I Love Dubai!

Nobody told me Dubai was such a wonderful city! Almost everything is man made from the high rises to the palaces to the beaches. I think what impressed me the most about Dubai was the cleanliness, the modern-ness and the obscene wealth in some of the people on the street. Oh and also because it was my next stop after London. We all know how cold, gloomy, old and dirty London can be. Stepping out of the plane in Dubai airport, I was just taken aback by the bright sun, the modern airport and how clean and shiny everything was!

No visit to Dubai is complete without visiting the Burj Al Arab. It has always been my dream to spend one night at the Burj, but ofcourse that was not to be. The magnificent Burj Al Arab is on an island of it's own shaped to resemble the sail of a dhow, an arabian vessel. Truly a beautiful construction. The Burj is a self claimed 5 star hotel, however people around the world often label it "the world's only 7 star luxury hotel". And believe me, this is no simple 5 star hotel. Just to walk in if you're not a guest will cost you USD$60! For guests booked in to the Burj, extra services include your very own butler, your own maid, even your own photographer to follow you around town just to take photos for you. Such luxury only money can buy.

Lucky for me, I had made reservations to have champagne brunch at Al Muntaha, reservations I made while I was still in Melbourne. Al Muntaha is located 200m above the Persian Gulf in the Burj with a full view of Dubai. The food was exquisite, the service was impeccable and the ambience was just divine. Just the dessert spread was bigger than some buffets I've seen. Cakes were adorned with gold flecks, everything was just so glamorous. Sigh ......

The man made beaches are a picturesque scene. Beautiful gold sand and exceptionally clean. I swear I will visit Dubai and stay at the Burj one of these days.

A Glimpse Into A Man's World

It’s funny how I can be one of the boys on the odd occasion.

Some time ago in KL, I caught up with an old friend Mr B. He joined me at La Bodega in Pavillion where I was having drinks with quite a few of my friends. After drinks someone suggested we all go get a massage. Sounded like a great idea at the time so I agreed. Mr B suggested we go to a spa. Now a spa in KL is no ordinary spa. He explained that this particular spa we were adjourning to was a gentleman's spa. Interesting. However, as he is a valued customer there, they would make an exception and let women in. Two women specifically. That would be me and Piggy. Piggy was a little reluctant initially. But what the hell, we were with four other guys and they were all my friends. I was sure it would be safe, physically safe, not sure though if we would be traumatised by this experience.

We followed Mr B, all six of us, all men with the exception of two. We arrive at Citrus Hotel . Cant say it was located in a desirable part of KL, off Jalan Raja Laut, scary and dodgy infact. We patiently and curiously follow Mr B into the building to Level 1 where JJ Spa was located. As soon as the elevator doors opened, Mr B was greeted with a familiar "Welcome back Mr. B". Wow, he really was a valued customer there. After some negotiation, us ladies were allowed in.

As Piggy and I strutted across the tv room, it was evident that we were the only two women who did not work there. Drinks flowed freely and we could smoke almost anywhere. After a beer, we were lead to the change rooms, which also doubles as the spa room, the sauna, the showers, the smoking room and the toilets. Yes, it was all in one room. Piggy and I were given robes, shorts and a towel. As this was a gentleman's spa, there were no ladies toilets or ladies showers. We had to turn the sauna into a makeshift change room. When we came out dressed in our robes and shorts, the boys were all in the spa. So what do we do? We join them ofcourse. It was quite a sight. The spa was relatively huge, enough to fit 20 people I reckon. Piggy and I jumped in robe, shorts and all. Piggy kept asking me "Do you think this is a good idea jumping in with all these naked men?". My response, "Why not???". If I could get naked and jump in I would.

After 10 minutes in the spa, we all got out to get ready for our 2 hour massage. Piggy and I were lead to our massage. Thankfully we were placed in the same room together. I thought it was quite odd that the room we were given had mirrors on all the walls. That thought didnt last long though. I soon fell asleep through my massage. Coming out of the room, Piggy and I walked past other massage rooms and they all had showers in the corners of the rooms with mirrors on all walls including the ceiling. Hmmmmm ...... The girls coming out of the rooms were dressed or under dressed I should say and also wearing killer stilletos. Hah! Now I know the true meaning of a gentleman's spa. Piggy and I had just experienced the best massage in a whore house!!! Our two masseurs were magical but were also the daggiest chicks in the whole place. No skimpy outfits, no stilleto heels. Damn!

