A Little Space

No more to this blog ...

2011-05-29T13:59:00.004+08:00

The garden in our former PJ house is no more.

Though we did try to salvage as many of the plants as possible by taking cuttings, etc or giving the pot plants to our friends and neighbours, there still remained all the old trees, palms, bushes and flowers in the ground that we have painstakingly nurtured for over 17 years!

The idiotic new owners poured concrete or paved over the whole garden and leave not a blade of grass! :-(

We are really sad!!

It's been a long time ....

2010-05-04T15:46:00.002+08:00

.... since I update this blog!!

I have been busy - what with a new house, settling in and getting the garden into shape. Believe it or not, I was still unpacking books last weekend!!

My house in PJ had just been sold ... S&P is in progress and hopefully, I cna complete the sale by end June.

I felt very sad about giving it up and I do miss the garden there - though only God knows in what shape it is in now!! I had it out for rentals since I moved out of there - but I had to chase for the rental, follow up on maintenance, etc - headaches I can very well do without.

My present garden is just getting into shape and I hope to post some pictures soon.

In Kuching ......

2008-12-11T20:44:00.002+08:00

Back in Kuching - and as I move around, I wonder why I ever leave this place!!

Finally, managed to get my computer room up and running properly with all my desktops and other paraphernalia. I was and am never comfortable working on a laptop!

Actually I have been back since the 25th of October and stayed overnight with my brother before moving into my new house the next day .... an empty house devoid of furniture and cooking utensils! Of course, we did managed to borrow some necessities (like mattresses, kettle, etc) from my brother and also bought some basic things needed to keep us going until the arrival of our two container loads of household effects from Petaling Jaya.

With a new large garden, I can now indulge in creating a new "A Little Space" of a garden for myself.

More later on the horrors of frustrations of waiting for the badly delayed arrival of my household effects!

Leaving for Sarawak

2008-09-04T15:47:00.006+08:00

After some 20 years of living in this house in PJ, I am now packing to move and will be leaving this little space of my garden behind - feeling really sad but also very excited as I will be moving to my new house in Kuching that comes with a large space for my garden!

Sad to be leaving, not just for the friends and the garden I leave behind but also that most of the some 20-years old trees and plants I have been nurturing so lovingly may be cut down and destroyed by the new owners to make way for parking space, etc.

The new house in Kuching is almost ready. It is a single story building of some 5,500 square feet designed such that every room in the house faces the garden - some on one side, some on two sides while my main living room will be surrounded by gardens on three and a half sides!

I will be starting on a blank new garden - in fact, nearly 8,000 square feet of empty space to work with! There should not be any more groans of insufficient space!!

Packing will take me another three to four weeks - and I expect to ship everything over there by mid-October. Meanwhile, it is rounds and rounds of shopping - especially IKEA :-)

More about the new house and garden later!

Hollyoaks - The McDean Story continues....

2008-06-10T12:09:00.010+08:00

Many of us were hooked on the British soap - Hollyoaks, in particular the McDean storyline .....

Since the dramatic breakup last September of John Paul and Craig, it left the fans with a storyline that did not quite end but full of unresolved issues.

The continuing storyline involving John Paul with a Catholic priest had been less than satisfactory and full of angst for the McDean fans. Fans launched various campaigns, petitions, etc, cajoled and kept the pressure on the Hollyoaks producers to get these two back for the SUNSET ENDING. For a storyline that supposed ended in September 2007, the fans kept the dream of a SE alive through various forums.

Last week, it was announced that Guy "Craig Dean" Burnet will return to Hollyoaks for some late night specials. All the fans pored through the announcement for some hint of a SE.

The in dramatic fashion, on Sunday, Digital Spy wrote ...

EXCLUSIVE: Craig Dean returns to 'Hollyoaks'

Monday, June 9 2008, 11:40 BST

By Kris Green, Soaps Editor

Hollyoaks actor Guy Burnet will make a dramatic return to the soap as Craig Dean later this year in the hope of a sunset ending with lover John Paul McQueen.

The 24-year-old, quit the show in August when his character left for Trinity College, Dublin, after his affair with John Paul was dramatically exposed at Craig and Sarah's (Loui Batley) engagement party.

With his heart set on rekindling his romance with John Paul (James Sutton), Craig makes a shocking return just as the dust settles in the wake of John Paul's relationship with Father Kieron Hobbs (Jake Hendriks) being exposed to the village.

Sarah's feelings for Craig are also pushed to the limit as she attempts to put the devastating revelation that her lover was involved in a gay love affair well and truly behind her.

Meanwhile, Craig's mother Frankie becomes so embroiled in her family deceit that it's not long before Craig uncovers some shocking skeletons hiding in the family closet.

Speaking of his decision to return, Guy said: "I've had so much support from the McDean fans since I left the show and so it’s great to have the opportunity to reprise the storyline and give viewers a resolution to the Craig and John Paul story."

Producer Bryan Kirkwood added: "The Craig and John Paul story is one of the biggest and most successful that Hollyoaks has told, winning many awards and legions of fans. I'm delighted that Guy has agreed to come back and excited to see how viewers will react to what we have in store."

Last week, it was announced that Guy would also be making an appearance in Hollyoaks' latest bank of late night spinoff episodes.

Guy returns to filming next month and will make his screen comeback in early September.

and on Channel 4 ....

Craig Dean Returns To HOLLYOAKS

Tuesday 10 June 2008

Sunset Ending

Last week we announce that Guy Burnett would be involved in the upcoming series, Late Night HOLLYOAKS and today we can announce that Guy will be returning to HOLLYOAKS in September this year as Craig Dean makes a comeback in a bid to secure his sunset ending.

Heartache

Craig Dean's return is set to be as eventful as his departure was as he returns with his heart set on mending his broken relationship with gay lover john Paul (James Sutton).

Craig's return comes just as the dust settles on John Paul and Father Kieron's (Jake Hendriks) relationship being exposed. As John Paul deals with the trauma of his current relationship being under the spotlight, he now also has to face the homecoming of his former lover and the troubled McQueen is forced to question where his heart really belongs.

McDean Delight

Guy Burnett is delighted to be back in the show and can't wait to get back on set. "I've had so much support from the McDean fans since I left the show and so it's great to have the opportunity to reprise the storyline and give viewers a resolution to the Craig and John Paul story."

