Came in to the office today and my staff were all in a state of semi-frenzy.

One of the girls was at home last nite when robbers managed to get in and robbed the family. The girl had sent those in the office a message on MSN to call the police. She kept logging in and out and the people in the office were rather worried. One guy managed to get her address from her and they trouped down late last night to see her and her family in Jalan Ipoh.

Lots of things were taken. They didn't see the car so they're suspecting maybe that was taken as well.

Her and her family are in a state of shock. I can't imagine what the trauma of such an experience must be like.

I really need to remind myself to be more careful and not to take things for granted in a city where such things are a commonplace occurrence.

Everyone who's in Malaysia .... be careful yah.

Make sure you have a way of letting others know if something happens to you and they know where you live in case they have to call the police on your behalf.

Here's a really grainy video taken from a handphone of robin and me singing "I've got you under my skin".

To prepare for this one song on stage at a small jazz club in KL, Robin kept telling me to listen to all the different versions i could find of the song. Hear how the different singers have interpreted it ... listen to how they've made it their own. Then when I sing it .... know & understand every word ... and make it my own.

I practised and practised and practised for that song with heaps of help from Robin. Nite of the performance ... I was all nerves so we split the song into parts and did it as a duet.

I sang "I've got you under my skin" again at a gay couples' 15th anniversary a few months later and many were surprised. they all loved the song ... and my interpretation of it. Thanks best fren :-)

Its really through Robin that I learnt, not just how to appreciate a singer's interpretation of a song, but how to really sing a song.

My best friend has a concert at the esplanade, 17-20 Jul 2008.

Its got a R(18) rating.

I think its the first concert to have ever gotten one in Singapore. Ain't that something!

Knowing Robin, he'll be singing about being gay and living life to the fullest! And saddest too ... because you have to have those torch songs.

He's a singer who'll sing you his version of the songs he's picked to entertain you for the night.

If there's a story in, about or related to that song ... he'll tell you that story too.

So this is a plug to tell all my LJ friends and anyone reading my blog to go buy a ticket to watch Robin in concert.



HAPPY ROBIN


For more information & to book tickets click here

Managed to switch my camera to video mode as i was parasailing. This is taken as i was trying not to drop my camera into the sea!

First 45 seconds is me trying to untangle to camera from my life-jacket as the para-sailing guys made sure it was securely attached before take-off. So the later 45 seconds is the more interesting bit.

had a great time ... here are some pics from the trip


Store in Chinatown


With the folks and my aunt on Batu Ferringhi Beach



Riding one of those sand buggies on the beach


Dad used to race cars and scooters so he really enjoyed this


We actually managed to convince my mom to hop onto the buggy


Parasailing for the first time


The folks & my aunt walking along the Batu Ferringhi stretch | Me at the beach near the hotel


Mom on the beach near the hotel


Driving back to KL

The digital doomsday is round the corner. In exactly 1,272 days there will be web chaos in the world as we run out of Internet addresses.

More than 85 per cent of the available addresses have already been allocated and the rest will run out by 2011, according to a prediction by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

These are not the normal web addresses that you type into your browser’s window. These are the numerical Internet Protocol (IP) addresses that denote individual devices connected to the Internet. They form the foundation for all online communications, from e-mail and web pages to voice chat and streaming video.

IP addresses are so basic to the success of the Internet that you really do not need to know a website’s domain name if you know their IP. In fact, domain names are only a convenience for people who have better luck remembering to type, say, www.google.com, than they would have trying to remember Google’s IP address of 216.239.39.99.

Whenever you type http://www.google.com into your browser, the browser sends a query off to a big telephone book in the sky and asks ‘Hey, what is the IP address for google.com?’ This big telephone book, more commonly called a ‘Domain Name Server’ or DNS for short, returns 216.239.39.99 to your browser. Your browser then heads off to Google’s website using the IP address as a map.

When the current IP address scheme, called Internet Protocol Version 4 (Ipv4), was introduced in 1981, there were hardly 500 computers connected to the internet. The address makers at that time allowed for four billion addresses, thinking they would last forever. They have been nearly gobbled up in just under 30 years!

As addresses run dry we will all feel the pinch: internet speeds will drop and new connections and services (such as internet phone calling) will either be expensive or simply impossible to obtain.

The solution to the shortage is to upgrade to a new address protocol.

The Internet protocols are prepared by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), a large open international community of network designers, operators, vendors, and researchers concerned with the evolution of the internet architecture and the smooth operation of the Internet.

