May 2006 – Page 2 – w w w . x e .s . c x

Clubbing in Ho Chi Minh City

According to Jeff, most of the night life entertainment outlets (partying, drinking etc) in Ho Chi Minh City are located in hotels. He brought us to a place called Level 23 at Sheraton Hotel. As suggested by its name, it’s located at level 23. Great view of Ho Chi Minh City.

Prior to that, I was pretty excited with the outing with Jeff, June and their furniture entrepreneur friends. My first impression of Ho Chi Minh City’s nightlife – a city of 8 million people, awesome music and happening crowd with hand up in the air screaming their lungs out!
WOOOOOOHOOOO!

Instead, they were listening to Backstreetboys and dancing to Savage Garden. WHAT THE FISH!!!

I knew I love you beforee i met you~~~ omggg someone please! please shooott me!!

Fortunately, Level 23 had a live band performing at that night. It wasn’t so bad after all.

However, the crowd mainly consist of foreigners. There were not many locals around. Probably that explains why they play such music.

On another note, we used to dread that all night spots or events in Kuala Lumpur must be closed by 3AM. Those were the days where we partied till 6AM (some till the next afternoon!). But if you think 3AM is bad, try living in Vietnam. They end by 1230AM!!!

Voodoo presents Fono and the Bass Agents @ Zouk 13.5.2006

Just like the previous one, it was awesome! The hard pumping music, the friends around and the atmosphere were just right. We had about 4 – 5 bottles of Black Label and by the end of the night, everyone was drunk. In a good way of course.

Also, I must record my sincere appreciation to Sharon Dilirius for bringing us in without going through the mad guest list queue. So mad till Tay stood on the same spot for 15 minutes and in the end decided to fork out RM380 for a bottle of Black Label to skip the queue!
As soon as the Bass Agents took over the decks, we were screaming our lungs out with out hands up in the air ala fascist salute. And that was what we did for the rest of the night. Bass Agent events in ZOUK is one event everyone who attend to experience the madness.

We also went on a photography spree, taking pictures of each other. Unfortunately, while in the midst of doing so, I accidentally dropped Ivn and Kelynn’s camera and cracked the camera’s LCD screen. Ops…MANY APOLOGIES!!!

Stop it WOOKOOKOO! STOP TOUCHING OUR GIRLS!

ivN, Kelynn, Sharon and Red Lobster Me.. (p/s i get red after 1 drink, typical Chinaman)

I have no idea what they were doing..

eraine!

Tay..ivN & Aaron who looks like he just got run over by a lorry. HAHAHAHHA

Master Sow!

Jin Wye.. ivN again..!

Jac & eraine 😛

the Bass Agents!

KinkyBlueFairy Joyce & KamSauToTheMax Melvin

Licia and winkris!

Ryan…sei fei chaiii ahhahahaha

mummy’s boy

happy mothers’ day! (14th may)
happy birthday fankerina! (12th may)
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i was reading this article about a man who confessed to being a ‘mummy’s boy’. he was proud to be able to make and spend time with his mum, doing shopping and quality time together. i don’t see anything wrong with that.
but most of my girl friends and i fear dating a mummy’s boy. because some have a severe dependence on their mums. seriously.
imagine going on a first date with mummy’s boy, where he makes conversation and every sentence begins with, “oh, i agree, my mum says ….. “ – which will eventually be a bit tiresome. or you know how you do things a certain way, but the boyfriend’s always comparing you and his mum,“now why did you do it like that? my mum does it the other way…. (demonstrates)”. die la, i tell you.
sometimes mummy’s boy keeps making comparison with you and his mum, deliberately trying to piss you off. sometimes he’s plain ignorant of your feelings, because he has always had his mum as his mentor and he just has to have things done the usual way, i.e. his mum’s way.
to be praised for having things successfully done like his mum’s is also a bit intimidating. “wow, this is excellent! just like how my mum makes it!” alamak.
sounds like a lose-lose situation, right?
but let me tell you one thing, cooking is a sensitive issue for some. and for me. ;P i had a boyfriend who made atrocious disgusting faces when i fried kuey teow once. he practically flung his plate away from him, like i was about to poison him, saying it was horrible, because it was not as good as his mum’s, while my siblings were not complaining. *pulls hair out* everyone has different taste buds, but he kept insulting my cooking whenever i cooked (there were times i wanted to cry, i thought i was showing TLC), until i couldn’t take it anymore, and told him we’re going over to his house to eat his mum’s cooking – i refuse to play wife and cook for him ever!
my siblings and friends never complained about my cooking, only the bf did. sigh. what would have been the solution to the problem in the relationship, besides me quit cooking? ;P
but not all mummy’s boys are that bad. i think.