Hollyoaks Producer Bryan Kirkwood is looking forward to seeing Craig Dean back on our screens. "The Craig and John Paul story is one of the biggest and most successful that Hollyoaks has told, winning many awards and legions of fans. I'm delighted that Guy has agreed to come back and excited to see how viewers will react to what we have in store."

John Paul isn't the only one affected by Craig's return however as ex-fiance Sarah is shaken by his return and vows to put her heartbreak behind her. Meanwhile, Craig is contented to be back with his family and following their recent troubles he's pleased that they're all coping so well. But as Frankie becomes entangled in her web of deceit is Craig about to discover some uncomfortable skeletons in his family's closet?

Fans all over the world went "mad" - some actually popped bottles of champagne! So we get ready boxes of tissues - for the tears that will be there! For the tears - not the torrid scences! :-)

Visitors to our garden ......

2008-05-10T13:56:00.001+08:00

For a small garden, it is just amazing just how many visitors we have on a daily/nightly basis ..... :-)

Yes, we do have lots and lots of visitors to our little space, not just the two-legged variety but also huge number of the 4, 6, 8 and multiple-legged ones as well as the winged ones :-) Indeed our garden is THE resort for the many creatures, big and small, taking a respite in the cool, shady and food-laden oasis that is our garden in the sea of concrete surrounding us.

Most of the houses around us have more concrete than garden-space and mostly potted plants at that! It is really sad that most of them seems to think that gardens are a hassle and full of nasty creepy-crawlies and, to my chagrin, the primary source of mosquitoes!

At one residents' meeting many many years ago, we pointed out that within our garden, we do not have pools of still water for mosquitoes to breed whereas the other residents' unused containers and pot plants have pools of water in which the mosquitoes are breeding like crazy. The then-Chairman of the RC who maintained a large flower garden (all potted plants) at the other end of my street backed me up and said that he did not use any clay pot stands for his potted plants because of the mosquito problem. He also said that most of the residents used these pot stands and do not bother to empty the water in these stands on a daily basis - hence allowing the mosquitoes to breed in them. Since then our garden had not been an issue!

Back to our visitors ... we have a group of some dozen squirrels that nested nearby but make regular visits to our garden for food and water. We have seen generations of these squirrels come and go ... it really is good to see then bring their babies!

A couple of well-hidden bird nests in the tall bushes at the back of the garden have seen multiple generations of yellow-chested birds bringing up their families. There is nothing more amazing than to see the parent birds trying to distract us and lure us away from their nests as we approach their hidden nests!

The tiny moles (size of mice) are another group of visitors - though the numbers, sadly, have decreased tremendously over the years. I love to see them running around in the garden with their long bodies and short legs and used to see many of them every day. Now we see only the occasional ones scuttling around. The reduction in their number is obviously due to two neighbours who moved in some time back - one keeps far more cats that she should and other feed all the stray cats in the neighbourhood! :-O

There is also a family of civet cats that appeared regularly at night and one time I had the fright of my life when I looked up into the mango tree and saw a pair of bright eyes staring at me! Since then we studiously avoid crossing each other paths!

As we have mangoes and cikus in our garden, there are also the nightly winged visitors - bats, large and small. Then there are the occasional mice and rats and the frequent visitors like the domestic and stray cats ..... sigh :-(

Yes, we do have a lot of visitors indeed!

Bandar Mahkota Cheras Buka Jalan

2008-05-08T21:27:00.002+08:00

Please support

Bandar Mahkota Cheras

Buka Jalan Action Comittee

Photo by 小李飞刀

ATWT NUKE Kiss (23/4/2008) Rocks America

2008-04-24T11:45:00.005+08:00

After eight months, Noah and Luke kissed again .......

A lot of fans have gone off ATWT due to the apparent censorship of male liplocks! I supposed they have to try to bring the ratings up again. Of course, this kiss had already rattled the conservative and religious factions in the US again :-)

Looks like a real deep wet kiss between them .... note the following screen caps with tongues .....

and a sliver of spit dangling between them .....

Sigh, when will we get to see this on Malaysian TV?

Hari Pakatan Rakyat

2008-04-01T15:16:00.004+08:00

Hari

Pakatan

Rakyat

The official press statement from the 3 parties follows:
1st April 2008

Statement by the Leadership of KeADILan, DAP and PAS

The leaders of KeADILan, DAP and PAS met today in furtherance of the meeting held on the 18th of March 2008.

Today’s meeting was attended by, among others, Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim, YB Lim Kit Siang, YB Dato’ Seri Tuan Guru Haji Abdul Hadi Awang and YB Datin Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

In today’s meeting, we have proposed to consolidate the cooperation between the three parties under the name “PAKATAN RAKYAT.” This name has been proposed pending confirmation by the respective parties.

Pakatan Rakyat pledges to uphold the rights and interests of all Malaysians, regardless of religion or race, as enshrined in the Constitution.

With the results of the recent elections, the state governments of Kelantan, Kedah, Pulau Pinang, Perak and Selangor will be known as Pakatan Rakyat state governments. The policies of these governments will be conducted in accordance with the policies of Pakatan Rakyat.

To further mutual understanding regarding such policies, a convention of all Pakatan Rakyat elected representatives of Parliament and State Assemblies will be held the 27th of April, 2008.

We have developed and strengthened the structure of Pakatan Rakyat by creating under the Leadership Council, consisting of the leaders of the three parties, a Joint Secretariat consisting of three leaders each from each of the three parties. This Joint Secretariat will be tasked with building the foundation and framework of the Pakatan Rakyat for ratification by the Leadership Council.

…...…………………….. ..………………… ………………… …...……………………..

YB DS Dr. Wan Azizah

DS Anwar Ibrahim

YB En Lim Kit Siang

YB DS Haji Abdul Hadi Awang

2008-03-09T10:02:00.002+08:00

Well

Done,

Fellow

Malaysians!

2008-03-07T20:03:00.004+08:00

MALAYSIANS

Please

do

your

duty

and

vote

tomorrow

8th March 2008

The Tudors

2008-02-26T12:56:00.022+08:00

Has any one of you watched The Tudors with an absolutely dishy eye candy (and no doubt delicious) Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Henry VIII! This DVD boxed set is widely available.

From younger days of studying literature, I would have been so much more interested if the paintings of Henry the VII showed him looking like Jonathan Rhys Meyers instead of the portly (veering towards obesity) images that we we saw in the film, "A Man for All Seasons".