Piggy and I headed back to our makeshift change room but not before witnessing naked men in the showers. Wonderful. They didnt even have shower curtains behind the showers??

What a great experience that was. It's funny when I think back now. What would all those naked men in the showers have thought when they saw two women walk through? Did they think we were hookers??? Hahahaha ..... I guess we'll never know.

I was later told that the four guys with us actually could select their masseur from a lineup of skimpily dressed ladies. Extra services cost extra ofcourse. And did our four friends opt for extra services? What do you think?

I wish I was born a man.

Friends For Life

Life is full of surprises. One minute you're in heaven, next minute you could be down in the dumps. What makes us tick? An important aspect of life is to have close family and friends around you. You cant change your family but can you change your friends? I like to think that the close friends you have will stick with you through thick and thin. There are some friends you share tales of life with, some you share career changes with, some you share sordid details of your love affairs. Are there ones that you just share every single thing with? I'm still trying to work this out. As one journeys on through age, we discover that things change, new buildings emerge, new walls are built and new friends are made. My travels have taken me to many parts of the world. Through this, I've met some really great people I'm proud to call good friends.

I'm blessed with many close friends around me, ones I party with, ones I go shopping with, ones I share sordid details of my love affairs with, ones I share family issues with and intellectual ones who understand changes in my career. I refuse to believe that all these people come and go. I want all of you to stay.

Somehow there arent many I can share every single thing with. But that person is out there. And I thank you for being there. What would I do without you?? You've seen me in tears, you've seen me in times of joy and you've been there when I've been desperate financially. I hope you will be there through all my birthdays, through my wedding, through the birth of my children, even through my divorce if it comes to that, oh and lastly, I hope you will be there to share a bottle of wine with me when we end up in a retirement home or a mental asylum together, whichever comes first!

So many of you are in different time zones and yet we can pick up where we left off whenever we meet. Hugs and kisses to all of you.

This is what makes me tick.

Young Boys These Days

I was back in KL recently and was introduced to this guy The Kid. Young guy in his early 20s, not bad looking, very naive and innocent. Suffice to say also with little or no experience with the ladies having only had one girlfriend in his life.

We met up for drinks one night and The Kid met a hot chick at the bar. He was successful in gaining her personal number and even told me that she gave him the correct number unlike others in his experience. They play phone messaging with each other throughout the night and then he courageously asked her out. Her response? "I'm going away for work for 2 weeks, sorry". When he told me this, my instant reaction was "clearly she is making excuses and doesnt want to meet up with you". Why do I say this and not give this chick the benefit of the doubt? Well, she didnt offer to meet up another time when she returned from work did she? Texting each other through the night went so well until he ruined it by asking her out. Women are natural flirts arent they? Some play it all the way, some just dont know how to react when push comes to shove.

The Kid was adamant this chick was into him and honestly had to go away for work. I tried hard to explain that it's not him and that some chicks like to flirt and flirt only with no intention of taking the situation any further. This is something he refused to believe.

Weeks later he still hasnt successfully met up with this hot chick. I rest my case.

Konnichiwa Tokyo!

So much to see, so much to do, so much to taste, so much to buy, so much to experience. Tokyo is really the land with everything. Although I’ve been there before, the city itself never ceases to amaze me. The bright lights, the flashing neon signs, the porcelain featured (or made up rather) girls, the clicking of stiletto heels running up the subway stairs, the men with perfectly manicured eyebrows, just to name a few interesting observations.

The subway map drove me nuts! But thankfully we had local friends to act as guides, making the experience less painful. I’m sure alot of you out there are just as fascinated as I am with the Harajuku cultures and sub-cultures. A visit to Yoyogi Park, I stumbled upon a group of Denim Elvis’s and a group of Black Elvis’s. No they were not Black as in African American; they were just dressed in all black. And the Denims were dressed in all denim. They all dress up as Elvis and dance in the park all afternoon. Like, are you for real? Yes, that’s what they do every Sunday. It’s quite entertaining really. Apart from the Elvis’s, there are groups dressed like vampires, groups dressed like Little Bo-Peeps, groups dressed as punks and many other interesting themes. I admire how these people can get all dressed up, catch the sub and parade themselves around in public. They are in a world of their own. I’m not kidding.

