Family, Friends and Taxes

Pray Along

My girlfriend's father went to Singapore last week to undergo an operation. It was quite major, hence the decision to perform it in Singapore instead of Malaysia. So far, he is recovering really well, which is great news for everyone.

Can't wait to see him up and about on his feet again.

I went down over the weekend to visit and to lend some support. Although the bus ride to and fro was horrendous, I'm really glad I did. It's at times like this that you truly realize the importance of having family and friends.

A blinding flash of obvious? Perhaps, but it's one of those things which we think we know, but honestly, do we actually really know it?


Walking along the streets of Merlion

I didn't spend much time sight-seeing, not that I'm complaining. Most of my time was spent in the hospital and in the serviced suite which we were all bunking in.

I did however manage to catch up on some much-neglected-clubbing by paying a visit to Attica on Saturday night.



Oh, and I also visited the Night Safari. It was my second time actually, the first was several years back. It was still as fun and entertaining as I remember it to be. Now why can't we in Malaysia, with our abundant flora and fauna, come up with something equivalent, if not better?

Maybe its coz we Malaysians are just not 'civilized' enough to sit quietly in the tram while the safari guide narrates. We don't like being idle. That coupled with our total disregard for personal safety (as evidenced by our road... *ahem* ...manners) would probably see us leaping right off the tram, into a pit of wild hyenas in a heroic effort to get a closer shot for a photo with which to show off to our friends.

Malaysians are funny in that way.


Death and Taxes

On another note, I recently appointed a personal tax consultant to handle my tax related issues. Yeah, I know it's a bit too late to help with my 2007 taxes, which by the way are in the process of sucking the life force out of me, but based on the tax bracket which I am so 'privileged' to fall under (urk!), it is a must for 2008.

Hopefully with some expert guidance, I can trim down the amount of my hard earned moolah which has to go into the pockets of the tax man.

Paying unreasonable taxes pisses me off.

End.

Alvin & Angie

Getting married in the morning...

Here's a photo-post which is dedicated to Alvin Koh and my brudder Angie Looh, who recently tied the knot.

Congrats on your union!

May there be many many babies a-coming!



What would a Chinese wedding be without the Chong Moon session?...



...Hint, it'd probably be a lot less painful for these unsuspecting dudes. On to the first challenge!!....



...Presenting Ah Kei, a close cousin of Alvin, he has a fetish for granny panties.



Apparently, Eugene likes granny panties too. He says they make him feel like a snug bug in a rug...ooeerrrr



The alphabets are a bit distorted due to the different sized posteriors, but it basically reads 'Alvin *Loves* Angie'. Only a female mind can come up with such evil.



Getting past the singing undewear stage, Alvin is faced with yet another locked door.... "Yoo hoo, where did all my heng tai go?"



The other challenges were pretty standard, revolving around the ingestion of ungodly amounts of gross liquid goo (they claim it's herbal) and what-not. Here, we see our brave hero finally making it into the house....



...where more horror awaits! Zounds!!...what is that guy doing to poor Ah Kei??!

In spite of it all, Ah Kei still managed a feeble smile for the camera. Champion ler the fellar.



The guys suffering weren't in vain after all, as Alvin finally got what he came for...and I don't mean Halo.



According to the aunty, this concoction is supposed to be good for newly weds *ahem ahem*. I guess Alvin will have to let us know about its effectiveness *cough choke wheeze*.



Norman, Me, Ah Kei and Daniel...



Hazel, Janice, Jean and Sit Fong..



Posing..


On to the chapel!



Here comes the bride, all dressed in white. Mr Looh couldn't have looked happier :)



The exchanging of rings and vows.





The laying of hands in prayer.



Sean with Renee and Caitlyn. Sooooo adorable!...and the 2 baby girls are quite cute as well!


Dinner at Maya



The time before dinner began proper is always good for a spot of photo-taking. As always, there's never a shortage of people willing to pose.

What happened to the days where people were camera shy...





Julie, Janice and Yi Yin.



The bouncer (right) and the bouncee (left)...geddit? *hyuk hyuk*.



Simon and Charlotte.



Eu Jin and Tiffany.



And here we have the committee members of the Guys-Against-Hair-Association.





Notice the difference between the bride and the girls in this picture...



...and the groom and the guys in this one. We told Alvin that he needn't worry, since it was his wedding night and we wouldnt feel right violating him before his bride had a chance to.

Our reassuring words didn't make a smidgen of difference tho', and he instinctively reverted to his foetal-like defensive position.



Obviously, the atmosphere of love and companionship was too much for some guests to bear, and caused them to explode in an amorous fit of frenzy.



I waited till Jon had cooled down before taking a picture with him. You can't be too careful around him you know.



Yi-Ki, May Vern and Hwee Yen.



Oliver and Cheng Jin aka Harry aka Uncle Lim.

Alvin's Stag Night and the Attack of the Mutant Woman

Thou Shalt Embarrass Thy Friend

We had a stag night for my soon-to-be-married friend last Sunday. Just for the record, I'd like to state that I really love stag nights. They are akin to receiving a free passport to humiliate your friends, and which guy doesn't like that eh?

Ahhh...the beauty of brotherhood.


(above: from left, Adrian, Alvin, Chern Yuan and Daniel - while they were still friends)

The task of organizing the stag night was bestowed upon Adrian, Chern Yuan and Daniel. I have no idea why Alvin let them organize it though.

