Kenny's Cafe Corner
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Paintball? PAIN-ball!!!
I had a pretty fun Sunday playing paintball with my dance studio friends and friends of friends.
Woke up real early and left my place around 6AM. The sky was moody and breezy. Soon it started pouring rain all over the sleepy city while we had 'Dim Sum' along Jalan Ipoh.
After some confusion deciding who to stuff into which car, we left for Bukit Tinggi. Thankfully the rain stopped when we arrived at the Golf Resort.
We were suited up, equipped and briefed at a golf driving range and then finally brought to the playing field. My lucky gun is numbered 68. At first I was worried that my spectacles won't fit in the face mask but fortunately it went in snugly even though it fogs up whenever I breathe too heavily. (Kinda hard since we had to run and there were quite a few hot looking chicks around!) :D
Lost the first two Capture-the-Flag games but after switching sides and changing slight tactics, we won! Frankly, I think one side of the field is slightly more advantageous but all is fair since both teams switch base sides equally often.
Then we played Capture-the-Base and the games were even more intense since the rules only permitted limited number of 'lives' per player and shooting distances tend to be near. Trust me, even with clothing, you will *NOT* enjoy being shot at a distance of less than 30 feet!
Right now, I have 4 black and blue bruises that truly hurt if you touch them. Despite the mild injuries, I fully enjoyed playing paintball since it is so exhilarating. The risk of pain makes the game exciting since someone has to actually be the flagrunner or run out in the open to be shot at (as distraction). Guess did all that? ;) Ouch! It's all worth it though.
We only played the Vietnam game once. This is a more 'realistic' playing field with a lot of hip tall grass and obstacles that look like huts, observation towers, gates etc.
The VietCong side has to hide a flag and defend it while the American side has to attack. The first 10 minutes the VCs may hide in their huts but after that time is up they are not allowed in the safe hiding spots. However, within 20 minutes of the whole game if the flag is not retrieved by the Americans, they lose.
The red team (I was on blue) leader, remembering that the Americans lost NAM, immediately chose to play as the VCs. Not only that, they also hid the flag up in a tree. Which means the retriever will be out in the open!
Looks like we were truly disadvantaged. We had an Ace...two Aces up our sleeves though as Lee Mun and Janice was assigned to sneak stealthily around the perimeter and flank the red team. It nearly worked though they came out of the bushes too soon and was spotted at the time all the rest of us on the right flank were out of the game.
Yours truly crawled really near to the flag, unfortunately Gu Wen was hiding in the bushes somewhere...All I saw was paint pellets flying through the grass at my feet so I hid behind my obstacle. I even tried pushing the obstacle nearer but it could only go so far. On my left is the hut and one sniper from the window. Moments like these I wish I had a paint 'grenade' or something!
Once the defender in the hut was out...I think it was Tang...I made a rush for it since there's nobody else on my team right behind me anyway! Oh what a mistake it was! I ran to the wrong side of the house for cover and there were three shooters waiting for me. I think the bruise on my back still hurts whenever I lean back in my chair!
Then as time was running out with 4 minutes left on the clock. I urged the remaining blue team members to brave it. Only the girls were left, 3 of them I think. Let's just say the game ended with a lot of yellow paint on all of us! We gave them a valiant fight though!
Anyway, we won the last game, which was a Capture the Base. So all in all, our dignity was still intact!
We had lunch and then went home.
Arriving home, I rested a while, drove Desmond back to his car and then left for Subang Jaya to meet up with my Secondary School buddies to shop for our upcoming Merdeka Day BBQ.
It was fun meeting with old pals again and I look forward to this reunion. There's an old Primary School buddy with whom I used to hang out with a lot. It's hard to believe that now he's married with children!
YAWN! Well, I'll call it a night then. This is a bruised but happy Kenny...signing out! Goodnight world!
I had a pretty fun Sunday playing paintball with my dance studio friends and friends of friends.
Woke up real early and left my place around 6AM. The sky was moody and breezy. Soon it started pouring rain all over the sleepy city while we had 'Dim Sum' along Jalan Ipoh.
After some confusion deciding who to stuff into which car, we left for Bukit Tinggi. Thankfully the rain stopped when we arrived at the Golf Resort.
We were suited up, equipped and briefed at a golf driving range and then finally brought to the playing field. My lucky gun is numbered 68. At first I was worried that my spectacles won't fit in the face mask but fortunately it went in snugly even though it fogs up whenever I breathe too heavily. (Kinda hard since we had to run and there were quite a few hot looking chicks around!) :D
Lost the first two Capture-the-Flag games but after switching sides and changing slight tactics, we won! Frankly, I think one side of the field is slightly more advantageous but all is fair since both teams switch base sides equally often.
