ELBYdotNET

The meaning of hunger

noreply@blogger.com (crickyt) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 08:27:00 +0000

You just gotta love the recession. It gives you more time to spend with family and loved ones, with good measure left to do what you like doing. I want to say 'what you do best', but I'm unsure if what you like doing is what you do best, it may be the case for some but not others. I believe in talent, however the old timer in me believes that you develop your skill set with repetition and commitment.

One of the things that tops my To Do list is cooking not only by interest but of late, by necessity. Everyone's gotta eat! We are in many ways blessed with the abundance and variety presented before us. Of course the downside is that we probably consume more than the 2100 calories that we actually need per day as a healthy diet. These days, I am constantly surprised at the raw ingredients that we can get our hands on, the latest being real vanilla pods from Madagascar. I grew up using those artificial vanilla extracts in little bottles that resemble those 2-shot liquor they serve in planes, so you see that this opened up a whole different world of baking.

I have also recently met a few aspiring chefs too. Chefs I feel are like photographers, are like artists most of whom are obvious know-it-alls: You just can't really talk to them, their info probably came from spending too much time on the Food Channel. I think that for every wannabe chef there are 10 wannabe foodies. For the record, I hate the word foodie, or anything cutesy that ends with an 'ie'. I don't know who came up with that word but that fella ought to be shot.

We have so much food we end up talking about food, we end up criticizing food, and having a channel dedicated to food. This post is not about food but rather, the lack of it.

I've come across the World Food Programme (WFP) before but I don't know if I was too busy or too indifferent to bother. That sort of attitude perhaps describes more than half of us who if nothing happens, will assume everything is fine. I was only reminded when I was watching Letterman last night and President Clinton was on, and he was talking about the Clinton Initiative which was an interesting concept where you go out offer assistance to the people who need it by making a commitment. It is not that we can't, and with just a little effort, money, time, or skill we can allocate any of these things to the people who need it most.

And then today I had the time to sit down and read look through the entire WFP site. As you and I are sitting down awaiting or preparing our next meal, about a billion people will go to bed hungry. What more, the worst hit are women and children, and just 25 cents will feed a hungry child and $25 will feed a child for half a school year. That works out to about RM180 to feed a child for whole year! So, do think about that the next time you're thinking about buying something you want but don't really need. I've placed a link on my site permanently so you can go have a look, or donate immediately. We are facing tough economic times and everyone including I am affected but that is all the more reason to go through with this as the personal donations will surely drop due to this. Can you believe that Malaysia isn't even on the donor list? That places us way below India, Thailand and even Singapore! There is no minimum donation amount either so do what you can.

Its funny to think that also because I grew up in a Chinese family we were encouraged to 'finish your food because there are many children in Africa with nothing to eat'. I don't understand the logic of fattening our kids because some kid in Africa is starving, and I remember I once said, 'Ok, why don't you send this to them instead?', which left the adults speechless.

For a kid, I think that would have been an ideal thing to do. Its all about allocating resources to the places that need it most.

Let's get cookin'

noreply@blogger.com (crickyt) — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 00:59:00 +0000

I think the only thing worth watching nowadays on Astro is probably AFC, or the Food Channel. However, I must say that while some programmes are good, I have seen some other crap as well that's come out of these people's kitchens, like for one was this craptastic thing this guy made with 'bak choy'(I can't stand these foreigners calling it 'bok choy'), and coconut milk served with chapati. What the hell is that?

Some honest cooking can be found with Jamie Oliver and Laura Calder. Honest, passionate, and easy going, that's what cooking's supposed to be. Also I've been catching Spain...on the road again with Gwyneth Paltrow and Claudia Bassols. Its basically 4 people travelling around Spain drinking wines and eating spanish food and generally making everyone else jealous.

I on the other hand, have been doing loads of cooking on my new stove. Its not your fancy Electrolux crap that you pay and display. I know of people who don't even use their kitchens which is such a shame, I got one of those stainless steel industrial ones they use for 'tai chow', or literally 'big-fry'. The amount of heat generated from the roaring stove made my knees feel weak the first time. But it is a fantastic stove, it really is, and as you know the old-timer in me always liked everything to be manual, with the switches and knobs that allows you to control everything.

In a time when everything is automatic, electric and with technology that makes you lazier, this works out for me.

Certified by the Master Brewer

noreply@blogger.com (crickyt) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 01:14:00 +0000

Its a rare honor to be able to hang out for an evening with Fergel Murray, and what makes it even better is that after that you can walk out of there Certified to pour a perfect pint. Indeed, who is this Fergel Murray, you might ask?

He is the Master Brewer at Guinness in Ireland. Guinness, enjoyed all over the world is brewed in only a few select places and only one man controls the whole operation, that is the job of the Master Brewer, and its a pretty fine job at that. Fergel makes sure that the quality and taste is consistent and travels globally to ensure that standard is met. He speaks with passion about his product and rightly so, no question about Guinness is too menial for him.

Guinness, as I have enjoyed for years is available in Draught on tap at all good pubs, and Foreign Extra Stout, or FES, which is the supermarket variety. FES has been around for a while now, but has a recent update in flavor, the alcohol content has dropped from 8% to a current 6.8%. Its now mellower, with a more balanced taste of roasted barley, sweetness and a slight bitter aftertaste. Its actually not bad, and Fergel is quick to stare you down if you ever snub his FES.

