Butterflies Of Malaysia

Well, something less hardcore…


This is probably the first Malaysian stamp that made me go, “WOW!”.
For the first time, Pos Malaysia produced a unique shaped miniature sheet – in the shape of a butterfly. It’s also modifiable. You can peel off some parts of the stamp.

Reminds me of the Fun Fruit & Vegetables stamps from England.


Most stamps in the world are commonly squarish. Those which are uniquely shaped or made from materials other than paper are usually quite valuable.

Tonga Gold Coin Stamps

Thailand Valentine’s Day 2005 stamps – made from Velvet and smells of roses!
Well done Pos Malaysia! I look forward to more unique shaped stamps.

XLive Music Festival @ Genting Highlands, 17.5.2008


XLive Festival will be the first outdoor music festival to be held in Genting since 2005 and will also be the first time that a music festival is being held at the Genting Outdoor Theme Park. The festival will be divided into 3 arenas namely the XLIVE MAIN STAGE, XL-TRONIC & XLR8.
Each arena will feature a multitude of quality international, regional and local acts which includes Missy Elliot, DJ Yoji, Dan The Automator, Filo & Peri, Marcus Schossow, Stylustiks, and Goodnight Electric and more.
In addition to the live performances and DJs at the 3 main arenas, festival-goers are also entitled to FREE theme park rides such as the Spinner, Cyclone, Astro Fighter and other rides to their hearts’ content.
DJ Line Up
The main stage:
MISSY ELLIOT
MALIQ & D’ ESSENTIALS
PARKDRIVE
STYLUSTIKS (DJ SET)
SPACESHIP FT. GOLDFISH & T-BONE AND POSSE
The XL-Tronic stage:
YOJI BIOMEHANIKA
FILO & PERI
MARCUS SCHOSSOW
DEREK K
GREGOIRE PAGNOUX
RAYSOO
The XLCTRC stage:
DAN THE AUTOMATOR (DJ SET)
ALHACA SOUNDSYSTEM
GOODNIGHT ELECTRIC
LAP SAP
B4C
TWILIGHT ACTIONGIRL
Ticket prices:
RM250 (VIP) – Available from 24th April to 17th May 2008.
RM188 (door sale) – Door-sale available on 17th May 2008 only.
RM118 (pre-sale) – Pre-sale starts from 24th April to 16th May 2008
Celcom Xpax subscriber may get VIP tickets by sending XLIVE to 28881 and reloading RM50.
Tickets available at Axcess outlets (1 Utama, Rock Corner, MidValley, Tower Records KLCC, The Actors Studio) and Genting outlets.
Related Links:
XLive Festival website
Axcess Tickets Sdn Bhd :: XLive Festival tickets, dates

Dancing in the streets

Credits to the Star Online
Source: The Star Online – Dancing in the streets

By IAN YEE

BY ABOUT 5pm every Saturday, the open space outside Maybank at the Jalan Bukit Bintang and Jalan Sultan Ismail intersection in Kuala Lumpur becomes the venue for a huge outdoor party. Teenagers just turn up from everywhere, with music blaring from portable speakers hooked up to their MP3 players and cellphones.

They would slowly find members of their crew, and start to chat and catch up. But many of them have a different purpose for meeting up.

Hidden identities: This group of shufflers came ready with their masks last Saturday, which are worn during dance-offs with shufflers from other groups.

Johnson Lau, 18, has been taking the train there every Saturday from his home in Sentul. Five months ago, he discovered something there that has become a passion – shuffle dancing.

Shuffling is now more than just a hip dance move. It’s a movement. Almost every state in Malaysia now has a shuffling community, and the shufflers are hardcore. They participate in huge events and competitions, and some of them are sponsored by big brands like Hotlink and DiGi.

They take their moves seriously, working hard to elevate it to more than just a dance. It is now a legit street culture with a massive following among teenagers.

At Jalan Bukit Bintang, around five to 10 shuffle groups come each week to create their own dance floor by gathering together in a small circle. Cheering and jeering each other, they take turns showing off dance moves to music from their little portable speakers.