Maybe he is a sucker for punishment and humiliation.

Or maybe he just wanted to prove that he has big cojones and can handle anything they throw at him.

Whatever the reason was, Alvin's parting words of 'Bring It Awnnn!' a week before the stag night was probably ill-advised and served as an ominous sign of things to come.


(above: I grabbed the opportunity to take a photo with Alvin, while he still looked like Alvin)

Our stag night lasted pretty long. It began at 3pm, or at least it was supposed to. In the time honored tradition of Malaysian punctuality, it was almost an hour after 3 before the final one of the motley invitees trickled in.

By then, everyone was pretty pumped up. Of course, the fact that we spent the last hour chugging down nothing but bottles of Coke and Zappel probably contributed to it.

The first round was pretty mild. It involved a simple 'strip question and answer' session revolving around questions on Alvin's future wife-to-be. Sound's pretty simple right? Well, Alvin's expression in the picture below pretty much sums up how the entire session went.



Needless to say, it wasn't long before he was sitting in the middle of the room clad in nothing but a pair of surprisingly water-absorbent briefs. For the sake of my readers, I shall refrain from posting any of those pictures lest I get sued and thrown into jail for crimes against humanity.


Groovy Baybeh!



Next up, we headed over to Cineleisure where Alvin was made to don an Austin Powers getup and go about soliciting signatures from people whose names began with the alphabet 'A'.

A pretty simple task no? Well, not in Malaysia!

Over here, people have a morbid fear of strangers, and the sight of a stranger approaching them (especially one who's dressed like a circus clown) is enough to send them diving under tables and over balconies in a desperate attempt to get away.

Whoever said that Malaysians were friendly ought to have his head examined.

Walking around with Alvin while he tried to convince strangers that he was in fact normal and not some crazed rapist was pretty entertaining. It was like watching the parting of the red sea. The moment he walks into a crowd of people, a path in front of him will automatically form as people tried to avoid eye contact and hurriedly walked away.

Sighh, so memalufying.

In the end, we pitied Alvin and allowed him to get away with collecting only 10 signatures instead of the 30 that we originally wanted.

Oh alright, the actual reason why we cut it short was because we were all famished by then, and by the rate Alvin was going, we'd probably be stuck in Cineleisure till midnight, chasing strangers around with a pen whilst begging them for their signatures.




(above: the fact that she is hot has no bearing whatsoever)

The event was also planned so that Alvin would surprise Angie with a song he composed several years ago for the woman he will end up marrying. It was truly touching, and the rest of the guys did a pretty good job backing him up on the vocals.

Actually, all they did was mostly stand in a line, swaying side to side while giggling like little school girls. But you know la, group dynamics and all. I am sure it made a difference.




(above: I bet Angie's thinking of how to toss Alvin over the balcony)


(above: In the end, true love prevailed and the happy couple posed for a few shots)

By the time it was all over, it was close to 11pm. Almost 7 hours of non-stop laughing can definitely take its toll on a person. I swear, I must have ruptured a kidney or something.



Looking back, it was truly a fun event and it really shows the importance of having good, close friends.

It also shows the importance of not having a stag night at all, but that's a whole different matter *smile*

(content deleted due to the presence of a conscience)

Trippin with Janice Yap

Trippin, 8tv - Wednesday @ 9:30pm

This is a bit overdue, but here's a plug for a show which my girlfriend is currently hosting. The name is 'Trippin' and it's shown every Wednesday on 8tv at 9:30pm. The show basically touches on all the adventurous things you can do in Malaysia - ranging from extreme sports to extreme motorsports (drifting!!).

The show is way cool and should appeal to all the adrenalin junkies out there. Do check it out!

You can view the past episodes on 8tv's website

Here's a clip from the most recent episode for your viewing pleasure.

Pearle's Birthday

AhhhhhHHHhhh...

That shower felt good.

By the time I got home it was around mid-night....far too late for a decent shower.

Alright confession time, usually when I get home late, I'll just throw on some old clothes and plonk myself straight onto bed. Yes yes, with gel-ed hair and all.

Don't look at me all shocked and horrified! Haven't you occasionally given in to the temptations of the pillow and skipped a bath? It can be such a bother having to wash up sometimes hor (or am I the only one who feels this way?).

Not this time though. My mom just got me a new set of bed sheets and I sure ain't gonna risk her wrath by dirtying them.

One thing you'll learn about my mom, don't mess with her when it comes to keeping the house clean. ...EVER!


Another one bites the dust

Yet another one of my friends has passed the mid-20s point.

No longer can she claim to be in her mid 20s. No longer can she tick the third box which states '20 to 25 years old'. No longer will 30 seem like such a long time away!

Welcome to the dark side...*evil laughter*!!


(above: Happy birthdayyyyyy!!! This is what passes as a birthday 'cake' to my friends.)


(above: Pearle and I. Hard to believe I've known her for more than 15 years now. She hasn't changed though, still as blur as ever :)


(above: Yi Yin was supposed to open her mouth wide for this shot, but you know girls lah...sometimes so shy)


(above: Daniel learns never to mess with a pregnant woman.)


(above: With Alvin not around, Chern Yuan's kissy lips had to find a new target....which in this case happened to be Roy. Poor dude )