Then we played Capture-the-Base and the games were even more intense since the rules only permitted limited number of 'lives' per player and shooting distances tend to be near. Trust me, even with clothing, you will *NOT* enjoy being shot at a distance of less than 30 feet!
Right now, I have 4 black and blue bruises that truly hurt if you touch them. Despite the mild injuries, I fully enjoyed playing paintball since it is so exhilarating. The risk of pain makes the game exciting since someone has to actually be the flagrunner or run out in the open to be shot at (as distraction). Guess did all that? ;) Ouch! It's all worth it though.
We only played the Vietnam game once. This is a more 'realistic' playing field with a lot of hip tall grass and obstacles that look like huts, observation towers, gates etc.
The VietCong side has to hide a flag and defend it while the American side has to attack. The first 10 minutes the VCs may hide in their huts but after that time is up they are not allowed in the safe hiding spots. However, within 20 minutes of the whole game if the flag is not retrieved by the Americans, they lose.
The red team (I was on blue) leader, remembering that the Americans lost NAM, immediately chose to play as the VCs. Not only that, they also hid the flag up in a tree. Which means the retriever will be out in the open!
Looks like we were truly disadvantaged. We had an Ace...two Aces up our sleeves though as Lee Mun and Janice was assigned to sneak stealthily around the perimeter and flank the red team. It nearly worked though they came out of the bushes too soon and was spotted at the time all the rest of us on the right flank were out of the game.
Yours truly crawled really near to the flag, unfortunately Gu Wen was hiding in the bushes somewhere...All I saw was paint pellets flying through the grass at my feet so I hid behind my obstacle. I even tried pushing the obstacle nearer but it could only go so far. On my left is the hut and one sniper from the window. Moments like these I wish I had a paint 'grenade' or something!
Once the defender in the hut was out...I think it was Tang...I made a rush for it since there's nobody else on my team right behind me anyway! Oh what a mistake it was! I ran to the wrong side of the house for cover and there were three shooters waiting for me. I think the bruise on my back still hurts whenever I lean back in my chair!
Then as time was running out with 4 minutes left on the clock. I urged the remaining blue team members to brave it. Only the girls were left, 3 of them I think. Let's just say the game ended with a lot of yellow paint on all of us! We gave them a valiant fight though!
Anyway, we won the last game, which was a Capture the Base. So all in all, our dignity was still intact!
We had lunch and then went home.
Arriving home, I rested a while, drove Desmond back to his car and then left for Subang Jaya to meet up with my Secondary School buddies to shop for our upcoming Merdeka Day BBQ.
It was fun meeting with old pals again and I look forward to this reunion. There's an old Primary School buddy with whom I used to hang out with a lot. It's hard to believe that now he's married with children!
YAWN! Well, I'll call it a night then. This is a bruised but happy Kenny...signing out! Goodnight world!
YouTube - Question for the Ages
A promotional video for a dance studio. Pretty damn cool choreography if you ask me!
A promotional video for a dance studio. Pretty damn cool choreography if you ask me!
Friday, August 25, 2006
BASE Jumping At KL Tower
Some of us are crowded near our office window right now to witness people Base Jumping off the top of KL Tower. They're so close that we could hear the flapping of their parachutes as they swoop down to two main landing areas.
Our janitor aunty gets so excited looking at them jump especially the ones leaping together almost tandem. I had to close the window...just in case!
What a dangerous sport! They have to make their one and only parachute count because they're too close to the ground for a backup 'chute to be effective.
Some of us are crowded near our office window right now to witness people Base Jumping off the top of KL Tower. They're so close that we could hear the flapping of their parachutes as they swoop down to two main landing areas.
Our janitor aunty gets so excited looking at them jump especially the ones leaping together almost tandem. I had to close the window...just in case!
What a dangerous sport! They have to make their one and only parachute count because they're too close to the ground for a backup 'chute to be effective.
Monday, August 21, 2006
Times...They Are A Changin'...
I just received this SMS from my sister:
Cheeky sis!
Looks like I'm gonna be an uncle soon....WHOA!
(let's it sink in for a while...)
DOUBLE WHOA!!
I just received this SMS from my sister:
I'm six weeks pregnant. U save money to give big ang pow. Get us an aunty.
Cheeky sis!
Looks like I'm gonna be an uncle soon....WHOA!
(let's it sink in for a while...)
DOUBLE WHOA!!
Letter from a Friend to a Friend
Dear W,
Who do you think you are?
Do you really believe you're the only person in this world to have lost a loved one? What about the mother whose 8 children burned to crisp in a fire? The child who saw her mother's airplane crash into a building? Or the family who lost a father/husband to drunk driving?
What about that TAR College student who got slashed to death and could only call his father on the handphone?