Food is another big highlight of Tokyo. I got the opportunity to taste a wide array of fine Japanese foods. One of the most memorable meals was at an Izakaya restaurant in Shinjuku. Everything on the menu was Y270. That’s like AUD$3.50! The beers, the sakes, the dishes, everything was Y270. By the end of the night after filling my belly with more food and alcohol than I can imagine, I walked away spending less than AUD$30.

Shopping is also great in Tokyo. Things can get quite expensive if you shop in a departmental store. However, UniQlo is pretty reasonable in price and ofcourse there are the street stores in Harajuku. Here, the variety and fashion is crazy. Like I said so much to see, so much to buy. Just remember the sizes here are pretty tiny. Japanese fashion is interesting. When one person wears a particular outfit, the entire nation will follow. This is why Japanese girls all look the same. They all have the same long curly locks, heavily made up face, long fake eyelashes, platform heels, mini jumpsuits, miniskirts, leg warmers and garters. Yes, garters. Dont ask. Sexy though.

Sumo wrestling is a must see when in Japan. Watching it live is nothing compared to watching it on tv! Amazingly, so many naked men running around and yet it did nothing for me. Hahaha. The actual match only lasts for about 1 minute. As soon as they knock each other out of the ring or someone hits the grown, the match is over. We were so fortunate that BBs got us box seats and we were like the 10th row from the front. Thanks BBs! It was so fun!!


Mt Fuji and Hakone is a must see destination when in Japan. Look up 1 or 2 day tour packages. The tour will take you by bus to My Fuji, then a cruise along Lake Ashi, a traditional Japanese lunch and finally to Hakone where you can enjoy the many Onsens (hot springs) in the area. I was in a hotel with its own Onsen which was nice. Rules and regulations you must abide by when entering a Japanese public Onsen:

1. You are not allowed to wear anything in the pools
2. The tiny 50cm x 50cm hand towel you are provided with is not allowed in the pool
3. You are not allowed to have any tattoos (WTF?)
4. You must shower and scrub (WTF?) all your bits before going in the pools
5. Men and women are not allowed to share pools

Apart from that, the whole experience was wonderful. The pain of scrubbing my bits in front of a dozen or so naked women and a 70 year old naked grandma staring at me kinda gave me the creeps. Well the sight of the 70 year old naked grandma scared me more than her stare. Trying to hide my tattoos wasn’t too bad. Mine are not all that obvious, but Babyface and BBs were a laugh when they tried to cover their tattoos. Can’t describe it, it’s just one of those you had to be there moments.

Back to food and back to Tokyo, I had the privilege of tasting the culinary sensation of Les Creations de Narisawa. A French restaurant in Tokyo, fancy that. Chef Yoshihiro Narisawa has a creative flair in food preparation and his restaurant is now ranked number 24 in the world according to S.Pellegrino’s World’s 50 Best Restaurants. Not much of a French food fan myself, but I was impressed with the meal. The “nature” theme to the menu was interesting, the meal was tasty (especially the rabbit dish) and the service was impeccable. For those who have a bit of a sweet tooth, the dessert trolley was superb with choices of cakes, cookies, macaroons, mousses, so many things.

My last shout out is to my dear friend Obasan. I hadn’t seen her for over 10 years and man she looks exactly the same!! I love you Obasan! Was really great to catch up with an old friend. We picked up where we left off all those years ago, like good friends do. It was just like the good old days in GC, Concorde Hotel, the apartment (whatever it was called!), Metro gang fight, the Melbourne tattoo shop. So many memories. I look forward to seeing you again real soon!!

As you can see, there’s so much to see and do in Tokyo. I can’t wait for my next trip to Tokyo. Will have to make a special effort to visit Osaka and Kyoto.

Mornington Manhunt

The setting was in Blairgowrie, a beautiful house called The Dunes. 18 friends, a brilliant chef, lots of food and ofcourse a never ending supply of alcohol (I'm not kidding, the supply was endless, we ended up bringing half the alcohol back to Melbourne). The house was magnificent and fitting us all in very comfortably, fancy finding a place that sleeps 18 under one roof.

The Peninsula Hot Springs was absolutely divine. We had to endure the cold 10C temperature outdoors but enjoyed much comfort with the 40C water in the pools. Simply heaven. The new refurbishment makes it look so much better than what it was 2 years ago. I really love the hot springs!