The night's event was nothing short of fantastic. It was truly a place where all the Guinness drinkers gathered round and talked about all things Guinness. Its a given that Guinness drinkers mix easily at bars outside but to get them all together in an event is something else. Its also funny to note that we all have the same mindset too, like for instance since Fergel was there and showed us how a perfect pint ought to be poured, we were required to pour our own drinks, and thus continued the entire night, most of us thought that was a marvellous idea, where they ought to have pubs with unmanned taps and we just help ourselves to it. We talked about how bartenders don't know how to pour a proper pint, and learned that if it wasn't poured or served right, we can always send it back.

In the end, it was all worth it. I always liked knowing where my stuff came from, and who made it. The people behind the product, the engine of the entire mechanism, and to be able to sit down and have a pint with the guy who brewed the pint? Priceless.

How do you stop a pandemic?

noreply@blogger.com (crickyt) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:14:00 +0000

Its nothing new, really. If you look at the mid 90s they have already made movies such as 12 Monkeys with Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt about the wipeout of the global population by a virulent strain. The reaction is similar. People just couldn't care less. No matter how we are warned, we still maintain a 'well, if I was to worry about it that much then nobody has to work, is that it? Who is going to run the real world?' Here's news, you can't run the real world if you're dead.

The problem with people is just that, we assume risks because we no longer regard it as a risk. We prioritize living our life by going to work, doing our job, being responsible because the risk versus reward does not seem significant. To illustrate this point more clearly, it is simply like gambling. If you head to a casino, and you start gambling, the risk is there, right? You might win, you might lose. Now, if you lose, that is fine, because sooner or later you will reach your threshold and you quit because you have bet the maximum amount that you have allocated when you walk in. However, what if you started winning? Not big amounts, but you started winning hands, right? Right at that moment your mentality changes and then the risks start to become smaller. You think to yourself, 'I can win this,' until you reach that point where you will believe that ,'There is no risk.' But think for one second, the risk is still there, your odds are still the same, how your perceive your risk has just changed, thats all.

That is the mentality that we have. We apply this to every aspect of our lives. If nothing happens to us, we assume it is safe. We started having a ruling here recently about using our rear safety belts which I feel was a good idea. They made rear safety belts for a reason anyway, but the perceived mentality is that we don't need to use them because they are bothersome, and that they have been doing fine all these years, why now? You see? Perceived safety. Just because you have never crashed into the front passenger killing them with the force of your mass times your current acceleration doesn't meant that it will never happen. The risks are always the same, its just your state of preparedness that prevent an incident from turning from bad to fatal. People don't see that, we are raised as eternal optimists.

Its because of this state of mind that prevents us from containing this flu pandemic. We were proud enough to declare ourselves free of an outbreak. I never believed it for a second. That's why I don't read the newspapers. Now we are closing schools and yet people don't feel the need to take preventive measures. How could they if they think that wearing your safety belts is too much trouble? So people continue to travel, to go out even if they feel sick because 'I feel fine, its just a small thing, it happens all the time.' Optimism can kill you.

I was at the supermarket recently and this seriously ill woman was shopping. Coughing, runny nose, her face was swollen and all. She just couldn't care less about the people around her. Her companion, looking irritated just snapped with ,'Ok, we'll just go to a doctor later, okay?'. I don't know if she was there against her will or what was the story, but that is how we will never be safe. Taking into account that this virus can mutate and become more virulent, their estimate is sometime year end, but I think that it can happen sooner and render these anti-virals ineffective. Don't need a PhD to tell you that.

If you ask me, if you feel ill, quarantine yourself. If you're out and you're spreading disease, someone in a biosuit should haul your ass to quarantine so fast you wish you never went out. Maybe a quarantine + interrogation room, that should keep more people indoors.

And yes, that someone in that biosuit would probably be me.

SNL with Timberlake

noreply@blogger.com (crickyt) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 06:42:00 +0000

I've been catching Saturday Night Live whenever I can. Its great one-hour entertainment for my lunch breaks, but as anyone following it will know, they have their ups and downs. Sometimes comedy for comedy's sake ends up being a really tired skit that you just want it to end. The last good one that went particularly well was when Anne Hathaway was hosting it recently.

However the Justin Timberlake one is by far the funniest of them recently. Its so good its been making headlines all over. Best skit I think was 'Plasticville' where he gets dressed up in a weird fat suit that not many can pull it off, and the best part of it was the Lady Gaga improv. That's just something you really have to watch,

Can't wait for a 'Best of' to come even though he's only hosted it three times. Brilliant.

Nothing less than 50, please

noreply@blogger.com (crickyt) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 00:51:00 +0000

I'm in the market for a new TV, well not right now, but sometime this year would be realistic. And how television has changed. My 32" LCD TV, the epitome of flatscreen LCDs of its time while it was battling a winning war over the large chunky CRT TVs that weighed a quarter of a ton, has now entered into a price range that costs less than an iPhone. In fact, I think you could even get 2 of those for the price of an iPhone today.

The new LED TVs are pretty interesting, insanely thin at less than 10mm, thats about as thick as a Zippo, they can be mounted flush to any wall and look like part of your deco. The 55" one will set you back about 15k, but it comes with a free mount and Blu-ray player among other things.

Talking about Blu-rays, these are the definitive things to collect if you're really into details. I mean the first Blu-ray I tested was Mamma mia, which I am proud to say I have never watched it except for that few moments where it was so vivid you could see the freckles on Pierce Brosnan's face. One of the best places to get Blu-ray discs are on Amazon.com, hands down. Check out their deals and their ever fluctuating prices and you might just walk away with a couple for a song. (Does anyone really talk like that anymore?)

Here's what I would be putting in my library, not a complete list, but if you were thinking about building one at the same time, this would help with not buying anything completely useless like Mam...ok in all fairness my niece was really into it so I won't say more.