“I think it’s fun,” Johnson said about their weekly gatherings. “I love to shuffle because it helps me to relax, and every time I dance it seems like I have an escape from all my troubles.”

Showing support: These kids are wearing shirts bearing the logos of their shuffle group.

Fellow shuffler Mohammad Nazlee Abas, aka Katong, used to be a DJ and b-boy before he found shuffling. Now he’s already a semi-pro, and a well-known name on the shuffle circuit. Katong is part of a group called the Underground Shuffle Squad, or USS; and claims it is sponsored by a big corporation to enter shuffle competitions.

But at these weekend gatherings, teams like USS and Johnson’s group, Hardstyle Republic, often challenge each other to what they call “full battles”, something like a dance-off. And apparently, they get pretty serious.

“We have a ritual, where the loser – the one who can’t match the other person’s moves, or runs out of ideas – has to give up the shirt he’s wearing (which usually bears the logo of the team), and the winner will have to burn it,” said Katong.

And they really do burn them. Right on the pavement, in probably the most crowded intersection in KL. Even more bizarre is the practice of wearing masks while going into dance battles.

“Sometimes we wear these masks to conceal our identities when we dance-off. That way only after the battle is over will we know which groups our opponent actually belonged to,” Katong, 20, said.
He added that the weekly gatherings at Bukit Bintang aren’t that big compared to the events and competitions they go to. Sometimes they meet at Taman Titiwangsa where hundreds of them come in their pimped out rides to shuffle, with music pumping from their car stereos.
The shufflers are not the only ones at the Bukit Bintang pavement. Hardcore metal heads and rockers also gather here on Saturday evenings, and they aren’t too impressed by what they see from the shufflers.

Join the party: The crowd, a mix of shufflers and rockers, in the Bukit Bintang area in Kuala Lumpur on Satuday.

It’s easy to tell the two groups apart. The shufflers have a more hip-hop style, with baggy T-shirts and pants with reflective strips that make their moves flashier. The rockers sport dark colours, have multiple piercing on their faces and have punk-ish hairstyles. To some of them, the shufflers seem like hip-hop posers, and they find their dance moves silly.

When asked about the rockers, Johnson simply said that he “doesn’t want to cause trouble”, so he and his group leave when the most hardcore of rockers and mat rempit guys come in later around 10pm.
Rocker Mohammad Alif Fitri, 23, known as Slay, however, prefers a more understanding approach to his shuffling peers.

“I don’t mind them, really. They should do whatever they want as long as they’re enjoying themselves. I think it’s better to just make friends,” said the well-mannered rocker.

Slay first started getting into rock/metal culture when he was 13, after being introduced to heavy metal music and other hardcore rock genres.
“At first it was just the music, but when I was in Form Three, I started to pick up the fashion too. Surprisingly, the teachers were alright with it! Even now my boss doesn’t mind, because I still do my job properly,” he said.

Nevertheless, Slay feels that some people still misunderstand and judge them based on their appearances. Even his parents found it hard to accept his clothes and piercings at first, but now they have slowly realised that rock is part of his “jiwa” (soul) and that there was no point dissuading him anymore.

According to Slay, all the rockers do every week is hang out and meet other people like them. And sometimes at “events” like concerts or gatherings, other rocker communities from other parts of the Klang Valley like Shah Alam, Petaling Jaya and Putrajaya will join in.
“Actually it’s just a social circle. We meet up to talk about the latest rock trends, dressing styles, discuss music, and just hang out. We don’t cause any trouble, so usually the security guards and police don’t chase us away or anything. It’s just a hobby and fashion style,” he added.

But in spite of what they say, when such a large number of rowdy young kids gathers together in what is essentially a display of machismo, trouble is bound to flare up particularly between the shuffle groups who are there for some “friendly” competition.

Last Saturday, things started to simmer when one or two minor scuffles broke out. Some of the kids fled, sensing things were about to get ugly. Soon enough, just as it was getting dark, a mob of around 20 angry teenagers were seen dragging a guy into a back alley. The others on the street – the youths, tourists, security guards – just watched in silence.

