Pirates Out There

Interestingly enough, pirates still do exist in the world today. If you are expecting them to look as good as Johnny Depp, I think you should think again. Modern day pirates are no swashblucking cavaliers wearing puffy shirts and bandanas, they are probably normal looking guys toting AK-47s and with bullet straps across their chests.

Pirates these days attack cargo ships - or anything of value. They are pretty much alive is certain parts of the world, like Indonesia and Bangladesh, where open waters are not easy to patrol.

Anything this is an interesting piece you should read.

The Finale

So did you guys catch the finale of the American Idol the other day?

I must admit, leading up the show, i had kinda lost interest in the whole thing, there has got to be a point in time when too much is too much, besides i was actually quite pre-occupied with some other stuff.

So Jordin won, and Blake was ever the gracious runner-up. I thought the supposedly 'special' song was more favourable to Jordin and Blake, and Blake didn't really try to make the song his own, more like going through the motions.

But Green Day's version of Lennon's 'Working Class Heroes' made it worthwhile for me to watch it. They're awesome, that's for sure.

My Day Off (Part 6)

(continued from earlier)

So after the laser show, we took a drive home, using the SMART tunnel. Traffic all the way was good, although i had to admit after such a tremendous day, i was feeling a little sleepy already, and it was even 9.30pm.

We reached home at just before 10pm, everyone was really tired out. We actually missed the whole finale of American Idol. I was very tired, but managed to get some work done on the PC, and stopped just in time to catch the repeat of the American Idol. Sad to say i dozed off before the episode ended, yawn...

And so that was my day off, can't wait for the next one.

My Day Off (Part 5)

(yes, it's continued from earlier)

So after a long and fulfilling dinner (which included a few courses of Movenpick ice-cream!) my kid still wanted to catch the laser fountain show, so we drove slowly back to the Lake Gardens, but due to the bad traffic (at almost 9pm at night?!) we were slightly late.

When we reached there, a significant crowd had gathered. There were 4 fountains and the laser projected onto it, somewhat similar to what you can see at Suntec City and the Singapore Zoo. Only on a much smaller scale. And it wasn't all that great.

They just ran a few promos for Visit Malaysia Year, no great shakes.

(to be continued)

My Day Off (Part 4)

(continued from earlier)

So after the long time at KL Tower, we went down the hill right smack into the peak hour traffic. Although it was slow going, Maya Hotel was quite nearby, so the journey too less than half and hour. We reached there and parked, but it was still too early to start dinner so we sat around in the British Council next door to get some rest, and also to check out the magazines they had there.

Read the whole issue of Mojo and Empire.

After that it was dinner at The Brasserie. It was really good. There was a function going on at the main seating area, so got a place at the adjacent fine dining restaurant called Still Waters. The food was excellent, and to top it all off there was Movenpick ice-cream...

(to be continued, again)

My Day Off (Part 3)

(continued from earlier)

After that, well, we didn't really know where to go, so we hung around to snap lots of photos of the scenery at the lake and also the ferris wheel.

Anyway, it was then only 4pm, and was too early to go for dinner, so we decided to go to KL Tower, the 4th highest telecommunications tower in the world. I've been there quite a number of times, but the last time was almost 4 years ago. So off we went to Pineapple Hill, and up to the beatiful tower with the breathtaking view of the city skyline.

We spent quite a long time there, it's not often that we get to go there, and i loved getting to scrutinize how our city has changed over the past few years.

(to be continued some more)

My Day Off (Part 2)

(continued from earlier)

After about two hours of shopping at the Great Eastern Mall in Ampang, we had some snacks at this new coffeeshop-style eatery on the 4th floor, it was quite delicious. We had toasted bread and roti jala, along with some kick-ass iced white coffee... hmmm.

After that, we hopped on to the Eye On Malaysia, the largest ferris wheel in, oh, i dunno. It's quite big. It's set on the man made lake at Taman Titiwangsa, we went about 9 rounds on it. Only 3 cabins were occupied, not many people were there when we arrived.