- Taken: Completely fantastic edge of your seat entertainment. Liam Neeson scores big and it makes you want to tell these overexcited lying scheming teenagers 'I told you so.'
- Slumdog Millionaire: Well deserved award winning movie. Its a shame the actors are still living in the slums, some even got kicked out and their houses demolished. More should be done for them, these invading Brit opportunist directors...
- Transformers: Robots and Megan Fox, you really can't go wrong there.
- Batman Begins: Best Batman movie ever, and I think even better than the sequel, which is why it isn't on this list.
- Serenity & Firefly: I never watched Firefly until there was nothing left to watch and once I did I was hooked. A sci-fi western? Doesn't sound right, but one of the better series that doesn't deserve to be nixed midway. Huge fan following until today.
- Iron man: The idea of a guy who spends all his time at home working on his hobby and eliminating bad guys? That's everyone's favorite ambition.
- The Godfather: Come on, its a classic.
- Wall-E: Something for the kids, this was a particularly well done animation, I enjoyed it. Almost bought plush toys, imagine that. Keyword: Almost.
- Generation Kill: Gritty, intense, realistic combat action of the Marines in Iraq. Very well done and easy to follow even for non-military nutheads.
- V for Vendetta: I bought this on VCD, I bought it on DVD, I bought the comic book that started it all too. Loved the movie, loved the theme, and Natalie Portman was great in it too.
- Underworld Trilogy: Kate Beckinsale in tights. Guns and vampires.
- Sin City: This is also another classic and others that tried to mimic it failed. Its a long movie so make sure you have enough time to really get into it.
- The Bourne Trilogy: Matt Damon says 'I don't know who I am, but if you cross me, you die'. Love it.
- Bolt: Fairly adult animation about a little girl and her dog. Extremely engaging but I'm not sure the kids will fully get the dialogue.
- Black Hawk Down: Yes yes, I am after all a guy. Great action flick overall.

Of course there are more, but these are the few must have ones, at least for me.

Over and out.

Too accessible

noreply@blogger.com (crickyt) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 12:45:00 +0000

Ever notice how this communication gap is closing and as we get more and more tools to communicate we get further and further away from our contacts? We got Friendster, Facebook, Twitter and what not and they are incorporating chats, location trackers (for Google accounts), so that we always know where each of our friends are. But the more these tools become available for our utilization the more we want to deactivate it.

Look at the 'Away' mode for instance. That currently signifies that 'I don't want to talk to just anyone, but if you're in the loop, I'll reply your message'. Or that 'Do not disturb' mode that says 'I'm not really busy but I just don't want to receive any messages.' We have become so socially adept that we've become unsociable!

We end up trying to find features to shut off our online presence instead. What's up with that? I reckon that if you don't want to be found, don't log in or even sign up for chat. If you don't want your pictures shared or edited or used in a malicious manner, don't post your pictures up. If you don't want people to know what you're doing every other second of the day, don't post Twitters every other second of the day. It really is that simple! The more information you share, the more information that can be used against you.

I think at some point people would think, 'How nice would it be if I just lived in a cave and people can't find me?'.

Then maybe a few hours after you've found the cave you'd think, ' Why doesn't this cave have WiFi?'

Never say never

noreply@blogger.com (crickyt) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:10:00 +0000

You'd think that if there were more robberies and other theft related incidents happening people would generally be more aware, but they aren't. You know that we have a problem when someone you know, or someone that knows someone you know has been robbed, its not even six degrees of separation anymore, that could be down 50%, and yet, people tend to repeat this six words in their head 'It will not happen to me'.

Call it ignorance, optimism, or whatever you want to, but these are not the carefree 70s, or for my time, the 90s (I reckon they were particularly carefree, for me at least), but today, and possibly for some time to come, optimism can only take you so far, and where the line ends what would you do? What can you do?

Most of us aren't prepared for the worst since we strive for the best and most of that time is spent in our comfort zone. Let's call that zone: White. White zone is when you let your guard down, you're probably at home, doors locked, alarms activated (if any), and you are thus 'free'. The mistake most people make is that when they get out of the house, they are still in the White zone. For me, the moment you step out of your house, you're already in Yellow.

Yellow is a heightened state of awareness. You observe things more carefully, you are aware of your surroundings, you are aware of the people around you and what they are doing. Yellow does not cripple you, nor does it make you less competent, it just means that you'd have to take a little more effort to look a step ahead. If an area is too dark that you shouldn't tread, or if people are rapidly approaching you as you are entering your car. Being in the Yellow zone means that you would do what it takes so that you can get back to the White zone safely. That means lcoking your doors the moment you get into your car, not lingering around the ATM after your transactions, that sort of thing. A lot of accidents and robberies can be prevented by just simply switching your mode to Yellow whenever you are outside your comfort zone.

We'll continue next time on the other two zones, Orange and Red, but right now, this should help at least a bit.

We are out of time

noreply@blogger.com (crickyt) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 02:58:00 +0000

A year has passed and nothing has changed. People still annoy me, people that walk and read especially. I don't understand why a person finds the need to walk and read at the same time. What's so important that you cannot keep your eyes on the road? What's worse is when they run into you, because they think that since they are pursuing something intellectually stimulating you are required to make way for them. I say to hell with that, I ain't changing my path. Crash and burn.

Ever wonder why radio ads are so cheesy? Personally I prefer the old time jingles, yes you can say that they have jingles too nowadays but you don't find anything that sticks to your head because it was good, more often than not its there because its annoying. What's with the 'informal' conversations too like you get two people talking over excitedly about a product and how they can't live without it? One that bugged me recently was this Starbucks one where they were advertising their 'handcrafted' beverages. Now that's over the line, I say. As a craftsman, you do have to make something exceptionally good out of your hands before you can say you are 'handcrafting' something. If you're just making coffee, you're just doing your job. Otherwise you would see me handcrafting something everyday in the toilet. The thing is, thats the kinda stuff I pull the flush and get on with life.