With his many wives and ex-wives, he got rid of those he no longer favoured by sending them to the Towers (of London) and "off with their heads"! That is a very nice solution for unwanted exs ......... :-)

As the young Henry the VIII, he spent half his time in bed being half-naked rogering his wenches!!!

He is really looking his best here at his best. Looking like that, he can climb into my bed anytime!!!

Even slouching, he looks absolutely gorgeous!!

Oh, for a nibble at that nipple peeking out!!! *Drools*

For more images of Jonathan Rhys Meyers, take a look at JRMfansite or JRMOnline.

I have seen a number of his films and Bend It Like Beckham was the only film I like.

The others were just to watch him being good-looking!! In Velvet Goldmine , we did get to see Rhys locked lips with Ewan McGregor! Interestingly though, according to his Match Point co-star, Scarlett Johansson, she said that he's too much of a girl and cited his "effeminate qualities" of loving shoes and gossiping. *HORRORS*

Malaysia General Election 2008

2008-02-24T22:17:00.009+08:00

"VOTE FOR CHANGE, VOTE BARISAN RAKYAT"

A larger poster can be downloaded from Malaysia Today.

It has been some time ....

2008-02-14T19:41:00.003+08:00

Having been away for most of the last half year in godforsaken places - it was a really nice change to be back in Malaysia, living a normal "married" life with my other half .....

The garden is in a mess and full of dropped rotting fruits or whatever was left after all the creatures of nature had a go at them!!! Our neighbours thought we had actually "abandoned" our house though we had someone *totally unreliable* :-) in to water the plants and do some housekeeping in the garden ....

Now that we are back .... we need to spend quality time bonding with our plants again!!! Unfortunately, not for very long as we will be moving stock lock and barrel by June ....

We will be putting up this place on the market then .... I am feeling sad and weepy as I love this place!

More later

And so we cry for John Paul and Craig (Hollyoaks)

2007-09-21T13:31:00.000+08:00

Hollyoaks' gay love story "ends" on an uncertain note as John Paul and Craig went their separate way ....

Through most fans already knew the ending, since Guy Burnet (Craig) is leaving the show, all the fans were looking to a sunset ending.

As I wrote somewhere else, I loved the ending.

Craig was a two-timing liar throughout the relationship. In reality, how many of us can put up with this type of BF/GF? I won't.

The final test in their relationship was at the airport and when JP was walking away from him and possibly out of his life, Craig still could not make himself run after him and hugged him when all that was needed to save the relationship. Craig did not and that said everything about the relationship! Craig was hugging his brother in public at the airport but would not hug his BF, John Paul - when nobody (apart from the family) at the airport knew about their relationship. Basically, Craig never loved JP enough to be able to re-assure JP even at the most crucial moments. A hug from Craig then (it does not even have to be a kiss) would have changed everything!

Still, that is SOAP and the ambiguous ending left open the possibility that when Craig sorts himself out, he will be back in a year's time (when James Sutton is leaving the show) to "re-claim" John Paul and thus the sunset ending.

Meanwhile, we stayed hooked ..... :-)

Kisses from the Soaps

2007-09-18T21:26:00.000+08:00

For many of us hooked on the two currently running soaps "As the World Turns" (US) and "Hollyoaks" (UK), one can really see the difference in the handling of gay relationships on public television between the more conservative American and the more open British TV medias.

You can see that from the handling of the kissing scenes - the more "chaste" US soap and the more racy UK soap!

In ATWT, the kiss between Noah and Luke seen on 17th August 2007 was a first in an American soap. That kiss was just a kiss - without the passion that one expects. There was also a minimal display of bare skin...

In UK, gay kisses on TV are no longer an issue and Hollyoaks showed the passions between the two young lovers - Craig and John Paul. Their first kiss seen on 16th of May 2007 is much more passionate. The story continue on with more kisses, more skin and more bed scenes!

The "As the World Turns" Kiss

The "Hollyoaks" Kiss

I prefer watching Hollyoak to ATWT as I felt that the storyline in Hollyoaks is so much stronger and the actors get to play stronger/meatier roles. However, the gay segment of the Hollyoaks Soap (the Craig/John Paul Story) is coming to a conclusion this Wednesday or Thursday.

I will have to stop work those mornings to watch the final episodes .... their many fans are bawling their hearts out over what may be happening to Craig and John Paul. We all love a good cry .... :-)

For us fans, the end of the Craig/John Paul Story means that we now have to switch over to ATWT for consolation.....

In ATWT, the Noah/Luke Story is still continuing with Noah just being outted. There is still some run in their story.

Happy Viewing!

MIFB 2007

2007-07-16T11:33:00.000+08:00

As usual, beside book exhibitions and some cultural events, only food can entice us to crowded exhibition halls ..... :-)

We went to the 8th Malaysia International Food & B everage Trade Fair at the MATRADE Exhibition & Convention Centre (MECC) on Saturday 14th of July 2007, the last day of a three day trade fair. This is the first time I have been there and the first impression was that the halls were too small for even this medium-sized trade fair, let alone the huge international fairs!

The exhibition was spread over two halls on two sides of the road. I had expected the main hall to be a large open plan space but was deeply disappointed. The trade fair was rendered rather discontinuous by narrow connecting doors with escalators/walls/pillars that blocked the overall view of the trade fair and impaired the smooth flow of the visitors through the exhibition!

That's bad, bad, bad!!!

Why? When visiting a trade fair like this, it is important to be able to move systematically and linearly through the displays to have a good overall view first and then to return to specific booths/sections of special interests. Here one have to sort of meander around and that is a real waste of time :-)

Back to the fair .....

Where else but at such trade fairs can one find hundred of sexy young men in office attire serving luscious pieces of juicy fresh/preserved fruits, cups of drinks and bite-sized morsels of pastries/meat/etc and telling you to try, try, try!!! It was near impossible to keep down and hidden the urges to lick the fingers holding out the food and then ask for more ... maybe, even the contact numbers or e-mails .... :-) Or maybe even ask if they can place the offerings on or near even more tantalising body parts and let us nibble on them :-)

One see hunky and twinky chefs or chefs-wannabes and think how wonderful if one can drag one home and be served, in more than one ways :-)

Unfortunately, I have to make do with some more sedate and tame images .... like these sweet and really juicy pears from Taiwan ...

or this pile of fruits and vegetables ...