So how did it turn into a manhunt? Well, after the hot springs, the evening of the second night, everyone was enjoying a drink or two and Kam got really drunk passing out on the living room floor quite early on in the night. Miranda wouldnt let him sleep so woke him up and made him continue to drink more. Big B and I joined the 2 of them and hung out for about an hour when Kam decided to go downstairs to get more alcohol. We didnt think much of it at first but an hour later, after I had already gone to bed, Big B realised Kam never came back with his drink. So we all went downstairs in search of this sneaky fella. Our first thoughts were, where could he be hiding to get away from drinking? As you can imagine with a house that fits 18 people, it would be an ideal place for hide and seek. So we began searching in every room of the house. No luck in finding Kam. We went out to the driveway and searched his car, again no luck. By this stage we had searched the entire house and its surroundings for over half an hour. There was no sign of Kam anywhere! How does a drunken person just disappear from the house?

Miranda, Cuz, RF and I walked out on to the street with a flashlight in search of the disappearing Kam. It was very dark, wet and cold. Out on the street we still couldnt locate him. We took Miranda's car for a drive up and down the street in hope for a sighting of Kam. With little experience driving a manual car, I surprisingly got us moving along quite well. Nevertheless, no sign of Kam. As we put the car back and walked up the driveway back into the house. RF and Cuz stumbled on what looked like a huge rock in the front lawn. Here they found a snoozing Kam wrapped up in his picnic blanket on the grass. What the???

We brought him back into the house before he turned blue, gave him a scotch then started lecturing him. Hahaha ..... he was worried his snoring would wake the house up so he decided to sleep on the front lawn in the freezing 6C temperature?! And he kept telling us he loves the cold?!

Good thing is we found him, but what an adventurous night, trekking around the bushland in the dark in search of a drunken DJ.

Where Are All The Men?

Are all the good ones always taken? The hot ones, the nice ones, the f*ckable ones? It seems of late, I know so many people seeing married men. Married men?? Have we resorted to this because we've run out of men?

Olivia is a classic example. Gorgeous, smart and independent. Yes, she has 3 of the best qualities as a woman. But yet, her choice of men, or man rather, falls in the married category. Actually, the still married category. Yes, the excitement is always there when doing something wrong. Well, seeing a married man is wrong isn't it??? It's only wrong if the wife is your friend! No, seriously it's not fair on the wife or kids if there are any. But then don't forget, it takes two hands to clap, tango, whatever. So if Olivia chooses a married man, the married man has got to choose her too. Back to my point, why settle for a married man? Aren't there any available ones out there? Is Olivia not looking hard enough? Or is she just comfortable that this one has fallen in to her lap, literally.

I'm not one to decide what's wrong and what's right. People are old enough to decide. Another girlfriend, similarly gorgeous, intelligent and independent, is seeing a man who fits in the still married, but separated category. It's all good fun, both parties have a good time and no strings attached. Don't get me wrong, Olivia is doing exactly the same thing, no strings attached. But what happens when you fall for that married man?

Is it our age that attracts men that fall into these categories? Samantha Jones was seeing a man recently, although not married, he has been married before. So he falls in the divorced category. So now we have a common theme, still married, married but separated, been married before. Where is the single and available category??

Ladies, keep doing what you're doing I say, but if you're with one that falls in the still married category, tread very very carefully. Deny, deny, deny! That's my advice. And at the same time, keep your eyes and ears open. I'm convinced these single available men are out there, I just don't know where yet.

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Like a Moth to The Flame

Like a moth to the flame. You must be thinking of that Janet Jackson song "That's the Way Love Goes"? Someone once told me "you should always be the flame and try not to ever be the moth". I know many women who seem to always be the moth. They simply cant tear themselves away from the flame. The attraction is just so great that they have to caress themselves against the flame and risk getting painfully burnt in the process. Women just generally need to be in the know-how, know-when and simply know-everything. While men sit back and act like the cool (burning) flame. We should learn to be the flame!

Let me pose these questions:

What do you do if the guy you are seeing sms-es you? Do you reply straight away because you are so excited he sms-ed you in the first place? Or do you play it cool and let him sweat it out a little?

I wonder how many of you would actually wait a good 8 hours before replying. Most of the time we are so anxious that we must reply immediately. In my opinion, men dont think that way at all. They just go about doing their own thing and when they get a moment, whether it's on their lunch break, toilet break or smoke break, is when they will decide to reply to your sms. This often happens to be the next day or 10 hours later if you're lucky.

Do you drop all your plans when the man calls and wants to see you?