Let's just start with a song in my head

noreply@blogger.com (crickyt) — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 03:29:00 +0000

Nessun dorma! Nessun dorma!
Tu pure, o, Principessa,
nella tua fredda stanza,
guardi le stelle
che tremano d'amore
e di speranza.
Ma il mio mistero � chiuso in me,
il nome mio nessun sapr�!
No, no, sulla tua bocca lo dir�
quando la luce splender�!
Ed il mio bacio scioglier� il silenzio
che ti fa mia!
(Il nome suo nessun sapr�!...
e noi dovrem, ahime, morir!)
Dilegua, o notte!
Tramontate, stelle!
Tramontate, stelle!
All'alba vincer�!
vincer�, vincer�!

Translated:
Nobody shall sleep!...
Nobody shall sleep!
Even you, o Princess,
in your cold room,
watch the stars,
that tremble with love and with hope.
But my secret is hidden within me,
my name no one shall know...
No!...No!...
On your mouth I will tell it when the light shines.
And my kiss will dissolve the silence that makes you mine!...
(No one will know his name and we must, alas, die.)
Vanish, o night!
Set, stars! Set, stars!
At dawn, I will win! I will win! I will win!

-

It really is quite a beautiful song.

Officially my favorite

noreply@blogger.com (crickyt) — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 10:20:00 +0000

I've drank off many a bottle of whisky of various tastes and everyone finds their favorite, whether by taste or by price paid and the perceived value of their precious golden liquid. For me, its all about smoothness, its about the sweet, vanilla richness, its about the taste.

So far my absolute favorite is the single malt Balvenie 12 years Double Wood. Matured in Traditional Whisky Oak and then in Sherry Oak, imparting a subtle sweetness that is immediately pleasant to the nose its by far my all time favorite. The complex aftertaste trumps even the Ballantines 17years or even the ubiquitious Blue Label which is decidedly smooth but lacks any bite to its character.

In a nutshell

noreply@blogger.com (crickyt) — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 08:01:00 +0000

Not bad for a little Lomo LC-A, which was all I brought for my trip there. Colors were reproduced vividly and everything has a natural spontaneous look which was what I was going for.

Bangkok in 3 days

noreply@blogger.com (crickyt) — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 01:33:00 +0000

By the time I arrived at the new Suvarnabhumi airport it was about 9pm. The starck concrete beams, glass panelling and blue mood lighting created a somewhat modern, albeit overused touch.

The hotel booking was haphazardly done online, just picking whatever seems reasonable, at a place that was near the train station, something I learned from my last trip, and I ended up staying at the somewhat seedy Sukhumvit Soi31. The party was at the other Sois(roads) where all the 'themed' clubs and bars would be, but Soi31 was just a quiet spot 10 minutes away from the main road.

Unfortunately it was also home to a pretty large Japanese population so everywhere I went, there were Japanese restaurants, Italian and steakhouses are common as well. The first night was just a little orientation exercise to get a feel of the place. It was dark, polluted, unforgiving. Intent on getting authentic Thai food and walking a little off course I ended up at an especially secluded spot to what I can best describe as an area that was 'for locals only'.

Opposite an old dirty Shell station and many stares from diners masked in steam from the boiling pots of soup, I was at a place where their stares weren't an 'ooh, tourists' but more of 'what do you think you are doing here?' Then, straight ahead was a rather busy restaurant, from what I can tell it's either very good, or very cheap. I stood there for a good 10 minutes before promptly being ushered out of the establishment. Good old Thai hosptality; but perhaps they just get a little catty during nightfall.

Tired and slightly hungry, I was now beside a Carrefour which really means I'm way off track from the nearest bar. My GPS didn't help either with the nearest listed restaurants in a 500m range Japanese, or Italian. I ended up approaching an idling tuk-tuk for recommendations, and that is something you learn never to do again.

For 40baht I ended up at a Seafood Market, but funnily, the 'et's neons were busted so it was just Seafood Mark. Amidst a couple of lazy and almost ill looking crustaceans I thought it was best to just go for Tom yum goong, which I thought was the staple(it isn't really), and some fried clams. The tom yum was good, spicy and tasty but that was about it. So much for authentic Thai food, so don't go here N13 43.206 E100 34.127.

Taking the BTS Skytrain to Mo Chit the next day I found out my camera jammed on me so all the photos I took before well, will never be documented. I got that fixed leaning against the fence of Chatuchak park amidst hordes of people passing by, most of them wondering why I'm still using a film camera. But today will be better, the sun just got out, the lighting was perfect, and I was headed to the Chatuchak weekend market where you can get anything. And I mean, anything. N13 48.000 E100 33.008

One thing I noticed is that people seemed friendlier during the day, irregardless of whether it was a tourist/non-tourist spot. I easily snapped 2 rolls of 36s in the market alone. The second day I was still unsure, it was market orientation day so I had to browse, remember prices, and see if there's a cheaper alternative elsewhere, and there usually is. Still the tourist, I resorted to 'How much?' even though I had a Thai reference in my wallet I tried real hard to remember. But they are generally accomodating, especially the ones that aren't crowded with people.

What I liked most were the army surplus stalls. Camo is real big with the Thai people, everyone seemed to be in camo pants, skirts, while the more adventurous had their all-out desert storm getup. I should've left my reservations at home and just lugged my camo daypack there. But you can get all that and more, for a lot less. For me, thats just an incredible sight, and I'll return again next time for more goods. This time, I need to keep to my 5000baht budget for the entire trip.

