Another year, another cake. Another life, another notch.

And yet again I celebrate my birthday by going to work.This year without the obligatory drinking session the night before..to be replaced by yet another crazed attempt to make me into a fatso. One thing I’m glad though, the past two years I have celebrated my birthday with a very dear friend, and I will be doing it again this year..just right smack between both our birthdays as usual.

Me & Stanly turning 24 at Ascott KL

It’s hard,this growing up thing. All I want to do is remain a child forever, as I still remember my 5th birthday cake of humpty dumpty. I go through friendster, and some people whom I went to kindergarten with are still living a happy student life of bumming and living with their parents complete with home cooked food..whilst I have a home loan, a car loan, a cat to feed and other bills to pay.Not to mention a husband to regularly poke just to ensure he’s still alive.

Reflections of the past year

Gone through a tremendous amount of pain
Crashed my car
Bought a new car in the UK
Nearly ceased my incessant need to travel - lack of time & money
Got hitched
From happening drunken chick to lame-o gardening freak
Started making jewelry
Left my job,which by now I could’ve climbed up yet another ring of the corporate ladder
Became jobless = depressed
Found a new job in a brand new field starting as a underling
Found what treasures friends are
Quit my pack-a-day obsession with Kent & Malboros (yes folks, this is new!)
Blog regularly - I am now allowed to put BLOGGING as a hobby

And every year around this time, I run away. Rather, I get on a plane and fly. Some things never change - I am celebrating my birthday on the plane with a solidary champers.Or two.

I hate adulthood and all that responsibilities that come with it. The only thing I probably enjoy is the freedom to shop and the right to turn into an alcoholic.So have a drink with me tonight…and here’s to being a child at heart always.

Seeing that Bacon is so into football we could’ve move into a football shaped house,my postings have been suprising lacking in terms of football updates and the amount of games I’ve been forced to watch.I’ve been in denial since Team USA lost, and I still refuse to support Team England (don’t sound right)…joining the ranks of the Scottish supporting all teams but England. Sales of mangoes had even soared in Scotland due to an unprecedented amount of Carriben-themed parties held in conjunction to support teams like trinidad & tobago when they played against England

Anyway…back to what I originally wanted to post about.

About 0.01% of us will ever get a chance to do this…Michelle had embraced this football widow thing with joy and even amazingly got tix to watch a world cup match. And she didn’t even sway when offered 1000 euros for the tix..imagine the shopping that can be done with that.

See her pix of the cute tyre shaped stadium here

Every country has it’s own version to feed it’s starving college students and the occasional junk addict.Call it Ramen, call it Maggi Mee Goreng or whatever, we’ve all been there done that, irregardless of flavour

Britain’s version is an amusing combination of the east (noodles) and the west (flavourless curry flavour). I keep a spare sweet and sour pot noodle at work - because I like to tease myself looking at it whilst blindlessly slurping down the mush I call cereal. Even though nothing can beat my Maggi Szechuan flavoured Mee in my Mug, it’s actually quite nice the sweet and sour pot noodle..reminds me of commercialized american chinese food that me and dreydrey used to eat nearly weekly…Orange Chicken anyone?

Anyway…I love watching ads (yes, one of the crazies) and my current fav advert just so happens to be the Pot Noodle one. Over the years they had been quite controversial in their marketing tactics..heck, there is only so many starving students living on a diet of Pot Noodles.
“The advert shows miners going down the mines to get the precious Noodles that make Pot Noodles (because everybody knows that pot noodles grow underground in mines), and different miners are shown working in the Beef & Tomato mines and Curry mines and as the miners are shown hard at work the miners are shown singing a welsh song.”
Watch it here.

In a completely non-racist way; I’ve always loved the Welsh..I think they speak in a hilariously sing-songy way..the way they speak is like listening to a nursery rhyme I can almost fall asleep.Somewhat like Malaysians with our Lahs at the end of all sentences. Its so funny to see them mine for noodles in such a serious way; one of the series of ads even had the miners recount when his grandfather, as one of the first PotNoodle miner, found the noodles in the mine.