How long have you known your boyfriend? I've known my mother for 15 years before she died. She went through nausea, pain and exhaustion for 9 months having me and never stopped feeling exhausted even years after I was born. She cleaned my shit, thought me how to read, cooked and cared for me when I was sick and cried when I scolded her. Regret is a useless and wasteful feeling.
She sacrificed for me and toiled until the day she died. Do you think it was a pretty death? Tasteful and dignified? NO! I had to watch her lose her breast, her hair, her sanity. I cry whenever I think that a teacher of the arts, history and English literature would curse and say senseless things and not recognize her own children and husband as the cancer eats at her brain.
So don't you *dare* think that people do not understand you. Do you think you're the first person in this world to have to look at and identify an ugly corpse of someone you love? How about looking at the charred remains of 8 of your own children? Or the bloody wounds of your son? Or looking at my grandmother's empty husk of a body...something like a zombie out of a living dead movie?
Everywhere all over the world thousands and thousands of people mourn and had to go through the rest of their lives knowing they will never see, hear, touch or feel a very real part of themselves anymore. BUT THEY MANAGE.
Life goes on.
Love is eternal and lasts forever...yes. Why do you think the movie 'Titanic' is the highest grossing movie ever? That Celine Dion song, "My Heart Will Go On" is popular because loving someone means celebrating the gift of life above all.
What did Jack Dawson make Rose promise before he died? In the movie you see photos and items of Rose's life...how she lived life to its fullest and even married! Do you think she never loved Jack even though they've only known each other for less than a month on the ship?
Not letting go psychologically is selfish and wrong! We're not meant to ever forget people who left us but we must understand that we are all individuals and no matter how strongly we feel we are 'attached' to someone else we love, we *MUST* be able to function alone.
Holding on to a dead person is not romantic or sentimental...it is stupid and immature. Imagine how selfish you are letting your health deteriorate, talking about your boyfriend as if he is still alive, and just plain not letting go.
So to answer your question "Why must you always talk of your boyfriend?" "Cannot meh?"
Answer: "NO. You cannot. It is not healthy and it is self pity!"
Nobody pities you so do not pity yourself.
People feel sad because there are a lot of other people who loves you and they suffer whenever they see you like this. These people... your family, your friends and even your boyfriend experience pain and sadness when you do not accept the fact that life must go on.
How selfish you are!
There are a lot worse things that people experience in life. People lose their loved ones every single day. But they know that they aren't truly loving those people they miss if they do not FOCUS ON THE PRESENT. Life *will* move on without you if you are not careful!
At least you've truly loved someone. I think it is even sadder when a wife of 20 years, having borne children for a husband but the husband left her for another woman. Imagine the pain and suffering she has to go through every time she sees him with another woman! Isn't that a greater loss than yours?
At least you've truly loved someone. How about the man who grows older and older realizing that he only has a life full of rejections and never someone who loved him back? What happens if he is suddenly killed in an accident or discovers he has some incurable disease?
These stories are all real and they happen EVERYDAY ALL OVER THE WORLD.
There are 6 billion people in the world and life can be real shitty to them.
Some of these people cannot deal and cope with the shocks, disappointments and pain of living. These people do not treasure their own lives...They are either dead from suicide, rotting on the streets or tied up in a madhouse somewhere.
And then there are people who realize that life and love is more important than holding on to a lie. People who summon up inner strength even though they thought they had none. People who opened up their eyes to see that there are still a lot of people they love and who love them back.
People who cope with losing loved ones even though they never forget them...people who let
LIFE
GO
ON.
So who do you think you are? Which kind of people? Your choice.
Dear W,
Who do you think you are?
Do you really believe you're the only person in this world to have lost a loved one? What about the mother whose 8 children burned to crisp in a fire? The child who saw her mother's airplane crash into a building? Or the family who lost a father/husband to drunk driving?
What about that TAR College student who got slashed to death and could only call his father on the handphone?
How long have you known your boyfriend? I've known my mother for 15 years before she died. She went through nausea, pain and exhaustion for 9 months having me and never stopped feeling exhausted even years after I was born. She cleaned my shit, thought me how to read, cooked and cared for me when I was sick and cried when I scolded her. Regret is a useless and wasteful feeling.
She sacrificed for me and toiled until the day she died. Do you think it was a pretty death? Tasteful and dignified? NO! I had to watch her lose her breast, her hair, her sanity. I cry whenever I think that a teacher of the arts, history and English literature would curse and say senseless things and not recognize her own children and husband as the cancer eats at her brain.
So don't you *dare* think that people do not understand you. Do you think you're the first person in this world to have to look at and identify an ugly corpse of someone you love? How about looking at the charred remains of 8 of your own children? Or the bloody wounds of your son? Or looking at my grandmother's empty husk of a body...something like a zombie out of a living dead movie?