The streets leading back to the hotel are a mixture of old and new, of local and foreign. The fact that they are able to coexist makes it a very harmonious and somewhat peaceful setting. This is the real community at work. Teenagers give their seats to the elderly, people don't push and shove into the trains, cars actually stop so you can cross the road, and you're greeted with 'Sawadeeka?' when you walk into any store. I don't understand what sort of customer service we have in our country where shopkeepers greet you with 'Yes?'. That's just annoying.

I decided to have an authentic Thai experience, you eat what they eat, so I had noodles at the sidewalk. For 25baht, it was fantastic. I now understand how Thai people stay slim, minimal carbs, a lot more protein and soup to fill you up. It was roughly half a regular serving of noodles, and the rest of the bowl just barbequed meats and vegetables. At that price, there is little to complain.

On the third day, I'd already made up my mind on what I wanted to get and the ideal price, so I headed back to Chatuchak intent on getting my money's worth. By now I'd gotten the accent right, and a point of the finger and a simple 'ann nee tao roi', usually gets replied in especially quick 'hah roi sam sip baht', which I still needed time to decipher in the morning, 'neung...sorng...sam....sip....' and then they reply 'five-hundred thirty baht..'.

The deciphering got quicker over the afternoon and eventually I had a field day bargaining my way around the market.

I decided to check out a place called The Robin Hood on the way back, a quaint English pub where they serve Guinness. I had 2 hours to kill, so I figured why not. The bangers and mash was huge. Portions are about 3 times the size of what locals are accustomed to, perhaps to justify the somewhat KL-ish prices. But it was all good because you really do get your money's worth compared to back home. N13 43'55.15" E100 34'03.51" (approximate). Also perhaps this was the reason why you see a lot of fat gaijins with skinny Thai girls.

Overall it was a good trip, and I still have 500baht to spare. That's good for another 20 meals.

Trust China to do just that

noreply@blogger.com (crickyt) — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 01:40:00 +0000

I've always had my reservations about doing business with China. Maybe its the work ethics, or the mentality, or maybe just too many people have been rapidly seduced and conned by the promises and coverage of doing business in China.

The latest victim would be the French food and beverage company Danone with its Chinese joint venture partner Wahaha, which is seeking 10 million yuan in damages. Of course if you really look into it the accusations are really groundless.

So the real question is not, 'Is doing business with China profitable on the long run?'

The real question is, 'How can anyone have a serious discussion with a company that's called Wahaha?'

This is in my head all day

noreply@blogger.com (crickyt) — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 00:42:00 +0000

Spider Pig, Spider Pig
Does whatever a Spider Pig does
Can he swing, from a web?
No he can't, he's a pig
Look out, he is a Spider Pig!

The Simpsons Movie, now out on DVD.

Economics for simple people

noreply@blogger.com (crickyt) — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 09:32:00 +0000

You'd notice them if you just happened to walk down the city on an average working day. Like a cheap Xeroxed copy that walked out of GQ, in a shirt that looks more expensive than it really is, in matching pants and a bold power tie, they strut down looking like the air around them breathes fresh when they are choking down on the same smog that we are killing ourselves with.

Well, to each his own, and to be a participant in this rat race one becomes a rat. I don't fancy the whole pretentiousness of it all, hell, I don't even fancy the word fancy, but what're you gonna do, right? I'm not saying its wrong, either, or bad, or incorrect. There's no incorrect choice in life because these are the choices you make, and you live with it. You probably sense some anti-conformity messages brewing within but you are probably wrong, this is not about people and what they do with their lives, its about what people do with their lives and why they go in that direction. Its what I call economics for simple people.

If you're like me, well, at least 47% of me, you probably don't know or couldn't care less about economics, which, I would in turn stand up and applaud your carefree mentality to worldly issues. But for the rest of us economics matters, and I'm not saying you should enroll in Economics 101, or get one of those bright yellow for Dummies books (are they still in fashion?), since you're going to fall asleep reading it anyway. I don't consider myself a very good sample for simple people either. So if you are reading this far you know one of three things, I'm not a simple person, I don't know anything about economics, and yet I'm writing an article on economics.

Back to our cheap Mr.Xerox. Just look around, there's Xerox1 to 20 all around you, some are wearing a 10k Tag Carrera because they think it gives them more character, while the others are spending a quarter of their salaries at Starbucks trying to look like very important emails have to be sent sipping on their lattes. Is this a sign of a good economy? Neither they, nor I provide a very good sample size.

Try the average guy with a family to support, and multiple loan repayments. These are the master jugglers trying to raise your kids right, keep everyone happy and deal with the ever changing economy. Look at them, and you have a good idea if we're doing well, or we're merely scraping by. Essentials are getting pricier by the day, and if you're the type that deals with stuff that's affected by the exchange rate you'd know what I'm talking about.

Sure, the Dollar is down to its lowest point in years but our share market isn't the best performing amongst other asian countries, which has seen a sharp rise because their currency became stronger due to the weaker Dollar. We're supposed to be able to do better than this, but we aren't, things continue to get more expensive, but yet our basic salaries remain at a flatline. This is the same sentiment shared by a lot of people.

I suppose for most of us we are thankful that we aren't really suffering from this. We are scraping by, yes, but we aren't suffering from scurvy. But if you're doing business, being thankful has its limits, and when you are nearing that limit, being thankful just doesn't quite cut it. You become less competitive, your exports drop because your prices are higher. You have probably heard that its cheaper to set up a factory in Vietnam with less red tape than it is to set up one here and hire local workers. People here want a higher pay for less work, and we are right to ask for what we deserve. But at the cost of your competitive edge, are you willing to sacrifice your ten thousand dollar lifestyle for long term business?