Its a real shame that there’s been complaints that the advert is racist towards the Welsh and will probably be removed from the airwaves soon…I dont’ get this overdrive of political correctness gone wrong

It just reminds me of a BBC show in the 60s which, on april’s fool, had decided to make a spoof documentary that explained spaghetti grow on trees, complete with footage of spaghetti farmers in Italy plucking strands of spaghetti from trees….and believe or not, the nation actually believed it! And got really mad when they were told otherwise

And the countdown starts…at day 3.

I can’t wait to land.Not really looking forward to the journey from home to KLIA..I am extremely prone to being stopped by pervy ole custom officers.Grr. I don’t get it. I don’t look like a terrorist, I don’t look like a drug addict…do I look like I’m smuggling something? The only times I dont get stopped by Malaysian custom officers is when:

1) I wait for a bunch of cheena package tours tourists comming from shopping places like Thailand/HK/Singapore to land and let them face the customs first.I will then whizz through due to lack of due dilligence. Once it failed, because there was 3 female students from china in front of me…they thought we were all friends so they stopped me..grr.
2) I wait for someone with bigger bags than me to go first.Usually works.
3) I travel with Bacon and hold his hands whilst going through customs. SOmehow they seem to think that if I’m with a gwailou I’ll be too rich to smuggle 10 packs of Jacobs Cream Crackers through customs (which is what I’m actually doing this time..apparently my grandmother loves em’)
4) I smuggle two other bottles of alcohol in my luggage…all the time displaying those that I had just purchased from the duty free in a transparent carrier bag.
5) I slap on the makeup and pretty up before leaving the plane..if I look like I’ve just stepped out of a cover of a magazine instead of a 14hour flight, somehow they think I wont be carrying the 400 sticks of cigarettes in my luggage.

Ah well. I have a two hour transfer time in Heathrow…which is hopefully enough time for me to disembark my first flight, run to another terminal and start shopping.Mmmm…shopping.

Arrive in KL at 5.30pm Sat just in time to start the weekend’s partying.Anyone wanna be my welcome party in KLIA?

Warning: This post is just a mindless, irrational rant.I needed an outlet…regular programming should be back shortly

Even after deaths of millions, the government of the world is still leading us down the treacherous road of nuclear energy.

Case 1:
Malaysia. The land of rich Petronas oil = gas = burn = electricity. Energy (or electricity) powerstations are run mostly by gas as we have more than enough of it..Malaysia exports liqueified natural gas(LNG) to the States and Europe. Well, rich enough to enable Petronas to sponsor an F-1 team. Now, the less we use the gas, the more we have to export, therefore driving down the prices as the rules of economy applies here ; the more available it is in the market, the lower the price will be.

And in stepped Big Brother, the American government.Where the brilliant president comes from the land rich in oil (correct me skippy if I’m wrong). They had ”invited” the Malaysian government to visit the states to ‘learn from them’ and will go all out to help us create a new energy source. And what might that be, oh almighty? NUCLEAR ENERGY.Which one wrong step will probably wipe out the whole of our ubi kayu (cassava) shaped peninsula. Whilst we are happily burning our own gas to light up KLCC…not good enough, it needs to be nuclear I tell ya! POWER! (whilst bringing down the prices of oil and gas for Big Brother)

Like I said,nothing comes free.The US uses so much gas and petrol that with every hike in prices the whole country sits in suspense watching their economy crumble. Not to mention that they are the highest carbon-emmiting country in the world; surpassing China which relies heavily on coal because they have no choice. They contribute heavily to the hole in the sky we now call the ozone layer and the fact that it’s not been cold enough in the antartica that the ice is melting causing all sorts of damage to sealife.

Case 2
The UK. The government had assigned a feasibility study to be done to explore energy options. Before the report comes out, Mr Blair has kindly shouted out loud that they are looking very positively into nuclear energy. But no studies have been done to ensure proper safety measures are in place to ensure that Cheronbyl does not repeat itself.All other renewable energy (wind,biomass ect) are not further explored.