And this was literally seconds after a security guard assured us that the rockers and shufflers almost never caused trouble.

The security personnel hired by the management of private buildings around the area have no jurisdiction to disperse this youth crowd, or to take action against them if they misbehave.

Or perhaps it’s just more convenient for them to take that approach because handling the mob of over a hundred youngsters must be daunting.

“People think they don’t cause trouble, but that’s because they don’t want to be responsible. So they pretend nothing happens. But the truth is, these guys get into fights pretty often.

“Anyway, there’s a police booth right across the street,” said one of the guards there.

The police booth is only a few metres away with a clear view of the pavement.

“All we can do here is patrol the area,” said one of the three policemen who went to check out the scene. “We chase them away sometimes, but they always come back after a few minutes anyway.

“They fight all the time, almost every week. But we can’t do much about it. There’re so many of them, and so few of us. We can’t be watching them all the time,” he said.

After saying that, the policemen proceeded to clear the area, slowly walking around the pavement shooing the kids off. Within five minutes, not a single shuffler or rocker was to be seen.

All that was left was an empty pavement, with barely a trace of the huge celebration of teen culture and passion that was in full swing just minutes ago.

But they were still around, hanging out somewhere in the Golden Triangle just waiting for the right time to reappear and continue partying the night away.

My 2 cents
What the crap is happening to the Melbourne Shuffle in Malaysia? Why are there clans for shuffling groups?? It’s not Counter strike man!!!
Gone were the days when the Melbourne Shuffle was done exclusively by a small group of clubbers. I don’t know whether it’s because of the way Melbourne Shuffle was portrayed in the above article or it has really gone down the drain.

Ok, I better shaddap before I get beaten up on the streets.

Malaysia Dreamgirls – FINALE

Malaysia’s first online reality series, Malaysia Dreamgirls will soon see the winner of the competition. Adeline, Cindy and Hanis are the final 3 contestants.
The voting ends Monday 28 April 2008 at midnight and the winner will be based on this week’s SMS vote count only. Please give your support to Hanis by sending a text with the words DREAM 06 and send it to 33001.

Also, not forgetting super hot blogger, Cindy Tey by sending a text with the words DREAM 03 to 33001.

The Malaysian Dreamgirl Grand Finale will be held at 1 Utama LG Oval on Tuesday 29th April 2008 at 6.30pm.

Climbing Accident

I had a little accident while bouldering. I was cleaning this simple route for n00bs. While on the last move, I took a plunge from the top and was sent crashing down the mattress. Unfortunately, there was a gap between the mattresses and my right feet slotted nicely into the gap.
In the process, I hit my heel on the floor.

Immediately after crashing down, all eyes were on me…
Me: NO PROBLEM!!! MOUU MAN TAIII!!
Few minutes later…
Me: argghhh…GG already…damn pain..

On the next day, I had limped my way to and back from Court.
I went to see my company doctor on my bruised heel. Doctor said I ruptured an blood vessel.

Me: Do you think I’ve broken something or fractured something?
Dr: Noo…if you did, you wont be able to walk here.. it will be extremely swollen..
Me: OK..as a matter of precaution, I think I should go and do xray..
Dr: Sure
Me: Can I do it here?
Dr: no but I will send you to another Clinic which is 5 minutes walk from here
Me: O_o I think I’ll pass, I don’t think I can walk there!!

[Edit: Day 3 = getting better!]

World Lupus Day – 10 May 2008


When I first heard about it, the first question on my mind was, “What the crap is Lupus??? Sounds like Pupus (extinct) and Luput (expired).
After some reading, I found out that Lupus is actually a disease that I want my worst enemy to have. (DIE GAVIN DIEEEE!!) It’s a disease that strikes fat people which would cause their balls to fall off if untreated.

Picture unrelated
Just kidding.
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic, auto-immune disease of unknown cause where the patient’s body makes large quantities of blood proteins called anti-bodies that react against the person’s own tissues. In Malaysia, it is estimated that more than 10,000 people have been diagnosed with SLE over the past 30 years.
A photography contest is being held in conjunction with World Lupus Day on May 10, 2008. Called “ANYTHING Butterfly Photography Contest”, this photography contest aims to raise public awareness about Lupus, an autoimmune disease that can cause severe damage to body tissues and organs. The shortlisted photographs will be exhibited from May 10 – May 18, 2008 at 1 Utama, First Floor Oval. Extremely attractive prizes to be won.