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(a p.s. to chuoming: no, i do not have a lot of boyfriends… ;P)

Manicure/Pedicure in Ben Tanh Market, Ho Chi Minh City

I wonder what’s so great about manicure/pedicure. I know, I am a guy, I won’t understand. To me, nails are a nuisance. But after reading bimbobum’s post on manicure/pedicure, I decided to blog about this Pusat Kecantikan Kuku..bird.. at Ben Tanh Market, Ho Chi Minh City.

Ben Tanh Market is one of the most popular markets in Ho Chi Minh City. It is also a tourist trap. Things are not cheap there. It’s so tourisy until you have Vietnamese shop keepers screaming, “sumimasennnn, omiyage ga kaitai desu ka!?“.

There is one pedicure/manicure centre in Ben Tanh market. Rather than having sofas, pillows etc etc, they have plastic chairs crammed in to a small lot. It costs about US$3 (could be cheaper for locals!).

Jane & Amoi yang bertetek besar bagaikan buah papaya(translation: hot girl)

It’s interesting to see a group of females crammed in a small area doing their nails.

Asian Xgames at Sunway Lagoon – 12.5.2006

Last year, it was at Bukit Jalil.

It was the Asian Xgames which interests me into rock climbing.
So this year round, it’s held at Sunway Lagoon, a popular theme park in the Klang Valley. The place is humongous and as such, I had to take a long walk to get there. Admission is free but you need to get a ticket first. Digi customers can obtain a ticket at the counter for free.
Other than an international rock climbing competition, it also has inline skating exhibitions and also motorcycle daredevil show.

Continue reading Asian Xgames at Sunway Lagoon – 12.5.2006

Xes.cx – Clubbing System mix

(sorry bout the picture i couldn’t find a better one LOL)
A couple of older tracks but i must say this is my favourite set so far and it just makes me wanna tap my foot and go on a clubbing frenzy even on a monday night. Set kicks off with mellow trance and then gradually pumps harder mid way.Your-typical-clubbing-in-KL-type of music and i hope you all like it as much as i do!
1)Aces Delight vs Baced – Destiny
2)Pervading Call – Two
3)m.i.k.e – Strange World
4)Blank and Jones – Catch (Martin Roth mix)
5)Starsplash – Eternity
6)Dumonde – Ich Will Raus
7)Tiesto – Magik Journey(old school mix)
8)Delirium – Silence (unreleased mix)
9)Artist and song name witheld for protection
10)Liquid Soill – Keep Turning Around(Empyre one remix)
11)Blank and Jones – Mind of the Wonderful(Martin Roth remix)
12)Tiesto – Love comes Again
Download

nail basics @ desa sri hartamas

for girls only.

i had a manicure and pedicure some weekends ago. i decided to start it off early in the morning to avoid hunting for parking spots. you know how that area is.

the place’s newly refurbished, but not 100% complete.

the prices are not too bad. RM80 for both a manicure and pedicure. but if you’re a member, it’s RM50. they have nice fancy treatments too, like scrub and mask. ;P

spacious…. i like the floor. and the colour combination of the sofa and its cushions. imagine having a nice living room like that. woo…. can dance around like crazy! ;P

big chairs…. but the table between the chairs got in the way – kinda wide. wanted to yakkity-yak away with my friend without sounding too loud. ;P and the gossip magazines were months old too. (i like the mini fan (to dry my toes), so cute!!!!!)

but not too bad la, overall. they serve tea or coffee of your choice. the people are friendly, they’re like one big happy family. i wanted some nail art on my nails, but felt a bit too poor, so i decided against it. 🙁
go try it out, if you don’t want sit in cramp, small ones in shopping malls! at least you’ll avoid having your elbow knocking into your neighbour’s. 😉

and they do have gift vouchers too.

aaah…. the luxury of being pampered!

and now, can someone recommend me a nice spa for a nice relaxing massage (and affordable, too)?

a review on nail basics.

Upcoming dance events in Malaysia!

Vietnam aside. Here are the latest upcoming events!
Voodoo presents BASS AGENTS @ Zouk – SAT 13 MAY 2006

The Bass Agents, (“Best New Local DJ” – Juice Readers Choice Award 2005), (“Best new club night” – Juice Readers Choice Award 2005) and (“Most up for it Crowd” – Juice Readers Choice Award 2005). Didjital and Xt-acid are back!
Taking it to another level with their versatile selection of uplighting tunes, crankin’ bass and their ability to burn up the dance floor! So come join Didjital, Xt-acid and resident DJ Fono (“Best Local DJ” – Juice Readers Choice Award 2005) as they continue to infuse hard dance to the clubbing community.
Christina has informed us that guestlist will be available this weekend. This is a chance for you to get into ZOUK KL, for free! 21 years old and above only.
She said:-