However as far as trade shows for food goes, this MIFB is a minion compared to the premier Food and Hotel Malaysia 2007 to be held at the KLCC Convention Centre from 22-25 August 2007. Unfortunately, not much information is available on the website yet for this show, which is a biennial event.

This is THE food show to go to. Not only you get lots of local beef but the place will be packed full with foreign beef as well :-) You will truly salivate at the variety of food available to eat or try and the eye candies to ogle at!!! :-)

Quiz : How are you in bed?

2007-07-16T11:14:00.000+08:00

Take this quiz ... be honest :-)

How are you in bed?

We all wish to be SEX GODS! :-)

A Little Space .....

2007-07-07T10:06:00.000+08:00

When we bought the house in PJ many many years ago, we really cannot renovate the house to our exact liking. We were constrained by the four walls, the supporting beams, the supporting walls, the neighbours, the physical space and so on and so forth ....

All except the garden.....

Indeed, our garden - that little bit of managed wilderness that is truly our private own space, was in fact, the only part of the house that when we got it, we completely laid waste to it except for the lone mango tree which we retained for shade, and started off with a truly empty plot of earth and free for us to work on - constrained no doubt by the four walls :-)

Our neighbours thought that we intended to have the whole space laid down with concrete as they all have done ... and were aghast to see us had the entire space dug down to four feet deep and then rebuilt with rich fertile soil ......

The result?

What a feeling it is to walk through the garden now and when you look up, you see this .....

On a bright sunny day, the sun rays filter through the red palm leaves and the trees and you can feel the cool calm surrounding and a glorious away-from-it-all feeling!

Ah, the mango tree .... the only tree that we kept as a shade tree when we cleared up the rest of the garden.

It is so symbolic ... after all, which Malaysian house can be said to be Malaysian without the mango tree .... ?:-)

Nestled in the mango tree is this huge bird nest fern that was originally a small sickly-looking pot-plant discarded on the roadside many years ago and which we found and nurtured into this glorious plant!

Another shade tree is the red bottle brush ......

I fell in love with this tree the first time I saw it years ago in Australia ...

Wandering around in the garden, on the ground, is this beautiful flowering "banana" plant ....

It is always a glorious sight and the flowers last for months and just grow taller and taller .....

Another beautiful plant on the ground ....

It spreads fast and is a prodigious flowering plant and provide an excellent ground cover in difficult-to-reach areas and in odd spots of the garden.

At eye-level, we have the gardenia with large fragrant white flowers and truly inspiring in the evenings when the fragrance wafted through the garden ....

Another bush with incredibly fragrant flowers is this "wrightia religiosa" or "shuimei" or "水梅“ and the original plant was a gift from an instructor in bonsai when we were living in Singapore some two decades ago. The original plant had since then spread throughout our garden here in PJ an in our other homes and widely-distributed to many of our friends all over Malaysia.

We have this plant as bushes throughout the garden and as bonsai plants. It is an incredibly hardy plant and can withstand long periods without water under the hot sun! It is one plant that should be in every garden as it produce prodigious numbers of small white flowers with an incredible yet light fragrance throughout the year. The fragrance pervades the entire garden and there is nothing more uplifting than to open the upstairs windows and get a strong whiff of this beautiful fragrance. We have two varieties in the garden - the flowers with a single layer of petals and the one with the double-layer of petals. The latter is more beautiful but the fragrance is much reduced.

In another part of the garden - ah, the red passion flowers .... and a gift from a passionate lover :-)

An incredible climber - it climbs to the rooftops and the top of the trees and produce large stunning bright red flowers.

This is just a small part of our little space - unfortunately, none of the pictures shown have any of the more striking features that can identify our garden immediately should you live in our vicinity :-) and those were some of the more interesting aspects of our garden :-)

Next part of this blog will be on who else share this little space with us and there are many many of them .... :-)

Gay Themed Movies

2007-06-24T13:30:00.000+08:00

It was always very difficult to find gay themed movies in Malaysia but in recent years, such GTM had become more common and one can pick them up at the DVD store. My local friendly DVD store do stock them but it is more on a hit-or-miss affair.

As one says, if there is a niche, someone is going to fill in that niche - right, for gay themed movies, there is a local gay-owned DVD centre and there are hundred of GTM titles in their catalogues for one to review and choose from. This is one place we visited regularly!

So I was at my local friendly DVD store yesterday and I saw beautifully boxed sets of the gay (soft-porn) series "Dante's Cove" for Seasons 1 and 2. I wondered how many actually watch it for the storyline :-) However, there seemed to be a fair number of people who actually watch this series ..... these boxed sets were snapped up like hot cakes. My other half snapped up one set as well :-) much to my surprise - he's usually the one going for serious GTM movies and not those with lots of skin and beef!!

Not to be outdone, I went for the boxed set of Pier Pasolini's films - many of which I first saw in the 70's in the UK. This boxed sets included the full uncensored versions of most of his films - including the more notorious :

THE DECAMERON
THE CANTERBURY TALES
ARABIAN NIGHTS
SALO OR THE 120 DAYS OF SODOM

The last one was banned in most countries.

This is a gem of a boxed set as I had been looking for his films for many years and it was indeed a rare find to get them all in a single set!

I always like light-hearted gay themed movies and, that afternoon, was pleased to find "Wedding Wars" which was a 2006 TV movie about gay people in the US going on strike to protest a governor's support of a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriages.

It was a fluffy movie, with some nice tongue-in-cheek humour and some real corny bits but it is a nice feel good movie for a couple staying in on a late Saturday evening :-)

Watch it :-)

Buddhist Culture & Arts Festival ( 6-10 June 2007)

2007-06-19T22:36:00.000+08:00

We went to the Buddhist Culture & Arts Festival ( 6-10 June 2007) which was held at the Mines. It was pretty crowded on a Saturday.

It was a really interesting exhibition.

There was a pictoral trail that replicated the travels, in the 7th Century, of the monk, Xuanzang. His journey from China, through Central Asia, Pakistan and India were recorded in his book, "Western Pilgrimage". The popular fairy tale version is, of course, the "Journey to the West" featuring SunWuKung, the Great Monkey King. Walking along the pictoral trail, it showed presently destroyed states, cities and communities that, in the 7th century AD, were powerful countries, rich cities and vibrant communites. It was particlularly sad to see the photograph of the now empty grottoes of the Bamiyam Buddhas that Xuanzang had visited nearly 1300 years ago. The photographs seen in this pictoral trail were from an expediton that retraced Master Xuanzang's Western Pilgrimage. This photographic records of this modern journey were published in the book "Dust in the Wind". I could not resist it despite the hefty price tag of RM288!!