The real question is why do we even have to choose? There is a breakdown in the system, consumers won't know it yet. Consumers like Mr.Xerox because their multinational workplace buffers them from the real economics that affect simple people, and the fact that simple people drive the real economics that directly affects them in return. Nobody wants to really work long and hard to get what they want anymore simply because there is no reward factor attached to it.

But imagine one day if nobody wants you to work long and hard anymore, simply because someone somewhere else can do what you don't want to do at one third the cost, then you will understand the economics of simple people.

Has it been a month?

noreply@blogger.com (crickyt) — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 08:55:00 +0000

I know its been a while, but a month just zipped by like scurrying squirrels. I had been travelling quite a bit, travelling to Lumut, then to Raub, and flew to Miri, drove to Sarikei, took a boat to Tanjung Manis (nice fish), drove to Bintulu, and I just got back from Tawau, where I was stuck in the airport from a much delayed flight. Luckily the absolutely dreary airport restaurant had a fridge stocked with beers.

And now I'm home again, and with a new project, I'm building the biggest ever structure yet, a 4 metre high gardening superstructure I call Hydrocomplex. I've not built anything on this scale but I think if this goes through I can actually build a real house! Imagine that.

Which leads me to the next topic, tools. I just recently got myself a proper toolbox. The old plastic one I had had trouble closing because I was trying to jam in all the stuff I needed so I got a newer, bigger one. So one fine day I had the absolute pleasure of not having anything to do so I stopped by Ace Hardware to actually shop. I hardly ever have that luxury of just taking my time looking at stuff. So I got a nice large-ish 22" box.

Then I looked at their multi-tools. They had the regular Swiss Army knives. Now these things are great if you're a Boy Scout or if you're one of em wannabe DIYers. But they can't really do much. The construction of these tools are, I'd say pretty flimsy, and I've got a couple of blades breaking on me before, so its not something I'd recommend...and corkscrews! What's up with corkscrews on all these tools? I don't see myself trying to fix my machinery and at the same time thinking, ah yes, a 98 Shiraz would be nice right about now.

So with very little effort I ended up with where I first started looking, at Leatherman. Leatherman tools are built tough, they're heavy, they can withstand abuse, and are generally full sized tools that can do real work. I wanted one back in 2003, but at that time, and even now, they don't ship here, so I just left that on my Amazon.com list. Now, I know how to import these things back here, and so it was time to do some shopping.

Once you head over to the Leatherman site you're swamped with options. There are a lot of models to choose from, and each differs slightly in configuration and construction. I had a hard time picking one out, since they are each catered to a semi-specific application. In the end I chose a Charge TTI. This is their flagship model with almost everything, enclosed in Titanium.

And then I got the Crunch, Hybrid, Surge, and thought the smaller ones might be more convenient too, so I got the Juice CS4, an S4, and 2 Micras since they make such good gifts.

It seems that I make, and spend money sitting in the same chair. How's that for retail therapy?

I couldn't buy jerky, so...

noreply@blogger.com (crickyt) — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 04:10:00 +0000

I had a sudden craving for some jerky the other day. I remembered having it when I was schooling, little packs of goodness. Of course the mummified meats weren't great looking, and they still aren't, try googling 'jerky' to get a feel of how uninteresting and unappetizing dehydrated meats look like.

So I decided to go out to the store nearby that sells specialty stuff, they have all kinds of imported stuff from pastas to canned seafood, to pate and wagyu beef, but there wasn't any jerky. Perhaps they misplaced it? But the dog food section didn't have it either. So I got me a can of black olives and ironically some doggie chewable leathers. It seems like they couldn't import jerky since a few years back because of our import restrictions, which reminded me how difficult it is to bring these things back. The cow had to be halal, etc, etc, so I think a lot of people can't be bothered, which is why we're stuck with Aussie and New Zealander beef. There are some US imports but talking to my restaurateur friend the other day, it is extremely difficult.

But of course in this country difficult means more money involved.

So I checked out some US sites that sold bulk beef jerky. I was so tempted to import a few packs back but then I calculated the risk, and the shipping charges and decided to put it on hold. Then I wondered, what if I could make my own jerky? An oven wouldn't do, because I tried that before and no matter how low you put the heat on it won't dry evenly and end up charring the jerky to a point you can use it for charcoal drawings, which now seems like a rather neat idea. Meat drawings. My dogs will have a field day tearing that up, they seem to have developed a recent trait that is best described as 'persistent chewers'.

Have you ever asked yourself how they dried those stuff in instant noodles, or my latest addiction: instant miso soup. They dried all the soupy goodness of chives, tofu, seaweed and fish essences in a little 2" square foil pack, just add water and it all comes alive. How do they do it? One thing comes to mind: freeze drying. A huge machine that instantly freezes your food and then leeches the moisture from it somehow.

Then I stumbled upon something they call a dehydrator. Perfect! It works much like a kiln dry machine where we suck moisture out of timber to stabilize it. Except this one looks like an oversized microwave oven, and you stick trays of whatever you want to dry in it, and in a couple of hours, its perfectly dried, locking in all the natural goodness of meats and vegetables or whatever you want to put in it. But of course my goal was to make jerky, such is my simple one track mind. Portable meats. Mmm.