The IETF is an organised activity of the Internet Society (ISOC), a not-for-profit organisation founded in 1992 to provide leadership in internet related standards, education and policy. The Society’s south and southeast Asian Bureau was established this January.

The IETF is already prepared for the doomsday. It has devised a replacement system, called IPv6, more than a decade ago, providing enough addresses for billions upon billions of devices as well as improving internet phone and video calls, and possibly even helping to end e-mail spam.

Then why the doomsday predictions? The problem is that the new system is not really compatible with the Internet of today. If, for example, Google wants to support IPv6, it will need to build a whole new IPv6 web service, complete with new domain names, servers and bandwidth. The costs run into billions.

The OECD notes that “immediate costs are associated with deployment of IPv6, whereas many benefits are long-term and depend on a critical mass adopting it”, according to The Sunday Times.

Until such time, start looking at the countdown clock for the doomsday at penrose.uk6x.com. (DNA News)

Just heard from a friend that he had two friends recently diagnosed as being HIV positive in Malaysia. While I was chatting with some folks online last nite .... I saw a guy with a profile saying he was HIV positive.

This is really disturbing news and I just wanna share this with everyone.

While doing research work for a Malaysian AIDS Council project, a point that seemed to keep cropping up is that HIV infection rates are on the rise, not because of the lack of awareness, but as a result of complacency.

Play safe ya guys and gals. Once is all it takes.

-----------------------------------
From the Washington Post, dated 30 June 2008.
A Persistent Scourge; HIV-AIDS continues to ensnare young gay men.

ASURVEY conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of HIV-AIDS data from 33 states between 2001 and 2006 revealed a distressing trend: HIV infection in young gay men rose 12 percent a year. For African Americans in that group of 13- to 24-year-olds, the annual increase was 15 percent. The safe-sex lessons that took hold after the loss of a generation of gay men during this epidemic's two-decade advance appear to be lost on the young. The stunning success of retroviral drugs for those with AIDS and HIV, the virus that causes the disease, has diminished people's fear of the disease, though it still has no cure.

HIV-AIDS is a global epidemic that has cut a path of heartbreak through the United States without regard to gender, race, income, age or sexual orientation. But the CDC report shows that while the overall number of new HIV infections went down in other risk categories, it increased among gay men. There was a spike among the very young and a slight rise (3 percent) among those ages 45 years and older. There was a 1 percent decline in the number of new infections among gay men 25 to 44, a silver lining in a cloud of troubling news.

Data from the District were not included in the CDC report, but the city's health department told us that it has comparable statistics. Among 13- to 24-year-olds, the new infection rate tripled between 2000 and 2005. Between 2001 and 2006 there was a 22 percent increase in infections among black men who have sex with men.

The CDC report is a reminder that the work of keeping people HIV-negative and getting those who are HIV-positive into treatment is never done. A variety of efforts are underway across the country. They range from the commonplace, such as condom giveaways, in-clinic counseling and needle exchange programs here in the District, to more ambitious programs, such as the drive to make voluntary HIV testing routine in emergency rooms and storefront clinics in the Bronx. The goal is to test all adults ages 18 to 64 in the borough, which has the highest AIDS death rate in New York City, in the next three years. The District, too, is pushing to make HIV testing a routine part of care.

We applaud these efforts. The fight against AIDS demands not only vigilance but also continuous education. An informed populace is the best defense against this ferocious epidemic.

The Best House Warming Present .

Having moved many times .... I've gotten quite a few house warming presents.

Tonight, I unwrapped one sent by tanderrick & johnmac64 via Bill & Bonni.

My jaw dropped ... my eyes opened really wide .... then my face broke into the biggest grin ever!!!

THANK YOU THANK YOU FOR THE WONDERFUL PAINTING!! I can see Dino and Jasper in the painting!

The most appropriate place in the house for the painting is my room ... thankfully ... so its sitting right in front of me as i blog.

Here are the pics!


Here's wat the painting looks like up close


The two little devils that the painting reflect

KUALA LUMPUR, July 2 – Days after fresh sodomy claims tripped his journey to power, two opinion polls show most believe Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is innocent and believe the charges are politically-motivated.

The independent Merdeka Centre research firm conducted a small survey and found just six percent of respondents believed the allegations while nearly 60 precent saw it as politically motivated.

It's going to be an uphill battle for the government because you are facing a more cynical public," the firm's pollster, Ibrahim Suffian, told the Reuters news agency. The survey polled 225 ethnic Malays aged 20 and above.