Walking around, the Tibetan section was of particular interest to me. Just take a look at this sand Mandala done by the Tibetan monks!

It was a very intricate and detailed work of devotional art .. one of the monk actually destroyed it at the end of the exhibition with a swipe of his hand to demonstrate how all the things in the universe were temporal; that all things were just fleeting illusions.

I loved the butter figurines made from what looked like pasticine but actually was a mix of butter and flour(?).

The close up image showed how the monks who made them paid close attention to the fine details ...

There were lots more things to see ...

However, I skipped all the Buddhist relics since I was not particularly keen on viewing pieces of bones :-)

There were dozen of vegetarian food stalls and we had a great time trying out all the goodies - all home-made by the members of the various Buddhist Associations or Fellowhips and sold to raise money for various charities.

We had to rush through the rest of the exhibition ....got too tired by then :-) but had a great time though.

It's has been a while .....

2007-06-19T21:45:00.000+08:00

It has indeed been quite a while since I updated this blog - just too many small niggardly things, both at home and at work, conspired to keep me from doing it.

Anyway, I plan to get this moving again ....... :-)

Lotus Root Pickle ...

2006-11-14T12:25:00.000+08:00

Pickles - don't we all love them!

Sometimes, after a particularly stressful day at work or feeling particularly grey, I do not feel like eating and have no appetite at all - I just dive into my fridge with my hoard of home-made pickles.

With my bowl of porridge or rice, the sweet/sour/spicy (preferably all at the same time!) pickles just stimulates my taste buds and makes life that bit more interesting and colourful!! Maybe that is a bit of exaggeration but it does feel that way :-)

One of my favourite pickle is pickled lotus root. What is it with me and lotus root :-)

This pickle is very easy to make - best to make it in small batches and keep in the fridge. It is good for a week or so.

Seasoning :
1. 3 Tbsp vinegar
2. 3 Tbsp sugar

Mix well

Ingredients :
3. 300 g lotus root (young)
4. One large red chilli

Clean and peel lotus root. Slice into thin slices. De-seed chilli and chop into small pieces.

Method :

Boil small pot of water. Blanch the lotus root slices, remove and drain.

Add in the seasoning and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Serve immediately or store in airtight glass jar. Should be good for a week or so.

By the way, you can add in a tablespoon of wine. It is good for immediate serving but if you intend to keep it - leave out the wine. It tastes weird the next day :-P

Yummy :-)

Asian Guys

2006-11-13T14:46:00.000+08:00

Faces - what is it about Asian guys with attractive looking faces that is such a turn-on?

When I see a guy, I look at his face and if I find him attractive (to me), I would then look at the rest of him. Yup, I am truly a face person. When I was a lot younger, free and single and clubbing/disco-ing away and cruising - I had (and still have) one major turn on (probably my turn-off for many) and that is an atttactive face - preferably Asian!

I find them irresistable - the face comes first and if the body is slim or fit or super-fit, that's a bonus!

So can you imagine how I have been drooling in my dotage over a blog with galleries of super attractive Asian male models or guys with fit bodies in Asian Hunk.

Go there and drool ...... :-)

Men's Magazine in Mandarin - MANse男色

2006-10-13T08:21:00.000+08:00

Recently, I have been reading this online Mandarin magazine - MANse男色 - supposedly just a fashion magazine for men but so gay and with so much bare chest and swim wear that I doubt any straight men read them!

Here are some of the covers :

The latest issue is the October issue # 15

You can read them online or you can download them onto your PC to browse at leisure. They are at Issue #15 (October) now but you can still DL previous issues No 10 to 14 (May to September).

The magazine is in a EXE format and you will need to have Adobe Flash Player installed to read it as there some animation (or flash) as you flick through the magazine.

Pretty cool yet HOT magazine!

Enjoy!

Back to Herbs ....

2006-09-06T12:21:00.000+08:00

When I was away, a PLU trainee-TCM practitioner e-mailed me about the herb drinks that I was writing about earlier and wondering about the scientific name. He also told me that he is learning acupressure as well. I told him that I am can be a very willing subject :-)

Anyway, this young man got me the answer :-) It is called 红田乌 (hongtianwu) or Alternanthera Sessilis (L.) R Brex Roem & Schultes.

I am trying to grow it in my garden :-)

It had been claimed (I repeat, claimed) that this herb helps lower cholesterol level and to help blood circulation.

I have always been interested in local herbal remedies and some of the local Mandarin magazines on TCM and folk medicines are pretty good in providing names on the various plants which are not easily available from books.

It's good to be back .....

2006-09-05T12:10:00.000+08:00

It is so good to be back in Malaysia after such a long time of being away - work and R&R combined!

It was great - good fun , good food and good men :-) but after a certain period, one start to feel home-sick despite everything and once it started, then the urge to come home is so strong ....

Having lived outside of Malaysia for most of my life, I told myself that when I get back here, I would never be away for long periods and I was also thinking that it is unlikely I will want to live overseas for long periods of time ever again.

The recents bout of home-sickness while overseas is living proof of it!

It is really good to be back in Malaysia!

Amazing Maths :-) or I love the thinking behind it!

2006-08-03T11:45:00.000+08:00

Someone sent me this. I am not sure of the origin of this set of fun images and so cannot attribute them to anyone. But it sure is funny!

Solving Algebra:

Solving Trignometry :

This is too funny...

Solving Irrational numbers:

I love the obviously creative thinking behind this set of solutions to Maths problems !!! This sort of reminded me of school and university days when in a large group of students there will always be one or two who played the fools in class but are still well-liked.

I personally think that people with such creative thinking probably make for the best friends , the best lovers and probably the best liars!

The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl ...

2006-07-31T10:34:00.000+08:00

Today is the 7th Day of the 7th Lunar Month or Double Seventh or QiXi (七夕) ...... and today's festival is for all lovers everywhere who have to stay apart for some reason or another. It is like Valentine's Day but tinge with sadness and farewells ......

The fetsival is to commemorate the love of the The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl who were forced to live apart separated from each other by a vast "spatial" river. They can only meet once a year on this day and the only way they can meet across this vast gulf is when all the swallows in the world flock together to create a bridge of swallows for them to walk to the middle of the river to meet.