Energy companies are required to have about 20% of their energy comming from a renewable source by 2015.This is to ensure that our hole in the sky does not expand in an alarming rate, causing all sorts of havoc with the weather.

Why nuclear?
It is cheap, it runs for ages, it does not pollute the environment like a coal-fired generator or gas-fired generator does (no carbon is emmited). It is not intermittent like wind farms or hydroelectric plants.

But there is no point saving the planet if one wrong move means the end of the country.

One of the dirty little secrets about me is that I love to cook. Especially since I left the ex, it has become something that I really enjoy. Swilling beer and making dinner, now that’s a good way for me to start the evening! That said I am not a great cook. I am one of those guys who slavishly follows the recipe book. The S.O. on the other hand is a GREAT cook. She has a real knack for knowing how to season exactly right, figure out what should go in the food, improvise and she has a real flair for presentation. However she does not really like to cook Western food. So she and I have an agreement, I do most of the cooking and when Nihon no Ryori (日本の料理、Japanese food) is required she cooks. It works out well for both of us as she is very picky about how the kitchen is cleaned, I hate to do dishes.

Hyashichuka (冷し中華、Cold Chinese Ramen) is one of those things I cannot get enough of during the summer. The S.O. really makes this in a way I like. Since Sourrain has posted some yummy things here in the past, I tought I would too.

Anyway, the S.O. knows that I love Hiyashichuka and it makes a great summer time meal. Its light and fresh and during the hot, hot days of summer here that follow the rainy season, a great meal.

You start with a special Chinese ramen. Easy to find over here, I am not so sure about how easy it is to get in America or Europe, however I suggest looking in an Asian market:

Nama Hiyashi chuka ramen（冷し中華らめん）。

Inside the bag are packets of Ramen and packets of Shoyuu(しょう油、Soy Sauce) You can also get it with a special Miso sauce, but I prefer the Shouyuu. One packet per person. You cook the ramen in boiling water just like spaghetti. While that’s going on cut up some salad veggies:

Cut veggies.

The S.O. normally uses the following:

Lettuce
Tomatoes
Cucumbers cut into long thin strips
green Onions chopped up
Daikon ( Big Japanese Radish)
Carrots
Celery

At the same time she also makes 2 eggs scrambled into a thin omelet like sheet. Boil a boneless breast of chicken and cut up some Luncheon meat ham.(I’ll bet it might also be good with some fried Spam!)

When the ramen is done, first put the soy sauce from the packet on each plate( 1 Packet per person). Then drain the ramen and allow it to cool. ( S.O. uses a small strainer to do this as she cooks the packets of ramen separately in 2 different pans. ) Put the ramen over the soy sauce like this:

The ramen placed on the plate in the special soy sauce.

Now comes the fun part. Each person should then take some wa karashi(和からし、Japanese hot mustard). Warning! A little goes a long way and its spicy! However squeeze some into the noodles and mix it up into the noodles with your hashi (はし、chopsticks). Here is what Japanese mustard looks like, its in the yellow tube:

The tube is the mustard and the soy sauce is in the packet.

Either before or after serving, put all those cut veggies on top of the ramen. Put some of the ham, chicken and egg strips on there too. Load it up. As you can see in the picture she makes some Tofu with sauce as a side dish.

More to go

And that is it. This goes well with a nice white wine or a good cold beer. Its a great meal for 2 people on a hot summer’s day. Enjoy.

Skippy-san

I can’t quite figure out if I have just been “bitch slapped”. I’ve re-read Sourrain’s last post several times and I think I’ve either been insulted or insulted her. Oh well, if you are going to go around watching what you say……you will never get anything said! Go get on the plane!^-^

The quizzes are rigged by the way…..

ANYWAY……..

Unlike those who are young and carefree, some of us have to work hard for “the man”. And “the man” was wearing me down today. Today was the invevitable “lessons learned” flail where we put slides together to show the powers that be what we should have done differently if we had just known what we were getting into before we got here.