Another survey by the Malaysiakini website showed 94.4 percent of its respondents believed the allegation was part of a political conspiracy against Anwar, who led three opposition parties to an unprecendented 82 parliament seats and control of four more states in the March elections.

Malaysia's current political uncertainty - with an embattled prime minister facing calls to quit, a deputy prime minister facing allegations of links to a murder and Anwar's alleged sexual misconduct - also dragged the stock market lower again, with the benchmark Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) down 1.7 percent at the midday break. The index has lost about 3 percent so far this week.

Ratings agency Fitch, which has a positive outlook for Malaysia's foreign currency rating and a stable outlook for the local currency, told Reuters it was monitoring the impact of the political situation on economic policies.

"The concern that we have would be that the political situation begins to affect the policy outlook. There is not really much evidence of that just yet," said James McCormack, head of Asia sovereign ratings at Fitch.

"It appears to us there is a political transition of sorts under way in Malaysia. The question is how fast does that move and how significant is it. And I think some of those answers are still unclear," he added.

Source: http://malaysianinsider.com/index.php/home/42-lead-stories/1315-polls-show-most-malaysians-believe-anwar-innocent-

Courtesy of junhon's camera as i was too lazy to bring one.


Eating Chendol the moment we got in to Malacca


Jonker Street


Dessert place along Jonker Street


Revolving tower ride thing which brought you up really high so you could see the whole of Malacca


St Paul's hill in Malacca

My dad was starting a blog for his group of retiree friends and we got into a discussion about blogging.

He was asking me about permissions & things and as I was explaining that to him ... I showed him my blog. That got me wondering how long I've been blogging and I traced my first entry back to 2003. Goodness .... have i been doing this for 5 yrs already?

Anyway .... another surprise for me is that my dad has a Facebook profile ... !?

A few months ago ... dad had emailed me asking me to read a book entitled "The World Is Flat" and said something along the lines of ... "I can only observe as the world changes but you who are living in this flattening world should understand & partake in the changes."

Facebook and blogs are a part of how the world is flattening and I'm pleased that he's not just observing from the sidelines but also experiencing this evolution

:-)

Dad .... if you're reading this ... welcome to the world of blogs ... if u visit this page regularly u'll have an idea of what i've been up to and the crazy things that run through my mind.

I have you to thank for enrolling us into computer classes way back when screens were green and we had to type in commands like 10 .. 20 ... 30 ... run ... to get things to work on the marvel they call the personal processor.

It was you how encouraged my dabbling with HTML which got me familiar with all things on the web ... and that got me to be in the forefront of using the internet as a marketing and communications channel

.... thanks Dad

now i'm gonna find him and add him on Facebook

Its been a while since I've been this swamped with work and things outside of work. funny how all clients decided they want their projects delivered at the same time!

I haven't even had time to log into Fridae for the past week and my Facebook is getting overloaded with alerts and requests.

No time for gym since I rush home after work to see my folks. I'm gettng fat :-(

having mom and dad around is nice too ... mom really did an amazing job sorting out the kitchen with lots of space left for more things to be bought.

she tried cooking vegetarian last nite and it was quite funny as she wasn't used to the sauces and lack of taste when you don't cook with meat. still nice to have a home cooked meal done by someone else

we had an abacus lying around and dad was teaching me how to use it last night.

the cats are getting extremely manja and Dino was sitting beside me all last nite as i worked into the wee hours

Bryan's off on Sunday so we've decided to drive up to Ipoh melaka with my folks

We've moved and I love the new place. Its a 3 minute drive to Pavilion and Starhill (if there's no jams) and we've got a nice view of trees and a golf course amongst the city buildings and the main Jalan Tun Razak thoroughfare.

This is one move where i've decided to take things easy. I'm too old to unpack everything in 2 or 3 days. Most of the important "daily use" things are out of the boxes and i've asked junhon to do the rest of the unpacking of the kitchen boxes and all.

Mom and Dad arrive this Tuesday. My parents actually asked me why I didn't wait for them to arrive so they could help me pack and move. The thought did cross my mind for 3 seconds .... its better for all our sanities and tempers that I pack and move first. Just so there's something for them to do so they feel they're part of the move .... I've asked mom to reorganise the kitchen into some semblance of order.

The challenge ... moving from a bigger space into a smaller space ... from 2 storerooms to 0 storeroom.

