Beijing in Pictures

Outskirts of the city, Wang Jing.

Obligatory camwhore.

Tianjin's Da Ma Hua Biscuits.

Highlight of the trip... Scorpions for dinner.

Pattaya in Pictures

starts off the day...

sex sells...

all the time.

When ordering, just point...

Tom yum goong.

Petrol.

The petrol station.

the fun begins...

when drinking, always take a cab back...

Tim Ferriss on Haters...

I heart laidback weekends...

The king of em all...

Good chillout sesh with the bud on phryday night. Rather have the hang out nights than club the night away like I used to. Then there was the beer after the durians, which wasn't exactly the best idea in the world. But life's a gamble anyway and I'm glad I can still document it out here right now. Jam session wasn't too bad either! Fingers are a bit numb from the strings but it's all good fun and I really do love laidback weekends!

Hoping the roadtrip to Terengganu tomorrow will be sweet one! Expecting plenty of food rendezvous along the way, taking my time and enjoying the east coast weather. Dropping by Cherating for a beach walk sounds good too...

word.

Locale travel...

Though it obviously can't be compared to international travel, the experience is somewhat, still rather foreign for me. Perhaps I need more exposure to our local culture.. I frequent Perak and fell in love with one of their local kick-ass drink. The effects of Toddy (Indian coconut liquor) are quite subtle, and the high comes gradually. Some may not like the fermented smell, but it's usually masked with a bit of good ol' Guiness Stout. I get knocked down pretty easily with this drink and it helps with sleep throughout the long drive back. Of course, I'm not the one driving.

Toddy, Devil's milk...

Then there was the Sibu trip. Never knew how cool the Pasar Malam's there were (heard from Bel that it rocked) until I checked them out. It's a mixture of all sorts of fantastic local foods. Was brought to try out Sibu's famous Kompia (meat bun) and Kampua noodles by a friend and I was hooked. Thing is, Sibu is just a freakin 6-hour drive away from Miri and yet they've got their own special thing goin on there.

The old man called it Yu Chong Gao...

Porcine reminds me of Texas back in Miri...

Fuckin delish local yummies...

word.

Immortality...

I imagine that I'm a lonely, lonely red blood cell lost somewhere in the extremities of the vast and complex system of blood vessels and capillaries. I'm bumbling around, caught up in the great grand pulsing bursts shuddering out from the heart of the city. I'm floating, lonely and isolated in the empty expanse of plasma.

(Jaron, ZMF)

And yes, I'm still reading Zen Motherfuckers. Taking my time, taking it in. Jaron did a good job of bringing me into his world and into his shoes. Wait... I am in that world. Just not in his shoes. I guess it's cos I could relate to the things he wrote about. I remember watching this TV show Sync or Swim hosted by the ex-MTV VJ Jamie years ago. Basically he was sent to a certain location in the world (usually rich in culture) and is forced to learn a specific part of the culture. A dance, a song, a language. In two weeks, he has to perfect whatever he was learning or... he swims. Thought the show was really cool and it kinda relates to how life has thrown me a heap of heebie jeebies and inspires me to stay with the flow and be in sync with the surroundings.

Like a chameleon.

The present life of man, O king, compared with that space of time beyond, of which we have no certainty, reminds me of one of your winter feasts, where you sit with your generals and ministers. The hearth blazes in the middle and a grateful heat is spread around, while storms of rain and snow are raging without. Driven by the chilling tempest, a little sparrow enters at one door and flies delighted around us till it departs through the other. Whilst it stays in our mansion it feels not the winter storm ; but when this short moment of happiness has been enjoyed, it is forced again into the same dreary tempest from which it had escaped, and we behold it no more. Such is the life of man, and we are as ignorant of the state which preceded our present existence as of that which will follow it. Things being so I feel that if this new faith can give us more certainty, it deserves to be received...

(Emerson, Immortality)

I believe in deciding my own path and I believe in greatness and in immortality. I believe in a lot of things but what's important... I believe in me. What happens in the end is solely dictated by the choices and decisions I make, which of course makes me fully responsible for whatever outcome that results from it.

I make me. I break me.

My personal mantra that I've kept faithful to all these times and the thing that keeps me going. Since we only get to live once, I, want to live forever. Whether there's a heaven or hell, I'll worry about that when I pass. For now, I will be the Wanderer. Learning everything and absorbing bit by bit, the vast energy emitted by Gaia. There is no light at the end of the tunnel for me, for there is no end to this tunnel I am in. But I'm not complaining... Life has been good to me...

Dinesh. Hangout buddy that moved here from Miri.

Sis came back from Japan for a month of vacation.

Then of course, the parents came too... Dad discovered the joys of shisha...

Sis and mom...

The new toy... Spending most of my evenings with her...

word.

Spinning in the silence...

The pool at my condo...

The roadtrip to Kuala Terengganu was one of the best solo roadtrips I've done! The view was amazing despite the heatwave! I'll definitely head there again just to check out the beach. Being the beach junkie that I am, I think it'd be perfect to just spend time there to get a breather. Anyways, will be heading over to Perak end of this week for a project and maybe party with the buds over in Lumut till the weekend.

