all. Hey, does this reveal a lot about the age of the car I'm driving? New technology from car manufacturers automatically detects going uphill and stopping and switches off the aircond accordingly. At least that's what I understand about Toyota's claim about their VVTi range.

3. Myth on driving with the windows down to save on Aircond eating up the fuel. Driving with the windows down actually disturbs the aero-dynamics of the car so it's better to drive with the Aircond on. Did anybody watch this on Mythbusters Discovery Channel? However, I think the theory only works if you're driving at a constant speed like on the highway. Daily driving is between 40kmph to 80kmph through stops and lotsa stops with low gears on heavy rotation. Switching off the Aircond can save a lot here because with 40kmph, you may just drive in a box, cube or pyramid for all we care. That's "Zero-dynamics" if you ask me.

4. Install a magnetic device at your fuel-flow system. It supposedly pulls away impurities in the fuel so it will flow smoothly. That's the way to explain it in layman's term. Please note that I'm talking about tips I use for real not tips that sure-fire work. Saw and Ad on the Internet about this device and called the dealer. Got it installed with the mechanic raving about it and how he spent only MYR40+ on petrol for his 1.8 Citroen going from Melaka to KL and back. Really? That's the old price of MYR1.92 btw. Anyway, I filled up to full tank afterwards and I think it saved about 10% at most. I was hoping for 40%. Dream on!

5. Free the gear when going downhill. OK. This is only applicable to those driving manual cars like me. Haha.....! This is for skillful drivers only. They would NEVER teach this in driving schools. I just loooove the feeling of the car going "free fall" when I go downhill gear-free. Exhilarating! People who get into accidents are either drunk, have bad visions or simply can't drive. I free the gears when I'm approaching a stop too. Just slow the car down with the brakes. After all, that's what brakes are for! Besides, a pair of good brake shoes costs less than a full tank of petrol nowadays.

6. Fill up in the morning when the ground is still cold. Reason is high temperature causes vapour just like the speedy fill-up phenomenon. I can't really verify this one because I happen to fill up only in the morning or in the evening or maybe very very very late noon like the Sunset time. I leave for work around 7am and reach home around 7pm++. In a tropical country where seasons don't change, that's early morning and early evening like everyday forever. But since we're talking about fuel, I choose to believe this because anyone who doesn't know about petrol being temperature-sensitive needs to get into that show "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?".

6. Try different Brands! Are you a Malaysian? I switched from Petronas to Shell when they advertised about the extra miles. Yes, I did get extra miles. Where Petronas gave me 5 days for a full tank, Shell gave me 6 days. Then, Petronas came up with Primax 3. I tried it and it gave me at least 30km more with a full tank compared to Shell. So, I switched back to Petronas with Primax 3 and have been telling people about it since.

7. Ensure your tyres are properly inflated. I drive everyday. Before, I inflated my tyres with air and by the fifth day, the pressure in the rear left tyre would drop significantly dragging the car's speed. Now, I use Nitrogen gas pumped in by the mechanic at a local tyre workshop. Hey, Formula 1 racing cars use this gas to cool down tyres. It's crucial for them to maintain the pressure in those tyres. Otherwise, it will expose the drivers to track gripping instability. Anyway, you'll use more fuel to accelerate your car if your tyres are below the optimum pressure. With the Nitrogen gas, you can maintain the optimum pressure longer up to 3 months or even 6 months for depending on your driving frequency. I get mine checked every 3 months. The Nitrogen certainly stretches the life span of my tyres. That's another saving.

Lastly, the King.......................!

8. Most, most, most importantly................TUNE UP your engine regularly. Hey, fuel-saving tips above are nothing if you don't bother tuning up your engine. Come on, how long can you brand new engine's performance last? Properly tuned-up engine gives more pick-up power when accelerating or going uphill resulting you using less fuel because you don't have to press on the accelerator too much. I got my engine tuned-up about 3 weeks ago. Before, with a full tank of about 30litres of fuel on a 1.0cc engine only took me minimum 430km with a Petronas Primax 3 and sometimes 450km depending on the driving conditions. With a tuned-up engine, I managed to stretch the distance up to 500km with Petronas Primas 3 in my trusty old Daihatsu Charade Aura. Hey, compared to other fuel-saving tips, this one is THE KING!

Emancipation of Mimi at Mega Mall

My brother started his new job as a display artist today at the Mega Mall.

He left for the capital city of Kuala Lumpur (KL) yesterday and I didn't get to see him off for I arrived home at 9.00pm.

How time flew.

To me, it's still just like yesterday when he was still this fat adorable baby.

He and I are a bit special in the family because between me and him is a gap of FOUR years and between him and the next brother is also FOUR years.

This picture was taken by our father at the Pahlawan Square in 1978 when it was still a football field and a playground. Now it's a shopping mall and not a single patch of grass.

We didn't know that he was born with the natural talent for Art but everybody knew he was something special. We affectionately nicknamed him Mimi or sometimes Muhammad Ali for his body shape.

Haha.....my brother is stick thin now and has been trying to add the pounds for years. Hey bro, I can donate you some of my fat!

His favourite delicacy from the local night market

Stopped by at the night market and bought these. His favourite delicacies from the night market. The Indian Vadai!

When he was a kid, an uncle tricked him into eating the Vadai with the fresh chillies and he did it! With the tears coming later of course. The look on his face was priceless! Now that he's a man, he laughs at that incident and happily chewed the chillies when he eats the Vadai.

Well Bro, good luck and all the best!