Everywhere all over the world thousands and thousands of people mourn and had to go through the rest of their lives knowing they will never see, hear, touch or feel a very real part of themselves anymore. BUT THEY MANAGE.
Life goes on.
Love is eternal and lasts forever...yes. Why do you think the movie 'Titanic' is the highest grossing movie ever? That Celine Dion song, "My Heart Will Go On" is popular because loving someone means celebrating the gift of life above all.
What did Jack Dawson make Rose promise before he died? In the movie you see photos and items of Rose's life...how she lived life to its fullest and even married! Do you think she never loved Jack even though they've only known each other for less than a month on the ship?
Not letting go psychologically is selfish and wrong! We're not meant to ever forget people who left us but we must understand that we are all individuals and no matter how strongly we feel we are 'attached' to someone else we love, we *MUST* be able to function alone.
Holding on to a dead person is not romantic or sentimental...it is stupid and immature. Imagine how selfish you are letting your health deteriorate, talking about your boyfriend as if he is still alive, and just plain not letting go.
So to answer your question "Why must you always talk of your boyfriend?" "Cannot meh?"
Answer: "NO. You cannot. It is not healthy and it is self pity!"
Nobody pities you so do not pity yourself.
People feel sad because there are a lot of other people who loves you and they suffer whenever they see you like this. These people... your family, your friends and even your boyfriend experience pain and sadness when you do not accept the fact that life must go on.
How selfish you are!
There are a lot worse things that people experience in life. People lose their loved ones every single day. But they know that they aren't truly loving those people they miss if they do not FOCUS ON THE PRESENT. Life *will* move on without you if you are not careful!
At least you've truly loved someone. I think it is even sadder when a wife of 20 years, having borne children for a husband but the husband left her for another woman. Imagine the pain and suffering she has to go through every time she sees him with another woman! Isn't that a greater loss than yours?
At least you've truly loved someone. How about the man who grows older and older realizing that he only has a life full of rejections and never someone who loved him back? What happens if he is suddenly killed in an accident or discovers he has some incurable disease?
These stories are all real and they happen EVERYDAY ALL OVER THE WORLD.
There are 6 billion people in the world and life can be real shitty to them.
Some of these people cannot deal and cope with the shocks, disappointments and pain of living. These people do not treasure their own lives...They are either dead from suicide, rotting on the streets or tied up in a madhouse somewhere.
And then there are people who realize that life and love is more important than holding on to a lie. People who summon up inner strength even though they thought they had none. People who opened up their eyes to see that there are still a lot of people they love and who love them back.
People who cope with losing loved ones even though they never forget them...people who let
LIFE
GO
ON.
So who do you think you are? Which kind of people? Your choice.
Sunday, August 20, 2006
The Gadgets Page - 10 Ways to Make Your Digital Photos Last Forever
More tips for digital photography.
More tips for digital photography.
Saturday, August 19, 2006
18 Ways to Stay Focused at Work
A very useful blog by a JAVA developer and entrepreneur. Lots of advice and tips about personal development/improvement here.
Be sure to check out the blogger's other posts too. Thought provoking advice..
eg.I personally find the 'Broken Windows' theory applies to life too.
A very useful blog by a JAVA developer and entrepreneur. Lots of advice and tips about personal development/improvement here.
Be sure to check out the blogger's other posts too. Thought provoking advice..
eg.I personally find the 'Broken Windows' theory applies to life too.
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
5 Steps To Being More Photogenic - Digital Camera University
More tips! More tips for all you crazy multiply.com posting people!!
I hate how I look in photos...so let's see if I improve...
:p
More tips! More tips for all you crazy multiply.com posting people!!
I hate how I look in photos...so let's see if I improve...
:p
Sunday, August 13, 2006
Taking Great Pictures
I want to buy myself a digital camera. Any recommendations?
My budget is around RM1000 preferably lower of course! Here are my other criterias in order of importance:
1. Takes good still photos.
2. Takes good night time photos.
3. Uses SD or MMC memory cards.
4. Takes video with audio in any format except Quicktime.
5. Good battery life.
Anyway, here are some photo-taking tips for all you crazy shutterbugs!
I want to buy myself a digital camera. Any recommendations?
My budget is around RM1000 preferably lower of course! Here are my other criterias in order of importance:
1. Takes good still photos.
2. Takes good night time photos.
3. Uses SD or MMC memory cards.
4. Takes video with audio in any format except Quicktime.
5. Good battery life.
Anyway, here are some photo-taking tips for all you crazy shutterbugs!
Sunday, August 06, 2006
Humorous Movie Quote
- from Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail
"And the Lord spake, saying, 'First shalt thou take out the Holy Pin. Then, shalt thou count to three, no more, no less. Three shalt be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, nor either count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out. Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thy foe, who, being naughty in my sight, shall snuff it."
- from Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail
