Clowonline.com » Outings

Johnny Walker Black Circuit 2012

clow — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:10:38 +0000

After the Johnny Walker event last year I would never have thought that I would have the opportunity to attend another this year. Albeit sudden and without the company of madmen this time around. Held at MAEPS which is ironically located inside the grounds of UPM it was smaller in size in terms of attendees and venue. Though the air conditioner was working rather well it was made even more exclusive as invitations was rediculously hard to come by.

Being a mostly beer person, I took up the opportunity to attend as my sister had an extra invite at the very last moment to try some new concoctions created for the event. It was fairly interesting to say the least. There was a bartender who created a coconut with Jony Walker mixed with dry ice. It was quite a show I might quite add as the bubbling mixture looked as if we were going to drink some sort of magical potion. On a side note: Anything with alchohol is a magical potion. I prefer the my drink on the rocks pure just the way it was meant to be. Thank you very much.

The FREAKING AWESOME AMAZING chocolates were back. I can’t put it into words how this balls of chocolatey goodness can ever be made. I would love to know where they get it from. I could write a poetry and compose a song on how good it was but it won’t be today unfortunately.

Met a few of my sister’s friends and although I was getting really bored I bummped into my old friend Tony Eusoff. It’s been years since we had worked together and he still remembers me and my sis. Amazing how time flies. Tony will be performing in a new stage production in Singapore in July called _____.

Well, coming back to the event. The music was okay. The atmosphere was good. The gold label drank when I was invited into the VIP area was VERY NICE! The crowd was in a lack of a better word very nicely dressed and was pleasing to the eyes. *hint hint*

Overall, it was very well organised and totally exclusive as per stated. I just hoped that I would at least gotten a few invites to bring my buddies in though. We would have brought the house down. Well, maybe. Its nice to try new ways of drinking Johnny Walker but all in all as I had said I still prefer mine neat on the rocks as that how I prefer to keep walking.

P/s: Yes. I’m bloody hell back into blogging. For permanent this time I bloody hope.

Cue the bartender with the spooky glowing eyes.

Well, coming back to the event. The music was okay. The atmosphere was good. The gold label drank when I was invited into the VIP area was a VERY NICE touch I have to say. The attending crowd was in a lack of a better word very nicely dressed and was very pleasing to the eyes. *hint hint* Should have worn my suit though. It felt as if I was working during the event or something.

P/s: Yes. I’m bloody hell back into blogging. For permanent this time I bloody hope.

The BigBadWolf is one badass.

clow — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 21:47:28 +0000

It’s a bit late but I guess it’ll have to do. The BigBadWolf booksale was held recently and this year it changed location from the usual Amcorp Mall to some really hard to access shopping mall in Sri Kembangan called South City Plaza. Gotten some really hard to find books for a price to kill for. Burn a small hole in my pocket but it was really so damn worth every cent. RM8 a book mate. Any cheaper and I’ll faint. Ok, not really but I’m go screaming like a girl at a Rain concert. As usual, the crowd was as aggressive as Zerglings rushing onto a Terran supply base. Luckily, when I was arrived on the evening of the second day the crowd was miraculously subsided. Must had been dinner time kua.

I just really hope that I would have more than enough cash for next year’s haul. I just hope I’ll be able to finish reading all this by that time though.

Summer barbecue with a dash of fireworks.

clow — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 10:45:02 +0000

The 4th of July is a day in which Americans regardless of faith, race or even ideology set aside their differences to celebrate their victory against evil alien invaders that blasted most major cities around the globe independence from British colonial rule and at this year’s celebration we got a taste of what it is like to celebrate Independence Day.

To see and experience how a small community celebrate the 4th of July, we were taken to Kaskaskia Island located in Randolph County in Southern Illinois. Kaskaskia Island was once a major French colonial town and then it became the first state capital of Illinois. Now it just has a very sparse population surrounded by farmland.

As we arrived there was already a small crowd gathered at the site of the Kaskaskia Bell or also known as the Liberty Bell of the West. It was given by the then King of France to the people of Kaskaskia. A high school band was playing music and people were just sitting around some having something to eat and some just talking to each other waiting for the ceremony to start.

The ceremony was started with a presentation of colors by the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion, two military veterans groups based in the area.

Then there were the usual speeches, singing of the national anthem, a firing salute, the ringing of the bells of the Church of the Immaculate Conception and more singing. A special tributes was also given to the military veterans present for their service to their country. It is interesting to see how a small and I mean a really small community come together from all over the place to this small venue that is literally in the middle of nowhere.

Barb Brown, the Master of Ceremonies

Barb Brown who was the Master of Ceremonies also works for the small town of Chester helped to organize this trip for us. It was certainly an eye opener for us on how patriotic the ordinary American can be.

The Kaskaskia Bell

After the ceremony was over we then went to Fort Kaskaskia which was a site that the French build a fort upon and was destroyed in a battle with the British. The view from this hill site was magnificent as we can see the entire Mississippi river below cutting across the plains.

Soloist Taylor Crum. She sang the patriotic songs during the ceremony. Yes, I'll rather put her pic up than the old dude standing behind her. Hehehe.

Lunch was provided by Barb Brown’s family which I do not mind saying time and time again served the most mouth watering delicious hamburgers that I had ever tasted in my life. It was all home made and home cooked and boy, was it good.

The view from Fort Kaskaskia.

Later on after lunch, we went down the hill to visit the home of the first Lieutenant Governor of Illinois, Pierre Menard. His home is one of the very few surviving structures from the early part of the area’s history. An earthquake during the 18th century changed the flow of the Mississippi river and dramatically changed the landscape in the process.

Although some parts of the house is rebuilt, the furniture are all authentic from that era.

We also had an chance to watch a fireworks display organized by the local Lions Club in Carbondale just near the old football stadium located next to campus. Although it’s not as grand as a multimillion dollar fireworks display it was still impressive non the less.

Attempting to take pictures of fireworks makes me realize on how much work I still need to work on.

It was a wonderful but ridiculously tiring day and finding time to blog about so many things that happens is tiring enough as it is.I just hope that the next update would be faster.

The Great American Pastime

clow — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 17:59:26 +0000

Apparently, if you ever had a physical education while growing up in the US you would have definitely learned, heard or even most probably played baseball. Alongside Basketball and (American) Football it has one of the biggest followings here in the United States and is also the official national sport of the country.

At the end at the first week we had an opportunity to attend a Minors League baseball game between the Southern Illinois Miners and the Oakland County Cruisers. We arrived around 7pm in the evening and it was warm day although it’s much better than the tsundere weather we have back home.

The atmosphere was filled with excitement and fun for the whole family. It was almost a full house as we arrived as most tickets was already sold out and we had to sit at the grassy area at the end of the field. Visibility sucks though but the tickets was already sold out the week before so there’s nothing that can be done. We had to sit on the grass at the edge of the field behind the fences.

Believe it or not. This picture was taken at 7.30pm local time. Sunny isn't it?

I literally can’t see much but then again I’m just there to learn about the sport and to seep in the atmosphere. The food was remarkably pricey here, especially the beer.

Mega nachos and a corn dog = USD9.00

It was kinda fun to watch and learn about America’s national pastime but unfortunately, we had to leave before the game was over as it was past the 10th innings and there was no conclusion yet. Not to mention most of us were feeling chilly under the night sky.

A special thanks to Cary for explaining to me how the game works.Now I finally understand that the pitcher doesn’t have to shout out the attack name while trowing the ball. *SUPER TORNADO FLAMING FLYING DRAGON!!!!!!*

Cary is a big St.Louis Cardinals fan if you haven't notice. (it's a baseball team! XP)

SUSI: Carbondale

clow — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 22:16:44 +0000

After 20 hours sitting on an airplane I think I have reached my yearly quota for air travel. Sleep was almost impossible for me with the cramp seats and the loud engine noise but I persevered non-the-less. After transiting at Changi Airport in Singapore we had a 6+ hour flight in a Boeing 777 to Narnia Narita Airport in Tokyo, Japan. Then it was a 9+ hour flight on a very cramped Boeing 747 to San Francisco plus another almost 4 hours of additional flight time on an Airbus that has seats that are not screwed/attached onto the plane. Lost my confidence on United Airlines by the way. Lastly it was a 2 hour drive from St.Louis Airport to the small town of Carbondale.

It was somewhat agonizing physically to me that is on the journey but it wasn’t as bad as Joann who had her entire luggage lost by the airline company. She had to go through almost a week without new clean clothes. Its something nobody has to go through at all.

Being in the United States didn’t really hit until we landed in St.Louis. The situation in San Francisco felt more like being in Singapore than anything else as there were so many Asians around. Felt a bit like home really.

Once arrived at St.Louis Airport we were picked up by our graduate mentors Onur and Jeniffer who drove us 2 hours south of St.Louis to the small city of Carbondale. After checking into our dorms at the Southern Illinois University Carbondale we heard that the Indonesian group were going to be late as some of them were detained in customs and missed their flight. Racial profiling perhaps? Maybe. Gonna talk about this in a later post.

All the Indonesian group finally arrived at about 2am local time though. The first night was cold and I mean freezing cold. It rained a little that night but I think the major problem was with the very cold air conditioning. Shivered like crazy and had to use an extra towel as a blanket. Found out too late in the morning that there was an “off” switch on the said air conditioner though. Dammit.

From left: Fareeza, Farah, Joann, Faizal, Sabina, Ridwan and me.

It has been quite a tiring journey and I’m still having a bit of a jet lag right now. The people here have been great and very friendly. A big difference from the usual antics we have back home. Gonna stop for now.

Next update: Classes and such.

To new frontiers. USA here I come!

clow — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 17:10:48 +0000

After so many months, it is finally clear that I am still not ready nor accepted the fact that I am going to America for Study of the US Institute’s New Media program. I’m starting the journey by having an argument with my sister and this is not what I had expected it to be. *think happy thoughts* This was a bad sign as something was gonna happen…and it did.

Arriving at Changi we checked in at a transit hotel but because we checked in our bags earlier we cannot collect them unless we leave the transit area pass immigration. The problem was if we went out to collect our bags we cannot go back in as our boarding passes was only allowed to be collected before the flight itself. Due to that really incredible rule I’m now left with the same T-shirt I’ve been wearing the entire day without a change of clothes or even my long sleeve shirt for the long duration flight.

Seriously, WTF???!!!! and FML!. On the bright side, the airport offers free Wifi and the inside of the duty free area looks like a mini shopping mall. Damn the liquor and cigarettes are cheap. So gonna get a few bottles on the way home after this.

Looks like football fever does not stop even the busiest of travelers. There’s a few spots in the airport organised by the airport authorities itself that gives guest an opportunity to watch the World Cup live. A great idea if I do say so myself if you’re on the go. Thats actually quite considerate of them.

Looking how I do not have anything/anyone to hug to keep the cold away I hope they would give me a blanket soon. Gonna try to stay awake tonight so I can sleep on the plane. Plane departs at 7am and its gonna be a 20 hour flight to St.Louis’s airport. I predict my butt is gonna die and my entertainment supply will only last me for so long. I think I’m gonna dread this journey…I really think so….

Next stop…Narita Airport.

GACC 2010: The Last GACC

clow — Tue, 18 May 2010 14:05:10 +0000

Its about bloody time I posted this damn event review up even though it is about almost 2 1/2 months late. Stupid busy schedule. But I guess its better late than never right? So we’ve all heard or almost all of us anyways that this year’s Games, Anime and Comics Circle will be the last held at Multimedia University’s Melaka campus. Although swamped with work I just have to find the time to at least drop in for a visit since I was there at its creations it is only fitting that I’m also there for the end. Might as well since this would be my last GACC while I’m in MMU anyways.