Again, most of you would say yes immediately! But why?? Trust me they will wait for you even if you tell them you have plans and will meet them another day. Actually making them wait will show your independence and the fact that you have other things to do in life.

Social independence is an important thing in this society. Gone are the days where the woman was socially dependant on her man. These days, we all have our own social activities. And more importantly these days, we actually have our own friends we hang out with regularly.

Ladies, let's keep them on ice and only retrieve once ready to consume. It's really not that difficult.

My Sweet Elephant

My sweet elephant is visiting from Bangkok and what a surprise it was when he brought me a belated birthday present; a hand made card and a white leather Gucci wallet. Awwww..... that was so sweet. As annoying, moronic and idiotic as he is, he will always be my sweet elephant :-) Love you long time!!

The Wonderful World of Multimedia

The wonderful world of multimedia, what exactly does this mean? Lift your head, look around, ads and designs are everywhere in our society. People are naturally drawn to things that are nice to look at. Multimedia designs are everywhere we look. Some people even base their purchases on unique packaging and not so much the product itself. It is no joke that visual design and packaging definitely attracts consumers to simply look if not to buy products.

So why am I writing a post on multimedia design? I have just joined a multimedia design company with some friends and I so understand the need for this service. Every new product or brand in the market spends time and money trying to promote their name to break into the market by means of advertising. Multimedia covers the end to end design process from simple logo design to website design. Yes, we do it all. We even do photography and event management. Anything that you can think of that relates to promoting your product, we will have a solution. Check out our site to get a feel of the wonderful world of multimedia design. Visit Fyoozstudio (pronounced fuse studio).

Malaysian Mahjong

Dont we all love a game of mahjong? I certainly do, especially Malaysian mahjong :-) What is Malaysian mahjong, some of you may ask. Well, it's a version of mahjong derived from the original 4 player mahjong. Malaysian mahjong has only 3 players. It's a quick and aggresive game, just the way I like it :-)

I've done some research into the rules and with my best effort I'm noting this down here so next time I get a chance to play again, I will remember these rules! As BBs says, it's a stupid game with stupid rules. But you know what? Rules are rules, there need not be any logic behind them. And just a reminder too that rules may differ from household to household, player to player.

This is the full set used in Malaysian mahjong. There should be 4 sets of flowers and 4 "Feis".

Let's just explore some of the many rules and ways to earn points (or better known as fann) in order to win the game. With Malaysian mahjong, you must have a minimum of 5 fanns to win. The maximum is usually anything above 10 fann.

1. One face (flower) = 1 fann
2. Four faces (flower) = extra 1 fann
3. One animal = 1 fann
4. Four animals = extra 1 fann
5. 1 Flower (number corresponds to player number) = 1 fann
6. Four flowers (in the same set) = 1 extra fann
7. Pong of own wind (north is everybody's wind) = 1 fann
8. Pong of dragon cards (hong chong, fat choy, bak parn) = 1 fann
9. 2 pongs & a pair of dragons = 3 fann
10. Mix suits = 1 fann
11. Same suit only = 3 fann
12. All Pong/ Gong = 2 fann
13. Chee mor from replacing flower/ Gong = 1 fann
14. Stealing Gong = 1 fann
15. Dealer Pong East wind = 2 fann

To earn maximum fann, player must win with any of the following:

1. Pong of 4 winds
2. 3 Pong and pair of winds
3. No flowers
4. 4 Gongs (revealed or concealed)
5. 3 Pong of dragon cards
6. Win with replacement tile after 2 consecutive Gong
7. 4 concealed Pong/ Gong
8. 4 Feis
9. Winning with first tile
10. Winning with last tile
11. If you have 4 feis at the start of the game, you need not play on, this is maximum fann
12. If you manage to get 4 feis in the process of the game, then you can only win by playing on till you get a winning hand

Feis are worth money and depending on how huge the ante is, players can nominate this amount. At the end of each round, players without or with less feis than the other players will have to pay out the difference.

I cant really sum it all up here cos there is just to many bloody rules and regulations, but as I start to play, it all comes back to me :-) And as a result, this is as much as I can remember for now.

Anyone for a game of Malaysian mahjong?? Piggy, when will we hoi toi again?

Piggy Heads to Melbourne

Who ever said Piggy's dont fly. Well this Piggy is flying straight in to Melbourne on Sunday. It has been a long long time since she's graced our shores and it will be nothing short of being fun, fun, fun!

