It's been a tradition for a group of young adventurers to climb up to the top of a vacant, unutilized building on the eves of big events, mainly for Hari Merdeka and New Year's Day.

Since some have asked me where I was on those nights to get such a good view of the fireworks at Mutiara Damansara, I finally decided to unravel the mysteries of the Abandoned Apartments.



It's located beside the Datuk Sulaiman area in Taman Tun, nearer to the Penchala Link. As you can see, the building currently stands at an approximate 14 or 15-storey height. From the picture above, The Curve would be a kilometer from the left side of the building, where the lit-up skies above Mutiara Damansara had given us the perfect experience from there.


Mutiara Damansara is now on the right side of the picture

There are many questions as to the sorts of precautions to take, legality issues and also spiritual doubts. But much has been taken into account in this matter and as to date, we are thus all still alive after our adventures.


Dyan and... the other tall guy

It's starting to get very commercialized though, that place. So i'm guessing that since so many people already know it's secrets, might as well make it the next happening place to chill out, perhaps install a disco ball, a dance hall, run a small power supply with a naan and tandoori stall.


Villa Flora accross the junction

Nevertheless there are still many uncertainties yet to be discovered about this monument, so I shall disclaim the responsibility of any loss or damage suffered in regards to this matter.

But ah, that's another long story. Let's summarize what happened up there.



The view from the 15th floor was fanstastic. It was cool, windy, peaceful, and most of all we had almost a 270-degree view, since there were almost no walls around us. We could see the whole of Taman Tun, Mutiara Damansara, 1 Utama, Damansara Utama, Perhaps Damansara Jaya, Tropicana, and also KL if we had a telescope.



Check out last year's panoramic view. [click image to enlarge]




As usual, I can never understand how nice a view they can get from down there. It's apparently blocked by alot of trees on the graveyard in front of them.

Uh oh.



So anyway, I can't say who was up there, since it was obviously dark. All I know is that Jinn called up a college mate, and the college mate then called another, and that other called another, and soon it was a cocktail party. Oh and turned out that I knew one of them. Dayumn, this world is small!

So ladies and gentleman, I'd like you to meet Ernest Khaw's long lost twin,


Johnson!

Well, that wraps it up for the Merdeka celebration. Although I still have one last post on fireworks during the finals of the mifc at Putrajaya. Will be posting it up soon.

Till then,

Labels: malaysia boleh

Remember last year's Merdeka fireworks at The Curve, Mutiara Damansara?

Everybody had so much fun watching the lighted up skies while I was drooping with disappointment in the results from the camera. Here's what I mean.


I had taken pictures of fireworks like this,


this,


and this.

In the most obvious manner, they probably could have entered into the Guinness Book of World Flops 2007 and won first prize for the category of "Nothing At All".

So in conjunction with the great 50th Birthday of our nation's country, I decided to give it another try with better preparation and determination this time, with barely any perseverance of hope or faith in myself. But I pressed on.

So if you missed it, or still miss it, then enjoy the show.







































More on the night's event in upcoming posts.

Labels: malaysia boleh

After my Singapore visit last June, our family holiday continued up north to Tioman Island, for another 4 days and 3 nights at Berjaya Resort Tioman. It was more of a getaway from the grinding work and bad air in KL.


Spotted a little kitten.

So we started off at 5.30am from Choa Chu Kang Street 64 through the bumpy, narrow and winding roads to Mersing, before taking the ferry over to Tioman Island.



First thing we spotted when we got down from the car was this building. Which made me a little agitated though.

There were a few MPSJ-looking people walking around the front of that hut with their uniforms not tucked in, smoking, and approaching all the tourists passing through to the jetty for some reason.



They charged each person something like 10 bucks, claiming that it was for preservation of the marine park on the island. Well, it was evidently functional, but there were still a few things I didn't understand about it.

Firstly, if let's say 60 people get on to each ferry to Tioman, and the ferry comes every half an hour during business hours, that's probably 960 people a day going to Tioman, each being charged a sum of RM10, easily totalling up to RM9600. So look here, what on earth, do yall do with ten thousand bucks a day, to memulihara some marine park, which is less than 200 square meters in area? (marine park pics in upcoming posts)

Secondly, why would they wanna set up a separate body and build a whole pusat just to collect money for this fund? That building could probably save half a year's worth of tourists' caj pemuliharaan.

and Thirdly, why are your employees acting like some samsengs at the entrance of a transit to the biggest paradise island on the east coast of your country? they constantly look like they're extorting money and threatening tourists.



But anyway, I'll leave that for the political blog readers to figure out. For now, let's just calm down and get on with the trip, because when mum gives you the =_= and folds her arms like that, you'd better behave yourself, or your holiday might just become a holeyday.



After the ferry and bus ride to the resort, we arrived at the reception which turned out to be such a nostalgic place which we hadn't been to in probably a decade or more.

It was an area with double-room chalets and 4-room houses spread along the shore, with all the facilities and main buildings in the middle.

And since it was none of those shopping or sightseeing holidays, we went straight to our dorm and plunged on to the cozy beds till it was time for dinner.



We thought we'd try some seafood outside the resort, so we stopped by this restaurant, which in my opinion appears to have a name in Malay, similar to the Chinese ones dubbed Double Six Grand Happiness Restaurant.



The food for on our first night's dinner included some basic curry dishes, tomyam soup and best of all, the cheese prawns. we got owned by it, I tell you.



You know, in this picture, or rather in all my pictures taken at that time, you'll notice that my hair may resemble an item that is called at by people who have very bad hairdos/haircuts.

They call it the helmet hair.



I mean, do you notice any difference in the pictures above?! dayumn, this is like the worst period in time for me to keep my hair at that length. It's a horrendous look, I tell you. Luckily I was away on holiday, away from peer pressure and being laughed at.



Here's another one.



No difference again, eh? Although this one makes me look kinda cool though. I look like a stylish war medic or something.



So as a word of advice in the ending of an introduction to my Tioman trip, "don't forget to wear your helmets, because

Labels: holidays and whatnot

Few days ago some people invited me over to play Gin Rummy, but in the end I got caught up in an addiction towards a game of Texas Hold 'em Poker.

So in conjunction with Malaysia's Hari Merdeka, where there'd be lots of gambling throughout the country, here's a bunch of tips on




1. Look straight in the eye

When raising the stakes, a good way to seemingly boost your confidence and discourage an opponent, perhaps the strongest player in the game, is to look directly in the eyes of him while adding chips to your bet. This way, your confidence will seem overwhelmingly higher than most of your opponents when it comes to their respective turns.



2. Keep the numbers in mind

Whenever you're dealt with your hand at the beginning of the round, take a solid look at your hand once and put it down without touching it for the rest of the duration of that round. This phenomenon will enable your opponents to recognize your talent in working out the game within your mind and not revealing your steps in game.



3. Reckless but refined

This probably needs a little pre-game planning to set up nicely. Mix up your chips in several piles where each denomination i.e $1, $2, $5 and $10 do not look directly accessible from separate piles, but make sure each pile contributes to the possibility of each denomination being able to be selected from the top of all the piles for each game round. The random order of chip denomination makes it look you're simply betting whatever is on the top of the piles, and possibly want to finish off your chips, but in fact it's just a silly trick of mixing up your chips.



4. Don't count your chips

Every blink of an eye, every word of the mouth, every additional second to think, determines your capabilities in poker. Even counting your chips after every single round or before every single bet may render you an immature player. Thus, keep a good mental count of the total stakes for the round, how much you're willing to bet, your break even point, etc.



5. Learn a cool poker chip trick

Another fantastic way to act professional is to demonstrate your skills with poker chips. This may seem like you're being a show-off, so try to act like your concentrating on your game with one hand while doing some poker chip tricks with the other. In the end, most of your opponent will spot your complex personality in the game of poker.



6. Confucius bluff

When playing a bluff, it is fairly easy to detect when the bluffer is provoking his opponents to believe him, for example when a good hand is received, blood pressure and the heartbeat would definitely rise, which will inevitably alter the effectiveness of your bluffing methods. The point is to try switching patterns of your actions from truth to false and vice versa. For example, if you ask questions like "is a double pair bigger than a triple" at the round of the flop and subsequently, when the turn is dealt, and is favour of a possible double pair or a triple, another question of "Is a Full House or Four of a Kind bigger", your opponents may be caught in panic, which is the best time for you to play around with the stakes, even if you have nothing at all in your hand.



7. Don't be indecisive

One very important thing to keep in mind while player any mental game is not to be caught in dilemma. Many players reveal their identity when they become stuck in between whether or not to follow the bet or fold, or even when their deciding on how much to raise the stakes. As a result of that, opponents will diminish their doubts on your confidence. Unless being indecisive is part of your bluff, then follow through to the end of it.



8. Play like in the movies

As we have seen on tv, professional poker have communicational ethics in place, where players give a solid knock on the table to signal a check,implying that he wishes not to raise the stakes. Also when players calls or follows the bet, the announcement is left to the moderator or the dealer. The trick is to play very quietly and use minimal words or none at all. Evidently, the other opponents who are extremely loud and just can't shut up will tend to doubt their decisions and even direct their attention on the quiet player(s).



9. Play on the table

When looking at your hand, try not to take the cards away from the table i.e when you want to look at it, or when you're answering the phone. This is actually a very subconscious matter, and makes your opponents think you're very possessive of your belongings, in this case, making you seem like you are a safe player and are very careful with your betting.



10. Skills with card dealing

In Texas Poker, if the game goes by the dealer personally dealing the cards out, it might be a good chance, when it comes to your turn, for you to show off some skills and tricks with a deck of cards while shuffling and dealing it to intimidate them, perhaps even demonstrating a full magic card trick to get your opponents distracted.



This is probably the dumbest-sounding foundations of the fundamentals of the basics of the beginner's guide to poker, since I'm one of them, but hey, you'll never what works until the fat lady sings. So go try out it out sometime.



Disclaimer: www.jonming.com shall not be responsible for any loss or damage occurring as a result of references made to the information contained on this website and shall not be liable for any compensation or indemnity demanded from the author of the abovementioned information.

Labels: expanding my knowledge