Here are the pictures of the place with boxes:


I've always wanted a walk-in-wardrobe

Argh .... its the last bit of packing that's always messy and chaotic

Rounding up what's in the kitchen .... clearing out fridge ... the toiletries ... the shoes .... the bedsheets, pillows and blankets you're gonna sleep on one last time before the move ... the TV and cable decoder ... last bits of clothes and towels and things.

Wah liao eh .... pack ... pack ... pack ... pack ... pack ... pack ...


The sun'll come out
Tomorrow
Bet your bottom dollar
That tomorrow
There'll be sun!

Just thinkin' about
Tomorrow
Clears away the cobwebs,
And the sorrow
'Til there's none!

When I'm stuck with a day
That's gray,
And lonely,
I just stick out my chin
And Grin,
And Say,
Oh!

The sun'll come out
Tomorrow
So ya gotta hang on
'Til tomorrow
Come what may
Tomorrow! Tomorrow!
I love ya Tomorrow!
You're always
A day
A way!

its been an eye opening experience since i decided to go meatless on 29 Mar.

there are quite a lot of insights i wanna share .... to get it into digestable bits for easy reading ... i'm gonna write this in parts ....

here goes part 1 .......

after 80 days ... calculated at this website http://www.timeanddate.com/date/duration.html ... i've had a chance to re-evaluate and here are some things i've stumbled upon:

- you need to explain the different types of vegetarianism to almost everyone who chances to eat with you
(yes i do eat eggs, diary, garlic and onions ....no its not for religious reasons .... there are vegetarians who don't eat eggs and diary & they are called vegans ..... garlic and onions are thought to be aphrodisiacs so that's why some vegetarians abstain fr eating them for religious reasons)

- finding food is hard .... most places all over asia don't cater to vegetarians so its quite a pleasant surprise to come across a cafe or restaurant that has a nice selection of vegetarian choices alongside meat options
(being vegetarian does not equal eating salads .... this for me has now become an indication of how a person doesn't use his ability for deeper thinking ... for dates it means i'm not going to go out with this person again)

- i've to make sure i eat across a range of foods each day to get all the necessary nutrients coz eating leafy vegetables only means i get a lot of roughage (making me go to the toilet more) but that doesn't necessarily mean more vitamins and nutrition ....
eating across a range of foods includes tofu, mushrooms, as many different colours of vegetables outside green ... from leafy vegetables to roots to fruit vegetables and stem vegetables and seeds and .... hmmm .... list can go on some more i think

Finishing thoughts .... its been an exercise in discipline and each incident which i come across making it hard for me to feed myself just strengthens my resolve to stick with my decision to be vegetarian.

They say by now I won't be able to eat meat properly .... likely to react by either throwing up or getting the runs ... haven't tried eating meat to experience either of those ... if by chance i accidentally do and these reactions happen ... i'll let you know.

:-)

recently i've been hearing this countless times .... now i add my voice to the chorus that's getting louder and louder

SONY ERICSSON SUCKS .... BIG TIME!!!

to be fair ... my k770i actually takes amazing pictures coz of the cybershot technology

but other than that ... its a crappy OVERPICED piece of shit

the buttons of my keypad are so badly made that after a few months, the plastic "rubbed" off given how much I SMS and chat on MSN .... got to the point that i cudn't see the numbers at all. recently .... its been getting harder and harder to text requiring me to press the buttons really hard.

then last week .. the internet key dropped off

i called sony and found out it'll cost me RM110 to change the back house, RM90 for the front housing and RM90 for the keypad

COME FUCKING ON!!! ... RM90 to RM110 for pieces of plastic crap!?

begrudgingly i forked out the money and complained about the stiffness of the keys.

they promised to fix it .... when i got my phone back 10 mins later ... the keys seemed more responsive. that lasted about 30 mins ... they keys went back to being hard to press ... harder now coz of the new keypad and i nearly threw the phone against the wall in frustration

this is the fucking last sony ericsson phone i'll be using

----------

bryan's new sony ericsson phone didn't even last a year before it started to shut itself off 3 to 4 times a day ... he's already change to another phone

robin's white k770i's vibrator died a month of two after he got it ... and he can't wait to chuck it and get an iPhone

anyone else got stories to add ?

the last two weeks have been a sort of re-awakening for me



it started when a fren asked me if i wanted to watch P Ramlee ... a malaysian mega-musical running for the second time at the Istana Budaya http://pramleethemusical.com

P Ramlee was interesting but I thought the leading man cud have been more of a leading man and i felt the script could be tighter .... and I wondered what i shud be taking away after the 3 hour performance ....shrug.... maybe i think too much for this type of theatre. but some of the singing was wonderful to hear and the staging was amazing



Joyce asked if I was a Bharatanatyam purist or wud i be open to watching Odissi ... thanks to her we went to watch an amazing performance of indian dance

i only managed a glimpse into the world of Indian dance when i collaborated with Arul on Abhinaya - Journey Of My Return http://www.journeyofreturn.org/

its was something i started but never got to really experience

Stirring Odissi ... its been a while since i watched a piece of performance art that moved me .....the piece by the sutra dance theatre was beautiful and inspiring .... wat's interesting is the person behind Sutra Dance Theatre is trained in ballet

it wud have to be the art form that i can't keep away from that makes me think .... hmm ... maybe i'm not too old to go for classes again

so i'm gonna give Sutra Dance Theatre a call and ask about their beginners Bharatanatyam classes starting in July .... stay tuned for reports of aches and pains as this old bag of bones ventures into performance arts again

The one thing that has been a constant in my life has been packing and moving.

My first time was when I was 21 .... running away from home.

2nd time again when i was 21 .... moving back home.

3rd time ... 24 yrs old ... flying in SQ so wanted to move nearer the airport

4th time ... 25 yrs old ... moved with my parents while the family home was being rebuilt

5th time ... 26 yrs old ... when family home was rebuilt

6th time ... 27 yrs old ... moved to Neptune Court

7th time ... 30 yrs old ... moved back with parents with BF at their request

8th time ... 31 yrs old ... moved to St Patrick's Road after parents sold the house

9th time ... 32 yrs old ... moved to Commonwealth after parents migrated to Canada

10th time ... 33 yrs old ... moved to KL

11th time ... 35 yrs old ... moved from 8th floor to 23rd floor

12th time ... 36 yrs old ... moving from where I am now to Jalan Tun Razak

:
:
:
:

wow .... this is the first time i'm actually counting the moves ... hoping i stay put at this place longer than the average 1 or 2 yrs i spend at any place

me think me needs things not to change for a while so i can finally settle down and maybe grow some roots?

:
:
:

sigh ....... back to taping up boxes and filling them with things i've accumulated through the years here in KL.

I swear I arrived with 2 suit-cases and a couple of boxes .... at last count ... its 12 to 15 cartons + 15 plus pieces of furniture

I wrote a response to this article on Fridae:

Movie boycott called over Hong Kong actor's homophobic remarks

A Hong Kong actor who said in an interview that he would respond with physical violence should another man express any attraction or interest towards him has resulted in a call to boycott the movie he is currently promoting.

Read full article here: http://www.fridae.com/newsfeatures/article.php?articleid=2242&viewarticle=1&searchtype=all

----------------

At the age of 16, i got beat up in an incident similar to the above. I expressed my feelings for a "straight" guy after getting a lot mixed signals.

After gathering my courage to tell this guy, I got dragged into a stairwell several days later and got beat up really badly. The group of 4 straight guys with one on-looker only stopped beating up one gay guy because my friend intervened. I'm wondering how long the bashing would have gone on for if my friend didn't stop it. A lot of bleeding obviously wasn't a good enough indication that they had done enough to teach me a lesson.

Going up to these people again to discuss the issue maturely would surely have resulted in another beating so I doubt having a dialogue with the community would do much to change their mindsets.

I agree with calling a boycott. If these people cannot accept and respect another person, if their first thought is to resort to violence when dealing with an uncomfortable situation, I don't see why people should respect these people or their work. What kind of role models are they setting for the people who look up to them and their work?

We need to send a message clearly to people with such mindsets that violence of any kind against any person is not acceptable.

took me 30 mins to get to a pump to fill up my car ... and i use BHP instead of Shell or Esso. The queues around petrol stations were horrible all over KL and the resulting jams that saw cars backed up for kilometers were not pretty.

the ugly malaysia reared his/her ugly head in queue jumping, taking his/her own sweet time at the pump and the impatient many who leaned on their horns.

we are a society that is completely dependent on fossil fuels. we really need to cut down on this usage and dependence and find alternative forms of energy that is better for our planet

i'm seriously wondering how i can cut down my fuel usage in a city that has terrible transportation infrastructure ... not like i can just bike to work and stay in the office all day

:-(

probably slept wrongly last nite coz I woke with a dull ache in-between my right shoulder-blade and the dull ache got to the point where it was hard to work

Bryan suggested a thai massage at KL plaza ... got there and I thought RM100 was a bit much to pay for an hour so i headed over to Brickfields after a little research and looked for Berjaya Blind Massage Centre along Jalan Tun Sambanthan.

It was relatively easy to find beig across the road from the YMCA. I was tempted to hop over to a pace that boasted a "massage master" instead but decided to stick to the plan and climbed up the stairs of 19A Jalan Tun Sambanthan.

Honestly ... I was kind of worried as I walked into a room and got undressed. A fren had shared stories after his trip to one of these places where he encountered "shake the birdie" which is common practise at the end of a blind massage session. I was trying to decide how i'd react to this closing "procedure".

Guess it's not a common practise after all coz he asked me to sit up near the end and just proceeded to twist and wind my arms to crack the joints and finished with a head & neck massage.

the deep tissue kneading he was doing felt amazing at first but it got harder and harder till the pain was bordering on excruciating!

but it still felt good so I didn't know if I shud yelp or moan

he kept asking me .. "pain?" ... and every time i said yes ... he proceeded to focus on the area he was just kneading. I made another mistake of asking if it was supposed to hurt and he said "no ...pain no good" ... then he promptly went back to the areas i was having problems with and kneading them till i was seriously yelping.

i can't complain coz after the hour .... i feel very relaxed and the aches and pains are all gone.

a full hour for RM35!!! ... i think that's amazing!

highly recommended for anyone in the area

Here's a shot of the hard to find entrance of The Inn Saladaeng.


My cab drove past the corner the Inn was on several times and it was only after I called them that they told me to look out for Mimy's, a cafe on the corner the Inn was next to. Why couldn't they have put this on their website?!

After the harrowing experience of the checking into the tiny place they call a hotel, I decide to have a luxirous meal to pamper myself. Finding vegetarian food is hard in Thailand as everything is cooked with lots of pork, chicken or seafood.

I gave up on looking for a restaurant and settled for a high-class food court overlooking a main street and ordered Indian vegetarian: vegetable bryani + vegetable curry


To start off my intended visits of temples and religious places in Bangkok, I trekked from my lunch place at Central World Chitlom to the Four Face Buddha at Erawan Hotel to pay my respects.


This was followed by speed shopping at Zen & Siam Paragon, a nap, a workout at the gym and subsequently, a nice dinner at Bug & Bee which had wonderful vegetarian choices alongside a meat menu.

Their menu is rather creative and sitting alone gave me time to watch local people interact and be themselves. People aren't very different from country to country ... they just speak in a different language and have subtle differences in mannerisms but the things that make them laugh and the way they interact with frens and strangers is somewhat the same.

I thought my trip was going to be a solitary one but the likelihood of that promptly disappeared the moment I stepped into DJ Station. Squeezing through the place on Friday nite, I bumped into quite a few Singaporeans. I hung out with different groups of them but decided since I came alone ... I shud be indepedent and try to have fun solo ... away from the comfort zone of people I know.

I made my way onto the stage to dance. Good idea i guess ... 'cause I got accosted my lots of Thai guys reaffirming that I still had some market value. I think being a grouch at the gym and at clubs in KL and SG has kept guys who'd normally come up to me at a distance so that's made me wonder if I was fossilizing to the point where I had no market value.

My Singaporean frens told me to hop over to G.O.D. which i did and who should i see but Alan, Laurindo, Dal & Bert ... a group of close frens. Thus at G.O.D. it was an exercise of hanging out with different groups of Singaporeans and certain Thai guys who were interested in me.

There were plenty of other Korean, Taiwanese and Hong Kong circuit boys in Bangkok too. Its been awhile since I attended a circuit party but I recognise them ... and they remember me too. I guess once a circuit boy always a circuit boy. Unless you disappear from all clubs and the party scene for years and years on end, your peers in the circuit would still remember and acknowledge you.

The hopping around was getting rather tiring and at the end of the night ... I decided to head to the Ascott for an extension with one of my frens who used to party at my place in KL.

To answer Shaozie's request to blog about the person who visited my room at the Inn .... I got picked up by a SG guy working in BKK and we ended up at my hotel at day-break.

We split before lunch. Was gonna take a nap but I got a call from someone I had met the night before who offered to keep me company. Heck I thought ... why not.

Out went my plans of visiting temples. Hit Platinum shopping center to get major shopping done and then had high-tea and a cosy dinner.

Sat nite at DJ ... I was trying to be independent again so I spent a lot of time on the stage at DJ dancing. Same thing happened with lots of Thai guys trying to strike up conversations, hold my hand, dance with me and offer me drinks & things.

Moved over to G.O.D. again and this time i ended up chatting with 2 other singaporean guys working in BKK or passing through BKK. Same pattern of heading to my fren's extension at the Ascott and after the extension ... I ended up spending the nite with another Singaporean.

This time I spent most of Sunday with this person until I had to go back to my hotel to pack and head to the airport.

I don't know what it is ... both me and the SG guys working in BKK or passing thru BKK seemed to gravitate to each other. It was funny how we all realised we were Singaporeans the moment we opened our mouths.

Anyway, just to stop some people's over-active imagination from running wild, I have toned down significantly and I spent a lot of time talking with the people I spent time with. References available upon request.

What I realised is that you'll never really be alone in Bangkok. Quite a few guys travel to bangkok alone ... its seems to be an unspoken wish to meet someone you can connect with and spend the night and the next day together

Even if it isn't a big weekend, there'll be plenty of people around who'll be more than happy to keep a solo tourist company.

I know people were asking me about this hotel so I just wanted to let anyone who's thinking about staying there to think twice.

This surely is a case of pretty pictures and a beautifully designed website doing a wonderful con job.

Other than the location being great, everything else sucks.

1) Upon checking in, I tried to pay by credit card and they said they only accepted cash. Full payment + deposit needed to be paid. I really think that should have been highlighted when I was making the reservation. What kind of hotel doesn't accept credit cards!!!!

2) The first room i walked into was tiny! Even the door was smaller than usual coz they had to accommodate a infrasctructural beam that ran thru part of the room.

I asked to be moved to a room on the higher floor and they said i'd have to upgrade; i.e. pay more.

3) Second room was slightly better but there's seriously no space around the room to put ur bag if its any bigger than the usual carry on trolley bags.

4) All the rooms use ugly white energy saving flourescents. There are no warm lights or any lights with a dimmer.

5) Forget about asking for extra pillows are anything else cause you really just get the basic things.

6) U enter and exit the hotel using an access key card and each guest staying there needs to be registered and issued one or they won't let you in. Meaning all guests had to be registered. Extra guests are charged at 500Bht a nite. Thankfully when I came back at sunrise ... the person attending the door was a gay boy so he just waved me in with my fren.

Subsequent nites i didn't come back cause it was just too tedious. That's how i got to visit a cosy spiffy nice new hotel .... see below.

7) They are super anal about check-out at 12noon. No such thing as extending even tho my flight was at 8.20pm. I had to pay for half a day just to check out at 6pm. Anything after 6m i had to pay the full day rate.

The lady was so calculative ... I asked if it was at all possible to get a small discount seeing that half day = 12 hours and 12 - 6pm = 6 hours. She actually paused to think about it a moment and then said no. Wah liao eh .... really calculative chinese business women only interested in making money and doesn';t give a hoot about their hotel guests.

I had a group of frens staying at Chin House which was around the corner and they got a 3pm check-out with little hassle!

8) The cleaning staff made a racket the 3 days i was there from 1pm - 4pm as they cleaned the rooms.

Wah liao eh ... want to sleep or nap in the afternoon from party all night also cannot!!

Mind you ... these are not the half-decent trained staff you get at any basic hotel .. these are your noisy boisterous type of maids.

9) No breakfast or cafe or any food served so you have to trek outside.

10) Rooms on one side of the building face another building / residential area so you can only get a semi decent view above the 4th floor. (They only have 8 floors).

-------------------

For that kind of price .... I say pay just a bit more and stay at the I-Residences. http://www.ihotelresort.com/bangkok/

Its a little bit further away down Silom road but the rooms are super nice for the price. Heard a fren shopped around online and booked his room for 1,700Bht a nite. Really nice interior, big flat-screen TV, nice comfy bed. A cab ride from DJ station or the Ascott back to that hotel is 35Bht. There's a BTS station right outside so very convenient (one stop to DJ station).

I checked out Silom Serene and their prices seem to be going up! RM2,900 Bht a nite!!

Will blog about my rather interesting trip soon.

:-)

From Ann:
=======================

Hi all,

Gonna end this month of may with my latest Tribalectro series...will be heading to Shanghai next week and my next gig in Kl will be at Maison on 15/6.

http://www.zshare.net/audio/1276008755afb901/

Tracklisting

1.Mariah Carey - We Belong Together 2008 (Rauhofer Miracle Mashup)
2.Delerium Feat Sarah Mclahlan - Silence 2008 (Electro Mix)
3.Taito Tikaro, J.Louis & Ferran Ft Clarence- Shine On Me (Nick Terranova & Austin Leeds Vocal Mix)
4.Unconditional - Magic Feet 2008 (Princess Ann Club-O-Rama Tribal Anthem)
5.Shine On (Electro Mix)
6.Oscar G - Dark Beat 2008 (Tribal Mix)
7.A Drummer (Tribal Mix)
8.Eddie Thoneick - I Wanna Freak You (Kurd Maverick Mix)
9.Lil' Mo' Yin Yang - Reach 2008 (TV Rock Mix)
10.Sir Thomas - wake Up (Starkillers Mix)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For those who havent / would like to check out the previous vol.. here it is !

Princess Ann Club Tribalectro 2008 Vol 2
Tracklisting

1.Safri Duo - Played A Life 2008 (Electro Mix)
2.Offer Nissim Ft Maya - Love Me (Princess Re-edit)
3.Tony Moran Ft Martha wash - Keep Your Body Working (Anthem Mix)
4.Might Dub Catz - Just Another Groove 2008 (Princess Ann Reconstruction Tribal Mix)
5.Bob Sinclar Pres Fireball - All I Want (Electro Mix)
6.Feel it (Tribal Mix)
7.Se Sa - Like This Like That (Tribal Mix)
8.Again (Vocal Mix)
9.Get Get Down (Electro Mix)
10.Dan Saenz and Ron Reeser - Promises (Starkillers Dub)
11.Madonna & JT- 4 Minutes (Peter Saves NY Mix)

http://www.zshare.net/audio/112321171deddf30/

Princess Ann Club Tribalectro 2008 Vol 1
Tracklisting

1.Offer Nissim Ft Maya - Happy People (Original Mix)
2.Anthony Lamont - This Is Ass
3.Bob Sinclar - Together (F&L Tribal Anthem)
4.Tina - Eyes On You (Peter Rauhofer Mix)
5.Moby - Disco Lies (S&H Mix)
6.DONS vs Kadoc - The Nighttrain 2008 (Princess Ann Reconstruction Tribal Anthem)
7.Fedde Le Grand Funkerman - 3 Minutes To Explain (Princess Ann Extended Tribal Mix)
8.Ralph Falcon - Break You (Princess Ann Re-edit)
9.Federico Franchi - Cream (Princess Ann vs Robbie Rivera Triba-Up Mix )
10.Anthony Clamaran - One Week In Columbia EP

http://www.zshare.net/audio/90311812e7219b/


Have Fun....

Cheers
Ann

I've decided not to do the usual things in Bangkok (clubbing and saunas) and planned the following itinerary:

- Wat Phra Kaew or the Temple of the Emerald Buddha
- Wat Pho or the Temple of the Reclining Buddha which is next to Wat Phra Kaew
- Wat Traimit in Chinatown

Just wanted to ask ....

Any other interesting places to visit?

Any suggestions for places to shop other than MBK, Siam Paragon, Siam Square?

Any good places for full body massage?
preferably by guys coz the women usually complain I ask them to massage too hard

Any suggestions would be really appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

A Love Anthem Mix For My Fabulous Boys!
Some familiar, some new..Check them out.

http://www.zshare.net/download/1236194293e3d3ee/

TRACKLISTING
-------------------

Michelle Williams - We Break The Dawn (Karmatronic) *its Michelle ya'll*
Duffy - Mercy (Gareth Wynn Bootleg) * U know this *
A Lee ft Amanda Wilson - Gotta Let Go (Paul Emmanuel) *my fave*
Kim Sozzi - Like A Star (P.Lutz Mix) *You're A Star Babe!*
Donna Summer - Stamp Your Feet (Escape Mix) *The Legend Is Back*
Rihanna - Take A Bow (Moran/Warren Rigg Mix) *Ooh, new Rihanna?*
Debby Holliday - Surrender Me (Moran/Warren Rigg) *Handcuffs?*
Natasha Bedingfield - Pocketful Of Sunshine (J.Vicious) *Which pocket?*
Janet Jackson - Rock With U (Alexander VDH) *Go on Miss Janet*
Soulseekerz - Reach (Eric Smax & Thomas Gold) *A gay classic revamped*
Madonna - Give It To Me (Paul Oakenfold Mix) *Hot & Sticky?*