The first day was to be honest an unexpected uncontrollable headache. The university apparently decided to have an open day on the very same time and the actual venue for GACC was pushed to the nearby classrooms which was hot, small, cramped and ridiculously hot. Did I mention hot? Cause it was like HOT! The air-conditioning was futile with the large amounts of visitors packed into the small makeshift venue. The MC’s both veterans of the ACG community were however there to lighten up the mood and try to create a fun atmosphere.

Then came the usual mix of activities that one would have expect from a large ACG event such as stage performances, competition and tournaments. The second day was a relief as the GACC committee was finally allowed to use the Examhall and to the relief of the visitors as well as it was fully air-conditioned. Cosplayers and the number of visitors were well below the amount seen in previous years. I guess maybe it was just at the wrong timing and the long distance from Kuala Lumpur. In any case, it was still a memorable event with friends meeting up and enjoying themselves with the ongoing activities in and out of the hall.

Yes, I know this isn’t much of a review but I was busy manning the the Anime Depot and the Emina booth. Besides I was too damn tired anyways. My head was spinning the entire weekend I was there. Too bad for me I guess. Be cause of that I really wasn’t able to take much pictures that I would like too. Now that was dissappointing to say the least.

In other news, I’ve finally made a proper watermark for all my future picture uploads. Looks way better than the previous one. As I’ve mentioned previously, I did not have much of a chance to take pictures of cosplayers and the like during my time at GACC but take a look at some of those that I did. Did some experimental photoshop. Kinda like how it turned out. As usual, comments and constructive criticism is very much appreciated.

[View with PicLens]

Sony A350 with kit lens. I so need to get myself a flash unit for the camera…sigh.

No, I’m not dead yet and this post proves it.

clow — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 16:55:46 +0000

Yes, I’m still alive and no I’m not dead. Clearing that up, it seems that I finally have a brief respite from my busy as hell schedule giving me enough time to give signs of life in this almost dying corpse of a blog. Its been a miserable hell this couple of months for me with the most academically demanding assignments ever. Its my (almost) final semester and doing your Final Year Project wasn’t exactly the smartest thing to do in a long time…for me at least. Dealing with both hardware and software by myself is very time consuming and with 4 subjects with its own lab assignments, assignments and projects. Its a miracle I’m still alive actually.

Mobile Observation and Surveillance Robot RX-1

Most of my assignments including my FYP is already done. Only need to do some final editing to my FYP thesis before I print it out into a hardcover copy but other than that its just 4 exam papers and I’m done this semester. Regardless, I had to juggle my academic life with my social life as well otherwise I’ll be missing out on so many things in life.

Went to GACC 2010 for a visit. It was going to be the last GACC due to circumstances of the times. I was there at the creation of GACC as one of the working committee so I felt it was fitting to be there as it slowly lays to rest one last time. The trip was kinda a rush for me as I had to multitask with my assignments and all during the trip. But it was a yummy trip to say the least. Didn’t took much pictures though. I miss photography. I really do. T__T

If you recall, I had posted about a run earlier this year that I would be joining. The Energizer Night Run. It was life changing for me. Ran 10km non-stop after so long with limited training and I broke my own personal best at 1:16:41.77 which is about 1 hour and 16 minutes. Surprised myself and I was feeling fine at the end of the run. No panting like mad or felt like dying. Incredible experience running around Cyberjaya at night with some of my closest friends not to mention the thousands of people. Maybe I’ll try a 21km route next time after more training that is.

Went to the Video Games Live concert, had one hell of a memorable time there, got my event booklet and VGL CD signed by the crew. It was nostalgic, surreal and fun like hell. The sound system could have been vastly improved and the organisers suck to say the least but the performers were GREAT. Only regret is that I should have bought a more expensive ticket as the music was quite soft from where I was seating.

Spoils of war. Lol.