I received it yesterday after furiously emailing the representative here who could arrange to import this magical machine, and set out to get some beef, brought it back and gave it my secret spice mix, topped it off with a couple of shots of Jim Beam, and let it sit in the fridge for a good couple hours. I expect tomorrow to get really rocking since I'm expecting a big-ish dinner crowd after our general office meeting, and what better way to start it off than some home-made jerky, 15 year old scotch and cigars?

I couldn't buy jerky, so I bought a machine that made jerky. Talk about determination huh?

unwinding

noreply@blogger.com (crickyt) — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 08:31:00 +0000

Work, late nights, physical labor, building schematics, carpentry drawings, joinery, hot blazing sun, constant phone ringing, chasing for payments, financial reports, Forex hedging, managing shipments, managing life. Its tough, yes...

Then it all gets better.

Good stuff quick

noreply@blogger.com (crickyt) — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 02:32:00 +0000

I want good food and I want it quick. So I whipped this up for dinner yesterday. Extremely satisfying, light, and easy to eat with a spoon (like if you were in front of the TV), makes this the ultimate TV dinner.

Small shells with french ham in a light cream sauce

-Small shells or spirals (but not macaroni, I'm allergic) 250g
-Ham of choice, sliced or cubed, (pork please) 5mm thick, 2 slices
- Diced onions (2)
- Low fat UHT whipping cream (500ml)
- Mascarpone (50g)
- Butter or olive oil

I like this simply because you can keep all this ingredients in the fridge, and you can make this anytime. Start off by pan frying the ham a little to bring out some flavor, then slice or dice them as you like. Remove the fat and skin.

Place the diced onions in the blender. Once its done, start boiling the pasta, you will have about 13 minutes till it cooks. Put the onion mash into a little pot/pan over high heat and toss frequently, then add a little butter or olive oil.

Add the whipping cream into the mix and let it boil at medium heat. Once bubbly, add the mascarpone. Most people will ask me, isn't that what they use for tiramisu? Yes it is, and its the best thing for a light pasta. You don't want to feel sick halfway eating your dinner (that happens if you use mozzarella or parmesan or anything else, gorgonzola has a milky taste I don't like). Once the cream melts the sauce is good to go.

By then the pasta is done, drain, top with sauce, and meat, add some spices of your choice, I like cayenne, and you have a simple, delicious meal.

Serves 4~6

Justice pending

noreply@blogger.com (crickyt) — Wed, 16 May 2007 01:46:00 +0000

9 year-old Choong Woon Yi is my new heroine.

Perhaps its shocking that this country is getting sued by a 9 year old, but its the first step to balancing out all the unaccounted rapes and murders that has become commonplace. Perhaps this will be commonplace as well, with more people stepping forward and practising their rights. Then, perhaps people will wake up from their slumber and find out that there are real problems that need fixing.

The carpet's getting too small to sweep trash underneath anymore. Justice is pending, but I hope justice will be served.

Life's certainties

noreply@blogger.com (crickyt) — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 09:25:00 +0000

They say the only thing certain in life are death and taxes. That doesn't become apparently clear to you until they happen almost simultaneously, and at that moment you wonder, all those things, those insignificant things I've thought about, actually are somewhat insignificant.

A couple of days ago my grandma called me in the office, this was one of those routine 'How are you doing' calls that happen monthly. Except this time I spoken to her a little longer since I had time, its one of those moments in the office when things are working out and I'm not overwhelmed with work. So she asked me about work, life, and what she'll be doing over the next two weeks, and perhaps after that she'd come visit.

She'd never make that visit.

At the funeral a few things happened, I met with relatives I hadn't seen in years, the guy leading the wake seemed like he was recruiting all of us into Christianity, and the first day I brought KFC but wasn't in an eating mood. There was water, nuts and boredom. It felt wrong, but I felt bored sitting outside having nuts and water 2 days in a row. Then I decided that next time, I will prepare my own posthumous speech. I don't understand why a daft punk can pretend to know who she was, and that she would want us all to be Christians? That is wrong, but then again he was just working, I guess.

My own speech would probably be 'Dear family and friends, thank you all for coming today. I hope you are dressed up because I don't die everyday. If you are in a t-shirt and/or shorts, please go home and change, have some respect, eh? Also please turn off your mobile for the entire duration of my wake/burial service because that's just rude.'

I did my taxes today as well, finally. The e-filing system is surprisingly easy to use, and I don't have to drive all the way to the tax offices to submit it, so that's perfect. With e-filing, I was done in a jiffy. A jiffy was like 20 minutes. Which is the time it'd take to just drive to Pandan Indah before lunchtime.

Also I renewed my passport the other day as well, and the people are surprisingly courteous. Dare I say professional? Yes they were, considering we're at least RM300 a pop, I think they're making pretty good money, its the least they can do. I was done in about an hour and a half, and at a pleasantville scale of 9. 10 if they spruced up the deco a little. The whole teal-greenish government building theme with the assorted longkang-fish in the aquarium doesn't quite cut it.

But I guess that'll be fixed once they have a online system for that. I do love it when you merge government offices with zero interaction, everything's suddenly so pleasant.

State of niceness

noreply@blogger.com (crickyt) — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 04:00:00 +0000

Its no surprise that recently the headlines in the papers noted that the state of racial integration among 'youngsters' apparently was low. This had been going on for a while now and of course the dailies have toned the whole thing down yet again.

Which worries me somewhat. Disintegration is a dangerous thing in a multi-cultural community, but what if disintegration draws the line between nice people and the rude, dangerous drivers? Perhaps then we would have to resort to getting more people to be nice, because these are the kind of people that wouldn't incite anger, or road rage, which triggers larger, unwanted events.