As the swallows can only do it once a year, they have to part again before the end of the day ....

Tradition is that it always rain (tears of parted lovers everywhere) on this day :-) and it did, heavily this morning.

So to sad lovers everywhere who are not with their loved ones, remember, there is always a time to meet again !

Lanterns Galore ....

2006-07-24T20:39:00.000+08:00

The Mid-Autumn Festival ( 中秋) is certainly one of my favourite Chinese Festivals. As kids, we used to play in the garden with small lanterns while the adults will gather for food and drinks. Many other families also set up small altars with offering to worship the Moon. The highlight of the evening was certainly the display of a variety of lanterns made of paper (and sometimes cloth) hung all over the garden. In recent years, there were both small and large scale exhibitions of lanterns. One prime example is Leisure Mall which holds an annual competition for the best lanterns - made from recycled material, etc - usually around the Mid-Autumn Festival period.

However, ahead of the Mid-Autumn Festival and presently on-going is this large scale exhibition of lanterns at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium - THE ASIA CULTURAL LANTERN CARNIVAL 2006.

Arriving early at 400 pm one afternoon, it was drizzling slightly then and we were thinking that the rain would be a damper on the fun of the evening. Luckily, the rain cleared by about 5 pm and the evening started off pretty cool. The open air exhibition place (Car Park A) was pretty empty as the lights would only be switched on at 730 pm and the stage show due to start only at 830 pm. The empty exhibition area meant that we could go round taking shots of the more interesting things that made up the lanterns; like this massive array of small bottles (originally intended for storing medicine for injection) filled with coloured water ....

and this collection of porcelain plates, cups, spoons all strung together .....

and this massive pile of CDs (a good use for all the confiscated pirated CDs, VCDs and DVDs!!!!)

What were they all part of?

The array of medicine bottles were turned into a beautiful presentation of the Petronas Twin Towers.

In the picture, the Blue Mosque was in the background and the Zoo in the foreground. The plates and other porcelain items were string together into an impressive Dragon some 100 metre or 328 feet long.

The CDs were stacked together to become the Langkawi Eagle.

We got to see the prancing lion ....

and this beautiful lantern made from umbrellas was a big huge with all!

Beside the lanterns, we got to see the sugar art master at work, hugely popular with the children!

while the dough art master were making beautiful figurines as well as this cute pig!

There were quite a number of food stalls serving local food but the more interesting food stalls were those from China and they served various Szechuan snacks and noodles. I liked the Szechuan Cold Noodles -

not too spicy or oily but very very tasty!!! They also served dumplings and paos but I could not eat much, though, as I had a very big late lunch in town - as normally, the food at outdoor exhibitions were generally quite pathetic :-)

The stage show which started at 830 pm was mainly acrobatics and while the young bare-chested male acrobats looked stunning and really yummy, the crowd was simply too large and packed to really comfortably enjoy the eye candies:-)

By 9 pm, the exhibition was packed full of people and from the hill, we could see that the roads leading in and out of the exhibition area were jam-paced with cars. It was certainly an exhibition well-worth the seven hours we were there!

Anyone planning to go should do go early!

Landscape & Garden Festival

2006-07-19T21:19:00.000+08:00

We went to the biennial exhibition on Landscape and Gardens the weekend before last.

Malaysia International Landscape & Garden Festival 2006

It was a bright sunny day, no rain - it was brilliant weather for the stroll through the huge park. Of course, we went well-prepared with sun-shades, cap and cold water - even had the tiny folding umbrellas in case of rain!

Got there by 10 am and it was not yet very crowded - as the official opening was only on the next day - everything looked superb and all ready for the big day. This was probably the best time to see the displays.

The displays on the official opening might be better but the crowds would be horrendous and the days following would not be so nice as the plants and flowers wilted :-)

The show did have some interesting concepts for home gardens and public parks and gardens.

There was also a very nice public toilet conceptualised by the Sibu Municipal Council that blended into the surroundings trees and bushes.

Most people were not aware that it was a toilet!

I like some of the plants like this miniature banana plant ....
and this pitcher plant .... and this gorgrous bromeliad ......
And then I was looking into a small pond with water lilies :-)

There was an interesting display of rope art -

nice but not really one that would last for long in our weather and knowing the current state of the public parks in this country.

I had hoped to see more concepts of public gardens by those planning our parks that make use of the concept of "minimal care, maximum impact" to fit in with our city and town councils' philosophy of spending to create beautiful park but never ever follow up with proper maintenance!

Most of the garden concepts displayed required our local city and town councils to do more than dumping fertiliser and hosing down with water to maintain the garden! Sadly, Malaysians are not going to be able to enjoy such gardens except at exhibitions!

In some of the indoor exhibitions, this nice panel made from cabbages, star fruits, etc., made for an interesting layout!

In Malaysia, this is the largest such exhibition and held every two years and we simply do not have enough of such exhibitions. Most of our public parks and gardens are in a deplorable state - even the so-called Botanic Gardens in Penang is a sad display of neglect. One do not need to go far South to Singapore to see how well maintained are their public gardens and to feel the shame of the awful state of Malaysia's public parks and gardens!

Talking of exhibitions, the world's premier garden show has to be the Chelsea Flower Show. There you can really appreciate gardens is all its glory! When I was studying in London, it was certainly a show I looked forward to each time!

Lotus Roots and so on ....

2006-07-11T22:31:00.000+08:00

I saw them and I bought them :-)

Right, lotus root ( 蓮藕 ) .

The name is a misnomner as these are not real roots - these are just the air-pods (or floaters) and the roots grow from the nodes in between the pods. I bought both the matured lotus root (from China) and the young, tender ones (purportedly from Perak, according to my belly-button twink) but Negri Sembilan is also a big supplier of this vegetable.

Interestingly, lotus roots are often seen at Chinese wedding along with the tray of dates, ginger, longan and melon seeds placed under or on the bridal bed. The last four food items - (紅) 棗 , 生 (姜) , 桂 (圓) , (瓜) 子 - when reading the characters outside the brackets together, the phrase sounds like zao-sheng-gui-zi (早生贵子) - meaning having children early in the marriage.

How abut the lotus root? Well, you do not use the whole lotus root, just the tip ...

That represents a baby boy's thingy :-)

Back to why I bought the lotus root - the matured root is for making soup and the tender ones are for pickling. More later on this.