Piggy, I have it all planned. It is everything but scary as you so aptly put it :-) We will drink, then drink and then drink some more, no I'm just kidding! It is a shame you're not bringing the little Piggy with you. And yes, everyone is dying to see the Little Piggy more!! I'm so excited thinking of how much we get to catch up with our girlie talks and nonsensical chatter when you get here. You people that come from Malaysia are so lucky you can get such cheap tickets, I mean RM$1500 for a return flight is amazing on a decent airline and not a budget one. I can only wish it were the same here in Australia.

So, get your dancing shoes ready so we can paint the town red!

Swing Sister's Birthday @ Man Mo

Last weekend a whole bunch of us had dinner at Man Mo to celebrate Swing Sister's birthday. Nestled amongst the busy strip of New Quay at Docklands, this Chinese (it's advertised as Malaysian/ Chinese, but I think it's more Chinese) restaurant is packed almost every night of the week. Thankfully I know the owners and the manager of the restaurant and managed to squeeze in a booking for 20 people. It doesnt help either that we are in the midst of the Christmas party period with most restaurants at the Docklands booked out for corporate functions.

The night was warm and balmy, perfect for us to be seated outside. Unfortunately, you still cant smoke at the Docklands even if you sit outside. The food was great. However, I must say that when I was there previously, the food was a lot better. Maybe it was just too busy or maybe they just dont pay attention when preparing mass meals. On my last visit, there were only 6 of us and the food was magnificent, although The Manager prepared us a special banquet for $62 per head. It wasnt bad at all for that price. We had oysters, scallops, lobster dumplings, patagonian tooth fish (a must try), truffle beef (to die for) and a huge dessert platter, which included my favourite creme brulee.

This time around, we ordered the $50 banquet and the food was not as impressive, but nevertheless still tasted great. The Manager had organised the old Sang Choy Bao for entree. What the?? Which Chinese person goes to a Chinese restaurant and orders Sang Choy Bao??? It did taste alright but never something I would order. It's such an Aussie dish! The drinks didnt stop coming for Swing Sister and she didnt stop drinking either, as you do on your birthday. It must be an international tradition for the birthday girl or boy to have atleast 1 Flaming Lamborghini on the night. Swing Sister did a great job too putting the whole thing away, not to mention the countless number of champers and vodka shots. Urrgh!

After dinner was done and dusted, me, Ball Breaker, BBs, VVB and November Cleo hung around with the owners and did what we do best; drink some more! It was awfully nice of them to have the drinks running on free flow all night. I think I drank the entire bottle of Grandfather Port myself! Thinking back now, I kinda feel bad that we made the owners and The Manager hang around with us till 2.30 in the morning and these people had to work the next day!

We tried to get into Allumbra after Man Mo, but no such luck as it was closing at 3am and Ball Breaker was pissed. So home it was and thank God we didnt drive. I dont think anyone was in any condition to operate a motor vehicle. I later found out that Ball Breaker had taken a taxi to her car in the city and drove home from there. Naughty, naughty girl!!!

Launch of Nuffnang Australia

Nuffnang, what an odd name. What is Nuffnang? The long and short of it is, Nuffnang is a wonderful platform where bloggers are chosen to place ads on their blogs and be paid for it. Simple. This ad network platform was the brainwave of 2 young fellas from Malaysia and Singapore. With its inception in 2006, Nuffnang now has over 80,000 bloggers signed up from all over the world including Malaysia, Singapore, Phillipines and Australia.

Nuffnang recently launched its Australian site where Aussie bloggers who sign up will run Aussie ads on their blogs. This in turn is a revenue generating stream for dedicated bloggers. Not bad for a bit of writing hey?

They have their own local team to ensure quality advertisers are placed into your blogs. The good thing about Nuffnang is it promotes itself quite heavily within its own Nuffnang blogger community by running numerous events for bloggers. This has been quite evident in Nuffnang Malaysia where charity and entertainment events are held throughout the year to give their bloggers the opportunity to network and meet other bloggers, not to mention those single people out there who blog, isnt this just another avenue to meet other singles??

Nuffnang Australia is looking for Aussie bloggers to sign up and help build this community. Imagine how many people you could meet just by signing up and placing ads on your blog. Just let your fingers do the walking and talking!