Many thanks to Bryanshuffler for providing the following updates at the forum.
Destination : Space . Arena of Star, Genting 27.05.06

VOYAGE TO THE OUTER LIMITS WITH DESTINATION: SPACE PARTY
Get ready for a sonic blast off as Chivas Regal 12, Malaysia’s leading premium Scotch Whisky, brings you an out-of-this-world music experience with its Destination: Space “The Voyage Continues” bash at Arena of Stars.
Destination: Space will teleport you inside a futuristic spacecraft as it voyages through the galaxy, allowing partygoers to live the Chivas life and dance among aliens and space girls as they move to the beats of world-class stellar DJs, including:
Dutch DJ 4 Strings (Jan de Vos), who together with Carlo Resoort, the other half of 4 Strings, is behind the dance hits “Take Me Away” and “Sunrise”
Mixup Crew, comprising of DJ Oatawa and Kolor One, who recently spinned at the world’s party capital of Ibiza with Tiesto, Paul Oakenfold and Shapeshifters
DJ Bryan Burger, one of the most talked-about DJs in Malaysia who has played alongside club land legends such as Paul Van Dyk, John Digweed and Steve Lawler.
DJs Gabriel and Leonard, who are local club scene regulars.
Destination: Space is a continuation of the ‘Another Chivas Music Experience’ voyage, which brings opportunities for Malaysians to live in the moment and experience the Chivas way of life, while building a stronger association between Chivas Regal 12 and music. So don’t be left out! Come dressed in your best space costume and join Chivas Regal 12 on a space voyage to indulge in ‘Another Chivas Music Experience’.
More info @ http://www.genting.com.my/en/live_ent/2006/space/default.htm
Hotlink presents Germany’06 Kick-Off Party 06 – 03.06.06

GERMANY ’06 KICK-OFF PARTY
Featuring: BK, K90, KAI TRACID, THE THRILLSEEKERS, BASS AGENTS.
Location : A’Famosa Resort Malacca
Date : 3rd June 06
Time : 7pm – 3am
Price : RM60

The 3 great mysteries in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

To me, there are 3 great mysteries in Ho Chi Minh City, 1 of them remains unsolved todate.
1. Why do motorcyclists in Ho Chi Minh City do not wear helmets while driving?

Ninja!

According to my tour guide to Cu Chi Tunnels, the answer is simply that they do not like to do so. The Vietnamese government only encourages motorcyclist to wear helmets. However, I was told that it is the law to wear a helmet while travelling long distance on the highway. Further, my tour guide complained that whenever she wears a helmet, her friends would ask her whether she’s travelling somewhere far.

2. Why are bottom of the tree trunks in Ho Chi Minh City painted white?

Initially I thought it was for decoration but after seeing many trees being painted sloppily, I sort of doubt it. But according to my tour guide, the paint serves to stop ants from crawling up the tree. The accuracy of her statement has yet to be proven.

This is the biggest mystery of all.

3. Why are chairs by the roadside stalls arranged to face the road rather than facing each other?

This is a very common sight in Ho Chi Minh City. But yet, this mystery remains unsolved.

Back from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam!

Before my departure to Vietnam, my impression towards Ho Chi Minh City wasn’t good at all. I had to wait at Tan Son Nhat Airport for 6 hours for Jane to arrive from Tokyo. During that 6 hours wait, I did not dare to venture out from the airport as I was afraid that I might get robbed. But after 5 days, Ho Chi Minh City wasn’t that bad after all. In fact, it’s fabulous. It’s a city of its own kind.

As a first time visitor, I was amazed with the traffic there. All motorcyclists do not wear helmet. And there are about 4 million motorcycles in Ho Chi Minh City itself! I wonder how many brains are spilled on the roads everyday. Crossing the road is one tough task. It’s like launching a spacecraft into deep space, you don’t know what is coming and where did it came from.

Chaos!

The buildings are unique. Its ala French style and also Jenga blocks style. Those ala French styled building has at least 3 storeys.

As for the people, they are definitely one friendly bunch. Their service was excellent. It puts Thailand’s motto as the “Land of Smile” to shame.

Prior to my departure, I asked around whether I should change more USD or Dong. Some told me that I should only bring USD and forget about Dong. Some told me to change into Dong immediately. Also, I was told that the best rates are offered in the airport. After 5 days in Ho Chi Minh City, I can safely say that both currencies are accepted and most traders quote their prices in Dong and USD upon request.

Before I end this entry, I must record my utmost sincere appreciation towards Jeff and June for bringing Jane and I around and also occasionally paying for our expenses. Many, many thanks! Also, not forgetting Tomo who came to see us before we left.

I guess that’s all for today. Excuse me while I take a quick nap to resume my race in the rat race tomorrow morning!