But when we left, a bus load of local tourists came. The scene is quite good, although it didn't go very high.

(to be continued)

My Day Off (Part 1)

What a whirlwind of a day we've had! We've been planning this off day for some time now, and when it's all been said and done, we had a fantastic day. It started off quite slowly, this morning, we had our breakfast at home, and followed by the usual morning paper.

Then at about noon, we took off for the hospital to drop off lunch to my brother, we left there about after one. We then went shopping at the Great Eastern Mall, had a good time checking out their fresh fruits and vegetables.

My bro has been keen to eat organic food, there was this shop selling organic stuff, so we really spent some time. But they were all very expensive, to be honest.

To be continued...

Still Can't Get Over It

I don’t believe for a moment that Melinda deserves to be out! Come on, people, why didn’t you vote? Jordin is okay, but Melinda is awesome! Blake, well, I suppose he is riding his beatbox talent, and helped a lot by the screaming girls’ votes.

Bummed about Melinda’s exit. Hopes she gets a recording contract. She’s got talent.

Melinda is Out

Not sure why, but Melinda has been voted off American Idol. She is by far, the best singer in the competition, yet she couldn't make it to the final.

Actually i was rooting for Melinda and Blake, but i wasn't surprise when she was announced to be leaving the show, i suppose she doesn't have the support of the other younger and better looking counterparts. I mean, look at the clips of them going back home. the other 2 contestants had overwhelming home support, Melinda didn't have any. They only held a press conference with some family members, that's all.

I think Simon Cowell was disappointed too, he willed her to go to the finals, about i suppose he doesn't like being wrong. But i have to agree with him, she was the best.

Jailbird Paris

Paris Hilton is doing time in the big house, that’'s the big news this week. Apparently, she has been convicted for DUI while on probation for an earlier offence. Obviously, the paparazzi is having a field day with her at the courthouse, what with her making a personal appearance together with her parents and lawyer.

I’m pretty sure no one wants to do time in the slammer, whether it's a real prison, lockup, county jail or Alcatraz, but more so for a celebrity like Paris. But as they say on the streets, don’t do the crime if you can't do the time.

Which makes me wonder, with the parole and all and being filthy rich, couldn't her parents have gotten her a chauffeur? No, really, think about it. She probably has a bodyguard (not to mention a small entourage) so why not a driver? So she can go anywhere without driving. It's not like she is us, who have to drive everywhere ourselves and pay for petrol and toll and all.

Phil and Chris are Out

Phil and Chris are out of American Idol. Not unexpected, but they did have poor nights on Tuesday.

That just leaves the 3 girls - Jordin, LaKisha (Simon Cowell's "girlfriend"), Melinda and of course the last guy standing, Blake.

Blake took a huge risk, and it paid off. Compared to him, the other two guys looked bland and uninspired. When you come to this stage of the show, it really means you have to bring the game every week, one week you're not and you're off.

So with 2 more elimination to go before the finale, it's too close to call. Let's see how it goes next week.

On another note, Simon Cowell looked chirpy for once.

But Bon Jovi gave an EXCELLENT performance. Everyone was expecting them to rock the stage up, but unpredictably, they gave a solid performance, slow burn and powerful.

Now THAT's star power.

Bon Jovi on Idol

Wow, what a great episode of American Idol last night. I love Bon Jovi, and to see the idol aspirants belt out BJ classics was just great. Can't wait for tonight when the boys from Jersey will be performing on the idol stage for the result show.

So who did i like the best? I liked Blake, he took a huge risk to do the beatbox version, and i think he did a fantastic version. BJ should consider releasing that version as a B-side or something like that. that'll make them and Blake a few bucks.

It's hard for me to decide which of the 2 will be voted off, you need to remember that there were 70 millions votes last week, compared to the usual 30 million plus for this week (on the average), so the losers will probably been have decided last week. But i think Chris is on thin ice.