And people don’t understand why US postal clerks “go postal” and gun down and a whole post office full of people………..I had a couple of deserving candidates in my sights today!

The lesson here is too much technology can be a bad thing. This week I’ve been involved in the technical details of a project that will allow people to work in a “virtual office” distributed between key places in the Pacific. Here in Hawaii I was with people who had cell phones on their waist, next to a crackberryblackberry. As for the video teleconference, well don’t get me started!

Do you ever wonder if this rash of instant communication is such a good thing? Now mind you, I’m not anti progress, but I wonder if we are giving senior leadership too much information and so, inviting them to micro manage. Whatever happened to the days of yesteryear, where the fate of entire nations rose or fell, based on the intuition of some young Major…Possibly nursing a hangover while he made the decision? In some cases it seems to me that may be a better alternative.

I’m not anti-technology at all, but it seems to me that too many decisions this days are pushed higher and higher and the decision makers involved have less and less time to understand the issue in play and make a decision. So the decision increasingly rests on who can package it the best.

I often wonder if I could, if I could go back in time and remove one item of technology. If it were me, it would be the video teleconference. I hate them! If one wants a meeting, give me a plane ticket, a nice location and drinks at the bar at the end of the day. That’s where the real business gets done anyway. Now with VTC’s, there are less and less problems solved on bar napkins. To our detriment I think.

So, what say you? If you could turn back the clock on one item of today’s technology, what would it be?

(cross posted to Far East Cynic)

No blogs yesterday…which can only mean I’m off sick again.It’s the stress I tell you, the stress!

I am having problems getting excited about my upcomming wedding..for the fact that we did the whole official shebang earlier this year and I’ve been getting used to the Mrs. title. So it’s been quite interesting to see my made to measure wedding gown for the first time..courtesy of dreydrey.

If this can’t excite me,nothing can.

Now, to try to fit into that is another problem altogether

Good evening, or good morning depending on where you are. Sourrain like all up and coming businesswomen, has decided to lower her labor costs. So she outsourced her blog for a couple of weeks. Just like the government she outsourced it to the lowest bidder. ( I asked……). So if you are looking for Hemingway, you’ll have to look elsewhere or buy one of his books.

Sourrain said I could write anything I want, but I could not post any porn! So I guess that rules out asking her for a play by play description of her honeymoon…….

I promised her that I would try to stick to the tone of her blog which is about the trials and tribulations of life in a land far away from the land of her birth. Its also about( in my opinion only)…. a fascination with the world and the things that are in it. So I’ll try to keep the blogfires burning until she gets back and can apologize to each and every one of you for letting me in the door.

So if you want to read about politics, travel off the beaten path in Asia, US Military issues, babes or beer, then go visit my blog here. If you want to apply to be my next ex-wife, send a full length foto of yourself here. If you want to hire me for a fabulous job in Singapore or Hong Kong, please leave your name and number. I promise I’ll call back! :-). (My idea of a joke…..well sort of a joke……actually I have my resume right here……..)

Shameless self promotion is over.

I am currently in Hawaii for a project for my company. Hawaii is great but the hours have been long and blogspot is blocked on the server of the computers of the place I am working. So its kept me from going back and looking over her whole blog(s) in order to find worthy things to write about. So when I get back to my adopted country, Japan I’ll do that research. Till then, however I’ve been thinking that what with this being Sourrain’s second wedding and all, no one has gotten them a suitable present. I know some readers here have, but many of have not. So I am going to close this post with a question and I hope lots of folks answer. If money were no object, what would give Sourrain and Bacon for a wedding present? What do you get the girl who has, by her own postings: a nice car, colorful red strawberries, an affinity for Krispy Kreme donuts ( as do I….), a desire to run away to a desert Island, and as I just learned while posting these links a new wedding gown!

So what do you get the bride who has everything? Give it some thought and post answers in the comments. There is a prize for the best answer!

Oh, and one more thing, exactly which day is the wedding?

Skippy-san