We went to PJ Old Town for dinner and I got a hankering for steamed soup and claypot rice.

In PJ Old Town there is only one place that is really great for this combination and that is Restaurant Veng Soon (F19. Jalan 1/21, PJ 46000), just a short walk from the Old Town Bus Station.

The restaurant serves a variey of steamed soups - most of them about RM4.00-4.50 but there are some slightly more expensive ginseng-based or exotic game soups. My favourite soups are, of course, lotus root and peanuts,

and salted vegetable and duck soup.

Their ginseng chicken soup is pretty good and they have an excellent winter-melon soup (soup served in a whole steamed winter-melon) but it is a but too big for two persons!

The main dish is, of course their chicken claypot rice served with or without salted fish.

The claypot rice is just right - not too wet or too dry, as served in some claypot restuarants. Eaten with cut red chillis, it's a great meal! I especailly love scrapping off the rice crust at the bottom of the claypot!. That is the best part of the meal!

Work, Men at Work and Cuddly Men

2006-07-11T21:50:00.000+08:00

A friend e-mailed me and asked me why I never mentioned anything about my work. After all, according to that sex maniac, in my job, I have to travel very frequently and get to meet lots of hot twinks and hunks of all races, most of them in their prime from the early 20's to the late 30's and, even more importantly, usually in all-male environments :-)

Just in case anyone start thinking otherwise - no, no I am not a travelling masseur for sportsmen :-)

Frankly speaking, I do not really want to write about my work - as the second I am out of my working environment; I do not want to have to think about it. Writing about it makes me feel like I am working on my days-off!

Many of my gay friends think that it has to be incredibly erotic to live and work with so many men for weeks on end. It can be but usually at the end of the work day, all you want to do is to sit down, eat, relax, have a drink and then go to sleep - too tired to think of sex.

While many of the men are really attractive and some are available, most of us are friends and colleagues and the thoughts of having any erotic flings with them seems a but weird :-) Amongst the PLUs, there had been the occasional hanky-pankies and ONS but these happened away from work, usually on R&R :-) AFAIK, no LTRs developed from these encounters :-) Most of the time, we just treat our eyes to the soothing views of various gay and straight eye candies on display in various stages of undress.

I wonder if anyone knows where are the workplaces I referred to are! Enough of work.

Last week, Microsoft sent to my office a brochure for Mail Solution Express and it looked like a photo holder from the printing shop.
I was going to dump it when I flicked it open and boy, did I hit jackpot - the very first advert has a model that is ABSOLUTELY my TYPE ......

I almost got instant orgasm! I wonder who is the model! Oooo - I love cuddly men like him!!!

Herbal Drinks

2006-06-29T13:40:00.000+08:00

As usual, I was at my neighbourhood wet market - not just looking for eye candies but really to do my weekly marketing and to see what interesting vegetables they have.

For a while already, I have been noticing this dark purplish-brown plant that looks like a climber (vine?) with sharp serrated pointed leaves and tiny clumps of purplish flowers.

I have not been able to locate a proper name for this plant after digging though my meagre collections of book on medicinal plants and herbs.

If anyone knows the local or scientific name, please let me know!

They are to be found at many of the vegetable stalls and also at the various night markets.

Curiosity kills the cat and also the presence of my favourite belly-button at my regular vegetable stall also charged up the libido!

I went up to my twink and asked him about it. He told me that it was for making a very "cooling: herbal drink but one of the main medicinal claims for this herb was that it was supposed to help cure the sensation of numbness in the fingers and hands - especially when sleeping at night.

Ah-ah - I was thinking if that will help to increase one's sensitivity - especially at night at the height of one's libido :-)

He went on to explain that to extract the full medicinal value of this plant, it was necessary to boil the herbs for four hours and then filtered to make the herbal drink!

So I did the usual when it comes to new vegetables or herbs - right, bought a huge bunch of this herbs to make the drink in the afternoon!

It has no fragrance and when drunk neat is surprisingly tasteless - herbal drinks normally are a bit fragrant and/or at least a bit bitter!

Enjoy :-)

My Garden, KLCC, Food and Men (Part II)

2006-06-24T17:05:00.000+08:00

Al Marjan offers both ala carte as well as a buffet at RM38++ pax which is a pretty low price for a restaurant buffet in KLCC.

There were three main parts to the buffet, the salads and starters, the main courses and the dessert - overall, the selection of foods looked rather limited. I always loved the salad section of any buffet and that evening was no exception. I loved the dips (tahini, amongst others). The main courses were disappointing to me, though HIM claimed that the Lamb Meatballs were excellent while I found the dish too gamey.

They also served fish and chips. I was pretty stunned at that but I presumed that this very English dish had probably made it into the cuisines of both Lebanon and Iran but I would hardly have considered it as part of the authentic Lebanese or Persian cuisines!! To be fair, though, the fish and chips were tasty - the fish was rather dryer and firmer/harder compared to the moist and flaky fish in a normal fish-n-chip platter while the chips had some spices added to make it more flavourful.

Next, the dessert - again, the choices were rather limited but there were a couple of interesting looking pudding, one of which was the rice and milk with chopped nuts, raisin and a kind of small reddish fruit, much like our Chinese wolfberry fruit (枸杞).

Frankly speaking, anything with nuts (all nuts!) automatically fall under my category of "Food of Choice" :-) The small reddish dried fruits was pretty sour but it enhances the flavour of the pudding. I must admit that the pudding was very very good and I had seconds!

Finally, of course, Arabic coffee - served in a dainty little cup - and hence the sight that triggered off that section about the plant in my garden!

By then I was rather full and all in all, the meal was pretty scrumptious and good value for the money paid! On the men, there were a couple of very good looking waiters there and one, in particular, a tall fair Chinese guy, was exceptionally attractive :-)

When we finish dinner, we took a walk on the same floor and saw this big sign .....

I had written about ordering "a la carte men" in an earlier article "Mushrooms, Belly Buttons and Men". Maybe, finally, I could get a man baked to order !!! and I was telling HIM that maybe I can asked them to baked me some of his parts in case he wore them out and as a bonus, a clone of the Chinese waiter we saw at Al Marjan :-)

As we got nearer, I was half-fantasizing and half-expecting to see twinks in bakers hat and skimpy aprons doing the baking .......

Oh well, this being Malaysia, one had to make do with fantasy instead.