Someone falls to pieces
Sleeping all alone
Someone kills the pain
Spinning in the silence
She finally drifts away
Someone gets excited
In a chapel yard
And catches a bouquet
Another lays a dozen
White roses on a grave

Trainingwise, I've been healing rather nicely. Undertaking again Project Mass-occur, which is a mass training program I made for myself. Packing on mass rather faster than I have anticipated thanks to some more studies and research on how I can get it done in the shortest time. Protein is not cheap. So making the most of it is a wonderful investment to the body. Adding swimming to my non-training days! The pool at my condo is sweet! Which is a good motivation for me to head for my regular swims.

Heading to a seminar on Power Sales tonight. Didn't think I'd be going for this sort of thing on my own will but getting educated on the many things that maketh one is so important in this stage of my life right now. It's free too. So nothing to lose...

The Swine Cough

The chill pill theory...

The three coconuts didn't work for me obviously. Decided on Saturday to try to sweat out the fever and push it at the gym but I almost puked and was feeling so lightheaded that the best thing to do was to head home. Training has been badly affected by this week of sickness. I think I have just discovered the Swine Cough... At work now and I just took 2 out of 3 of my flu meds for the day. The ones that was supposed to make me feel drowsy... and yes. They work.

On the bright side, I have been spending a lot of time at home and planning out what I want to do with the next few years of my youth. I've been reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad and have even started to collect the different series in the set. It's based heavily on investment and making money work for us instead of us for the money. I have always been a big fan of finding that out and this book just makes it the more clearer for me.

But like everything else thats hyped, only fools rush in. So I'm taking the time to slowly digest and absorb the knowledge and getting myself geared for what I might face and will face when I take the bold step in changing the course of my life. This is a lot like the step I took in fitness when I spent all the years researching on what is the best way to reach my goals and fine tweaking it along the way...

Gala and Vimel will be heading over to Perth to join our dear bro Cuban in his studies next term! I bet they'll be having a blast of a time there and I wish them all the best in that! We shall reunite again when the brotherhood returns to the humble grounds of Malaysia...

Big plans await us...

Hectique...

Off KK's coast...

Working life has been pretty hectic these two weeks. Guess anyone can tell by the idle state of my blog. While its pretty stressful physically, it was an amazing experience as well. Breakfast in KL, lunch in Johor and dinner in Singapore. On another occasion it was breakfast in KK, lunch in Sibu and dinner in Miri. That and the roadtrips and business meetings I attended... Jetset life as the darling calls it... Sweet. Pushed myself mentally in so many ways and ended up with fever! I can't possibly be THAT weak!

As I was hobbling around to head to the medical centre after work, I realized I forgotten to get some money from the ATM for my medical fees. With the ATM being so far away, I couldn't be bothered to get the money. I saw a fruit stall nearby. Proceeded to get my own remedy to cure my fever...

I had no idea a coconut had so much water...

And yes.

I downed all three...

BorneoFitness.com!

It's been ages since I've updated and here's the reason:

Mindcon will probably see not as much action as it has seen...
But rest assured it's still very much alive!

Mr Miri 2008

Mr Miri 2008 Promotional Banner

I emceed the Mr Miri 2008 event held at the Boulevard Shopping Complex on Saturday. I was kinda nervous cos I've never emceed in Bahasa before and there were really strict rules governing what I can say and what I cannot say (part of the Malaysian Bodybuilding Federation requirements). So some parts of the event were really quiet.

Overall the organizers did a great job in making everything fall into place and the only downside was the immediate rescheduling of the program. There was a total of 27 contestants going for these categories: Junior, Masters, Fly weight, Bantam weight, Light weight, Light-middle weight, Middle weight and Light Heavy weight. There were only 17 contestants last year so this year, the number pretty much went up. The bodybuilders trained hard obviously and are getting ready to be in shape for Mr. Sarawak 2008 (which will be held in MIRI on the 12th of July 2008!).

With Eddie Chang from Limbang

With George Polo and Hasbollah

With the overall Champion of Champions, Saifulbahri

Will post up more pics once I get them from Darren and Vince. The event exhausted the fuck out of me but it was an awesome motivation for me to train now that I'm in the bulking phase. Now to focus on the upcoming fitness portal project and back to plenty of training!

Filling in...

Contrary to what is being seen, lots have been happening but thanks to the finals, I wasn't able to fill in the blanks in this lonely blog of mine. From dinner to a pork haven to my performance in Labuan, to the Beer Appreciation Night (BAN) that happened last night. Here we go~

Dinner with the parents and the darling at Ho's Fine Foods

Grand Dorsett Hotel, Labuan. Nice big room.

Meditation and mentally getting myself prepared for the show

Mind rehearsal before my performance.

Met with Ian Wong on his trip back to Miri.

Mark (far end), Ian (in grey) and Lawrence (in red).

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Then there was the Beer Appreciation Night

(organized by Cuban over at his place)

Gala with beer bong. Overlooked by his caring sis...

Cuban with the beer bong.
Designed a training program for his Brisbane rugby tourney.
Hope all goes well.

Baptizing everyone with the almighty beer bong...

Just the tip of the iceberg...

Abored Chu Chang Yee...