ANYTHING Butterfly one of pro-bono projects under KimKomm (Kimberlycun‘s PR company). Please feel free to post an entry about Lupus on your blog.
Related Link:
Malaysia SLE Associations
[Edit: Please take 2 minutes of your time to complete this website’s survey 😛 http://www.my3q.com/home2/132/eauderose/36888.phtml]

Stop Twisting My Panties!

Hello all, and a happy 2008!
I know, I know, this is rather late, and I disappeared without saying goodbye. I must admit, I did attempt to tender my resignation from blogging on numerous occasions during the last quarter of 2007, but xes kept disappearing and pretended not to hear me. So, I am still a guestblogger.
Which means, I still get to rant on and on right here, and you have NO choice but to listen (read)!
So xes, you can stop twisting my panties and I will do my best to find havoc in my life in order to have blogworthy news. Not to the extent of joining demonstrations and wet t-shirt contests.
Just a brief update. A change in career lead to many busy nights, therefore less opportunities to socialise, and thus less adventures to blog about. Even eating out has been, and is scarce.
My boss is still a bit difficult, and for the past month, I find myself thinking about a transfer to another department. It’s not him, it’s the job, or it could be him plus the job. Dunno.
Bimboman and I are still together, and doing our best to make the long-distance relationship work. I admit that it’s really hard work, and my determination in making it work is wobbly. I’m just tired, and I blame it on my job. I find myself venting my frustration on him, but so far, no huge arguments. 😉
Valentine’s day this year went by without any form of sexual harassment, hurray. Probably due to the fact that I was mistaken to be an elephant from behind. Nobody wants to molest an elephant.(Read: I’ve put on so much weight that my bum is 60-inch wide.)
I am ashamed to admit that although I am a citizen of age, I did not vote in this year’s election. I know, I know. How irresponsible of me not to register last year! And I wished I had voted! Arggghh.
I also understand that famous bloggers (sniff) have been attending pajama parties and many more happening events. I WANT IN!!!!!!
Oops, I do apologise for rambling. Xes merely instructed me to drop a note to say HI. ;X
I shaddup now.
But I’ll be back, sorry ya!
p/s: Is the gathering still on?

Siow Tiow Restaurant @ Klang

My friend Adrian brought us to one restaurant in Klang. The restaurant, Siow Tiow Restaurant, is well known for its shark fins soup and oh chien (oyster omelette).

Klang is also well known for its underworld activities. When we arrived at the restaurant, couple of prostitutes were hanging outside the restaurant.


No pictures of prostitutes here la.

The restaurant itself looks quite dodgy. The facade was brown and old. It was like an old restaurant from Hong Kong movies – gangsters may pop in any minute to chop up some people for Bah Kut Teh.

The range of food is quite limited but Adrian being a regular there, knows what is good. He ordered, amongst others, the famous shark fin soup, prawns and oh chien (oyster omelette).


pr4wns!!


wooweeee nomnomnom sharkfinnn

Surprisingly, the shark fin soup came in a big claypot bowl. It was thick and had loads of substances in it. Extremely yummy.

Apparently the oh chien is highly recommended by many. It tasted OK to me. Prawns are so-so too.

The price is reasonable but I read some reviews saying that it’s too expensive. Nevertheless, our shark fin soup, prawns, oh chien and 2 big plates of fried noodles costs around RM200 (for 6 of us).

Address: 58, Lorong Gopeng, Off Jalan Goh Hock Huat, 41400 Klang, Selangor
Tel: 03 3342 2462
Business hours: 11.30am to 3.30pm, 5.30pm to 10pm
Open every day

Related Links:
Rasa Rasa Malaysia – Siow Tiow Restaurant
Jules Eating Guide to Malaysia: Siow Tiow Fish & Noodles … Klang