Some might say that I’m mad for juggling so many things at the same time, that might be true. But all I can say in response is that I have no regrets whatsoever. It was a busy start to a new year but its a year of change for me in more ways than one. Oh, by the way. I got accepted to this Study of the U.S. Institute on New Media program organised by the U.S. Government. Which means I’ll be going for a shopping holiday study trip for 5 weeks in June and I’m bring Clowonline on a roadtrip with me as I explore the land of Freedom whenever chance I get.

I’ll be updating again in a couple of weeks after I’m done with my final exams. Till then. ZZZzzzz…..

Random flower

clow — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 18:18:01 +0000

Damn. I would so love for this semester to end with a good bang. I’m so tired and frustrated with assignment and my Final Year Project its depressing. No time to blog for now although I have like tons of stuff to write about. In the meanwhile, enjoy this 2 pictures of flower that I took while I was up at Broga Hill.

I don’t have any other lenses other than my Sony kit lens so I don’t take nature pictures much but it turned out pretty well as long you have a steady hand or if you have a tripod handy.

GACC again this weekend at Melaka. See you there! Expect a short review on GACC soon once I get some free time.

Lunch in The Apartment

clow — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 19:59:19 +0000

Honestly, I think I need to think up of better sounding titles that are more catchy. I have a feeling it might be getting lame lately. But in anycase, I heard about the this place interestingly called The Apartment from a few friends of mine and they mentioned about it having a peculiar comfortable and cozy atmosphere. Therefore, I took the opportunity recently to check it out for lunch. Located right next door to Italiannies at The Curve its very easy to spot.

I had the lunch special to see what was the real deal with the food. Logic states that if one cooks good food and its cheap then other more expensive stuff on the menu should be good. Well I guess I just decided to give this particular theory a try. Lunch set comes with a soup of the day and a salad and your choice of entree (main dish).

Bread serve with some sort of garlic butter is usually served I think but it wasn’t served when I went there the 2nd time. In this pic the soup was celery soup, the next day it was pumpkin soup. I prefer the celery soup compared to the pumpkin soup. It was too think im my opinion. Had some curry powder mixed in it I think to give it an extra flavor but to me the more I drank the more it felt like Indian Dall.

Avacado Chicken

Large pieces of grilled chicken breat with mashed potatoes sanwiched in between topped with an avacado dressing. The Avacado Chicken was tender and the avacado mix gave it a slight tang to the flavour which was quite refreshing.

Steak and Chips

The steak was pretty good. I ordered for medium and it was soft, tender and juicy but it was cooked a little too rare in my opinion as the meat towards the center was too raw for me. Had to ask for it to be resend to the kitchen for it to be recooked. I didn’t want to take the chance to ruin my holidays with food poisoning so I had to better play safe. The fries were fresh as we could taste the softness and the crunchy-ness of the outer layer of the home made fries.

Eton Mess

Salmon Wrap

Chicken Wrap

The salmon wrap and chicken wrap were what I would just call as alright. The chicken used in the chicken wrap was tandoori chicken and the smoked salmon in the salmon wrap was just so-so in my opinion. The potato chips were good as a snack though.

Baked Chocolate Pudding

But what I felt was the best item to have during my 2 times at The Apartment was the deserts. The Eton Mess although ironically messy it was refreshingly tangy and sweet but not so sweet until it causes diabetes after consumption. The fresh strawberry chunks with strawberry jam really creates a magnificent flavor with the meringue used. The baked chocolate pudding will definitely be a wet dream of any chocolate aficionado. Soft, sweet and warm chocolate all baked in a small cup/bowl with a side of vanilla ice-cream. The cold ice cream really brings a contrast to the warm chocolate. Truly a must try if you have a sweet tooth and an insurance policy.

Nice relaxing atmosphere for a chill out session but will I go again to try the main menu this time? Definitely, yes but I’ll have to save before I go first otherwise this student writer will be eating grass and riding a cat driven cart to campus for classes. Unless somebody wanna foot the bill of course. XD