Some very interesting blogs I've come across (ofcourse they are Nuffnang members!) include:

*Snippets of Life by Karen Cheng

*Life Funtastique by Jase

*Autoshediastic Asseverations: Positively Non-sensical by Kelly

I'm sure there are many more out there, I just havent had the time to browse through them all.

The Nuffnang Santa is kindly giving away a Dell Inspiron Mini 9 to a lucky blogger who writes about their network on their blogs. This is my attempt at giving Nuffnang Australia a bit of a plug. Do I need the Dell Inspiron Mini 9? Well, ofcourse I do! I need one just to blog, so I can stop doing it at work!! Bad, bad, bad!

Poker Face

This song so reminds me of Ball Breaker and her sexy moves at Man Mo the other night. It's such a catchy little number that makes me wanna dance whenever I hear it. Heard it on the radio on the way to work this morning and wanted to share it with y'all.

I Almost Became a Ping Pong Girl

Well, not me. Here, I am going to tell you the story of how Samantha Jones (SJ) almost became a Ping Pong girl in Thailand. Last month, SJ, SJS and NNQ embarked on an adventure to Thailand. After spending a week in Koh Samui, the 3 of them headed for seedy Bangkok. On their second night there, they decided to take a walk on the wild side and headed down to Patpong. Oh man, when SJ was telling me this story, I already knew there was going to be trouble for 3 foreign girls walking down Patpong alone. Anyway, as you do, most people only head to the colourful and seedy area of Patpong for one thing. Well, actually you can do some shopping there too, but really, Patpong is famous (or should I say infamous) for its enormous variety of strip bars. And when I say variety, I do mean variety. Not only are there straight strip bars for men, there are also strip bars for women, for straight men, for gay men and almost all these bars have live sex shows.

So, back to my story, the 3 ladies walked along the streets of Patpong with several men touting strip bars and yelling out "You want to see fucking show?". So these 3 freshies to Bangkok decided ofcourse they want to see a "fucking" show. After much negotiation with one lad, that they would pay $100 Baht per beer and the show would be free, they followed him blindly to where they would watch the "fucking" show. "Blindly" is an understatement, they were lead through small alleys and laneways and finally up 6 flights of stairs. At this point, they still didnt question the lad. I guess this was merely an adventure for them? And at this point I was almost screaming at SJ "Is this your first time to Bangkok????" and she sheepishly replied "Yes". Oh man, my heart was pumping and I was very excited to listen to what eventuated next. Deep down I knew nothing of harm had fallen upon SJ or else I wouldnt be sipping a Sauvignon Blanc with her at Cho Gao last night. But just the thought of being all alone in a strange country, following a strange man who claims he's taking you to see a "fucking" show is scary enough.

They get to the top of the stairs and behind the closed doors was a stage and a bar. Nothing unusual looking about the place plus there were a group of foreigners in there. As the group of foreigners were leaving, SJ overheard them arguing with the manager of the bar but I guess didnt really take much notice of it at the time cos they were too busy focusing on the Ping Pong girl and watching to see where she would aim her next ping pong ball. You really wouldnt want one of those ping pong balls to end up on your lap, let alone on your face. Anyway, when they decided to leave, they were presented with a bill for 3800 Baht; 300 Baht for the 3 beers and 3500 Baht for the show. Their eyes nearly popped out of their face. Then fear set in, they looked around and realised they were the only customers in this so called bar. 3 girls, all alone and nobody to protect them. NNQ called for the manager to ask him why they were charged for the show when the lad who had lead them there told them the show was for free. A huge argument broke out and SJ had a flashback of the group of foreigners who had left a while ago. The manager had the door blocked off and the 3 of them had no way of pushing past him to get out.

NNQ: We were told beers were 100 Baht and show is free!

Bar Manager: No, no, no. Beer 100 Baht, show 3500 Baht

NNQ: No. Beers 300 Baht and show is free!

Bar Manager: No! Show no flee. You slip for flee??!!

NNQ: No. We are not paying!

Bar Waitress to SJ: (eyeing SJ up and down) You slip for flee??!!

NNQ proceeded to get 300 Baht out of her wallet and threw it at the bar. She then forced her way pass the bar manager, out the door and down the 6 flights of stair. SJ and SJS were in shock and this whole time were lost for words. All SJ could think of was how they were going to make her a Ping Pong girl in this seedy and dodgy looking strip bar. But as soon as she realised NNQ had pushed her way past the bar manager, her heavy feet lifted and both her and SJS ran after NNQ flying down the stairs. As soon as they got out on the street, they ran for their lives.