I've recently switched my MP3 disc in my car to a CD I simply call, Jazz Greats. Its got Coltrane and Davis and Monk, things like that. It makes you a nice person, I think.

I was at the Autopay kiosk today and this girl had no spare change. So she was talking to this elderly couple and they couldn't understand her I think because she spoke in English (shame on them), so they eventually walked away as I finished paying my ticket. Then she turned my way and asked if I had change for 50.
'I only have 1s and 100s, though.'
'Oh really? I only have...50, and 1.50 in coins...that's so annoying'
'How much do you need?' I said as I looked at her kiosk that read 'RM2.00'
'I need another 2'
I took out RM2 and gave it to her, 'Here you go.'
She paused for a while and said, 'No...I can't take your money.'
'You sure?'
'Um...yeah. I think I'll go break it upstairs'
'Okay then,' I said as I walked off.
I wasn't particularly in a hurry or anything, but I decided to leave it at that. Why?

Because I want people to know that there are nice people around here. Nice people that don't want anything from you, not your time, your money, your phone number, your attention. Things that people always want from other people. Everyone wants something. But what if you changed all that by making selfless decisions. Could that change someone's day? Or life?

I think that was worth 2 Ringgit right there.

THREE

noreply@blogger.com (crickyt) — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 02:19:00 +0000

My last coffee table I made was back in 2004. I didn't realize that until I saw the tag on the piece of glass that I ordered then, and had been keeping in stock until now. Years of accidents and experience later, I somehow, quite peacefully without much calamity, made this.

I'm still not quite satisfied with it, so I plan to make another, better one. Same design, different construction.

What better way to enjoy your coffee than a custom-made coffee table?

Something terribly wrong

noreply@blogger.com (crickyt) — Sun, 04 Mar 2007 12:02:00 +0000

Its some sort of imbalance, I think. People who don't know what they're doing. People trying to make your life difficult. Church elders embezzling funds, rapists getting away with a fine, unsolved murders, unsolved murders with political connections, highway robberies, brittle interracial relationships, the economy in general, and global warming are among other things that would come up over a few drinks at the bar.

What most of us can do is just shrug it off, hope for the best and get on with life. That's how we are trained to accept things as they are. Witnessing a robbery nowadays means you walk away and get to a safe place quick. You don't want to be walking into a parang wielding attacker. Don't invite trouble. Of course that course is logical for our survival, but what I'm talking about is not being a hero and save the day. I'm not suggesting executing some kung-fu moves you just saw in a movie. But more of, what can you do to prevent this from happening?

Police have recently been boarding busses this festive season to curb drivers from speeding and what not, and that proved to be effective. They should've done that ages ago. Speeding lorries and busses still ranks as one of the most fatal of accidents simply because of their massiveness when you're talking about impact with a regular passenger vehicle. You read about accidents where people slam into a trailer. Why? You see the way some people drive without looking ahead. A trailer doesn't have a third brake light, but then again neither do a lot of cars around here. Sometimes cars have only one working brake light. Whose fault is that if they get hit from behind and somebody gets killed?

Don't be paranoid. Someone once told me that I think too much. These things don't always happen, you just take it easy okay? Now, I ask you to tell me that again. You're talking about break-ins, snatch thefts, murders, robberies, rapes. I am talking about people you talk to everyday who can tell you that his/her friend, or a friend of a friend just got robbed. To achieve this kind of statistic, either the coincidences are aligned with the stars and it just so happens that everyone knows someone who knows someone who went through that, or that the frequency and volume has increased to an extent that this statistic becomes so real, and common that you can actually hear real stories from real people, and its not even six degrees, its 2 or 3 degrees of separation. To read in the papers of these things happening, people getting away, and to feel indifferent to this kind of news is to know that something isn't right. Something in the system is failing miserably, and yet nothing is being done about it.

We know something should be done. But really, what? The nation is more consumed with news of fast food being unhealthy, among other seriously irrelevant things. Our emphasis on global issues only last an article or two. Try a search on global warming for instance, and only a few results come up, one was that we tried signing an agreement to go green or something like that years ago. Either that didn't work out, or that somewhere along the line we just failed to follow up on that. We don't have the initiative to even think of recycling.

Oh really, there is a recycling drive in our country? The people who set up these recycling centres are just out to make a quick buck. Besides the fact they're unfriendly, which really doesn't matter, they can't give two cents about the environment. They're in it for the money. The rule is anything can be recycled, and everything especially dangerous waste should be disposed of properly. Try giving them a pane of glass. They'll ask you to take that away because they can't accept it. Why? Simple. They like bottles better. Its clean, its neat, and it sells for more money.

You want to talk about emissions? We practise open burning here. Irregardless of what laws there is currently in place to ban open burning, people still do it 'because it clears the mosquitos'. There is a ban on fireworks and yet kids on the streets burn these things as if they could buy these along with their ice cream, and when they throw it into *my* house I take serious offense to that. I once chased a bunch of kids with a stick and yelled at them in unimaginable rage. I think I've established myself as the new crazy man who lives here. What's great is that never happened again.

Talking about emissions. We don't have any incentive for adopting standards. Some articles back I talked about conflicting standards of the Air Pollutant Index with other developed countries, and I think that's what's happening here as well. Buying a EURO4 certified Smart car means nothing to a lot of people. Its just a tiny 2 door car, as they go about fitting their Kancils with 3" mufflers because 'its cool'.

At this rate, we'll never be a modern, dynamic, and developed country in time. We may have the infrastructure, the income generating companies, the foreign investments, or even the latest most advanced subsurface tunnel in place, but the if the people, and the way we think can't keep up with the pace, we'll be left behind in our little 'que sera sera' world.