So this is the story of how SJ nearly became a Ping Pong girl in Bangkok. She can look back now and laugh about it. Thinking back, can you imagine if these Thais decided to gang rape them or bash them up or do whatever the unimaginable may be??

How dangerous and dodgy is Thailand? But I still love the country except I would never venture into Patpong on my own. My advice, when in Thailand, always call on BKK and let him take you around, atleast he's local and speaks the language, and he will never let you become a Ping Pong girl!

The Camberwell Market Experience

Here in Melbourne, we have this wonderful trash and treasure market in Camberwell where people can hire a stall and sell whatever they like. Sad thing is, Camberwell Market opens every Sunday at 6.30am and closes by 12.30pm. So, stall owners have to get there real early to set up and be out of there by 1pm.

Several months ago, Siew Yum, BBs and I decided this would be a great opportunity to ged rid of the stuff we dont want and make a little cash for it. We were so excited with the prospect of making some money, we couldnt wait to unload our pre-loved items in hope that our thrash would becomes someone else's treasure. On the morning we were to open our stall, BBs and I were too lazy to even get out of bed! We were so close to calling in sick. But, our dear friend Siew Yum was already enthusiastically setting up shop at 7am. So along we went, with our cars full of crap. When we got there, it turned out to be a cold yet sunny day. Earlier in the morning when I was in bed, I was so tempted to stay under the doona because of the pouring rain outside. But all was good, and we were there ready to earn some dinner money.

I carefully laid out all my precious clothes on the ground. We were so unorganised and as a result had to just throw our clothes into heaps on the floor. If we had've been bothered to be there by 6am, we could've gotten some nifty clothes hangers and stands. Anyway, the sight of our messy Forges looking store made many people turn to look, but not many actually stepped in to pick anything up for a real inspection.

BBs was the first to sell an item. She got rid of her wakeboard for a whopping $50, or was it $100. I cant remember exactly, but I do remember she made more than any of us in total! I managed to sell my old Play Station for $30 with atleast 50 games included. What a bargain.

Samantha Jones came to visit us and tried to help by getting customers in. She did a terrible job and ended up taking 2 dresses home instead!! But the day was great fun, although it was cold and business was quiet. I want to go again but this time, I'm going to be prepared and more organised. Now I just have to psych myself up for the 5am start on a Sunday.....

A Time To Give

Christmas is just around the corner and it's this time of the year when people find it in their hearts to give to the less fortunate. I was sent this link to help tranform the lives of homeless Australians. Unfortunately, with the economic situation we are facing today, many are facing homelessness this Christmas. All you have to do is click on this link:

Transform Homelessness

and create a butterfly in your area. For every butterfly created, you will help raise $1 for Mission Australia to transform the lives of the homeless in this country. If you havent made any donations this year, or you simply feel like helping but cant afford it financially, here's your chance to do something good this festive season. I've done my part and created my own purple butterfly wings. I named my butterfly Prosperity. Well, yeah, I couldnt think of a name at the time.....so mine symbolises my wish for Prosperity to touch all.

Ku De Ta

Clear blue skies, tropical warm weather, surrounded by the sun, sea and surf. What more could I ask for? There was no better place to be, over the Melbourne Cup Weekend but Bali. Mind you, at the time, Bali was on red alert travel warnings for Australian tourists. But then again, I'm not Australian.

This was my first ever trip to Bali and it was magnificent. The one place you must visit when in Bali is Ku De Ta. An upmarket restaurant/ bar which sits right on the beach in Seminyak. The atmosphere here is to die for. The hypnotic sounds of huge Bali waves almost sends you away to another time and place. At night, the bar has 2 huge spotlights shining out to sea, so guests can appreciate both sound and sight of the waves. It is a truly magical experience. When I was seated at one of their relaxing lounges by the beach, enjoying the waves, I just couldnt imagine a more beautiful place to relax. Very romantic indeed.

Apart from its beautiful setting and chic decor, Ku De Ta also has delicious cocktails and tapas. Unfortunately, when I was there, Bali was facing a nation wide shortage of alcohol! And I'm not kidding!

This place is highly recommended for the atmosphere, the food and the cocktails. Hell! Even their little boutique retail store has beautiful things! Make sure you dress well and be prepared for a wonderful experience.