My Garden, KLCC, Food and Men (Part I)

2006-06-24T14:39:00.000+08:00

At one corner of my garden, hidden amongst other taller and more showy plants, is a small beautiful foliage bush with shiny dark purplish-brown and green leaves. It has no flowers and apart from the very pleasing colours of the foliage it may as well be just be another plant except for a very interesting and probably unique leaf "extension" not seen in other foliage plants.

The tip of each and every leaf tapers into a long thin stem (or streamer) at the end of which is a small leaf whorl or "cup". Occasionally, you can see a drop of water inside the cup. This is not a pitcher cup plant as there are no insect-trapping features to be seen inside the cup and, to date, I have not been able to put a name to this plant. If someone knows the name of this plant, please do e-mail me! I would appreciate it very much.

I decided to write about this plant as I was sitting in a restaurant in KLCC!! Why would I be thinking of this plant? I walked pass it day in and day out and apart from admiring it as I walk by or when I water it, did not really think about it? What triggered this off?

Last Friday, after two meetings (lunchtime and afternoon) in the vicinity of KLCC, I decided to meet HIM there in the evening for dinner.

As usual, the KLCC concourse is an excellent area to look at men and, indeed, they are there - you get quick views of the many gorgeous hunks and twinks striddling purposefully across the concourse all looking busy and on important missions of their livee. One wonders if they ever stop to look around them!

So while waiting for HIM, with eye-candies wandering around, I was wondering where we should be going for dinner. KLCC, despite the many restaurants, is actually rather limited in some sense when it comes to good food. When HIM was working in this area before, we tried many of the restaurants here but eventually gravitated to restaurants outside of KLCC for our dinners!

When we met up, we decided to eat at Al Marjan which claimed to serve authentic Lebanese and Persian cuisines. I thought that was rather strange considering that Lebanon is on the Far West of the Middle East while Iran (Persia) is right to the east!

Having been to both countries, there are similarities in the cuisines of the various and disparate cultures of the Middle East but, why a restaurant combining Lebanese and Persian? Why not the more generic Middle Eastern?

Anyway, we were there to enjoy the food, not the wheres and whys of the cuisines!

(to be continued)

In a Bidayuh longhouse - the culture and the men

2006-06-20T16:07:00.000+08:00

When in Kuching, we paid a visit to the Bidayuh longhouse to meet Rengga's family. Rengga is Jin’s BF and the family is staying about 80 km from Kuching, off the Kuching-Sri Aman trunk road.

Along the main road at about the 55 km point, we took a side road for 25 km before reaching the place – accessible only by 4WDs and motorbikes - very near the Sarawak-Indonesian border. It is not a big longhouse, only about 22-doors (or 22 families still living there). Many of the other families have moved from the main building into small houses on adjacent plots of community land.

Even using a 4WD was a bit rough on the butt :-) and the bumping gave one a sore butt – at least I got a sore butt :-)

The longhouse is still pretty traditional but once inside, one realised that the modern world have crept into even this remote corner of Sarawak. The traditional loin-cloth for the men is no more to be seen – more the pity as some of the young men there are really sexy and cute. The people in the longhouse are very friendly and made efforts to welcome us to their place.

Obviously having Rengga with us helped but I believe that things would have been exactly the same even if he was not there!

All of us slept on the verandah of the longhouse - in fact, all the young unmarried guys in the longhouse do that as all the rooms are only for the married couples! Most of the young men slept in just their loose t-shirts and shorts. For those of us more self-conscious, we used the sarong.

For those who do not know what a sarong is - well, the sarong is a piece of tubular clothing 2.5-3 feet wide by 4-5 feet long and one wears it around you at the waist. This is a wonderful piece of clothing that can be used for just about everything :-)

There was a joke that two persons in two sarongs can end up sharing one sarong :-) meaning that a couple can have sex in the privacy of a sarong :-) Looking around me, I certainly would not mind sharing my sarong with some of the young men there!

In their culture, men touching each other and holding hands or each other have NO sexual connotations whatsoever. In fact, that was the norm is most Asian societies until the advent and introduction of Christian moral mores into our societies,

So do not make the mistake that if one of the guys is sensuously massaging the back of you neck, that he is interested in sex with you. He may be but mostly like he is not - so just relax and enjoy it as a friendly gesture!

If you want a good read on the Gawai Dayak Festival, take a look at Mike Reed's article.

The Men of the Night Markets

2006-06-17T23:08:00.000+08:00

The recent stormy and wet weather have not been kind to my garden and I had washed-out bare patches, battened-down flower beds and lost fruits.

Of course, such weather is also not conducive to any night market activities.

Night Markets (or pasar malam) are to be found all over Malaysia and here, in Petaling Jaya, there is one every night but in different suburbs of the city (or to be precise, a city only on 20th June). For example, on Monday, the big one is at SS2, Wednesday at Lembah Subang, on Thursday at Cheow Yang, on Sunday at Paramount Gardens and so on.

Of course, in Malaysia, the ultimate pasar malam and the only one famous worldwide is on every night in Chinatown’s Petaling Street in Kuala Lumpur. For those looking for more visual details on this place, you have to visit TV Smith’s EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY where there is an excellent photo essay on Petaling Street.

In general, the prices at pasar malam are not necessarily cheaper than in many local neighbourhood shops or in the big supermarkets but there is an element of fun and excitement to going to such markets compared to the local shops or supermarket.

For people like us, what are all the night markets if not for all those eye candies!!

Night markets are the ultimate place for eyeing men – old, young, big, small, muscular, chubby, skinny – you name it, they are there! It is an veritable feast for the eyes. For those of us living in Petaling Jaya, if you got a hankering for Malay guys, go to Lembah Subang and for Chinese guys, just go to SS2! However, you will find guys of every races at all these night markets and there is a preponderance of delectable young men!

However, for the ultimate display of eye candies where the bare-bodied men wore those low huggers, you have to go to Petaling Street – and then only at between 5 to 6 pm when the stall owners and helpers are setting up their stalls under the hot sun. These sweaty bare-chested guys with their glistening skin are a delight to watch and there are some eye-poppers with their low huggers so low one can see their pubes!

Still, all the night markets have their own charms and men – in SS2, at one corner fruit store, the young helper there is a sheer delight to watch as he flexes his supple firm body and at the fish stall further down the row, the young boss has a body one would like to lick all over – amidst all those fish! Then there is the guy at the vegetable stall who is so good looking I am not sure why he is not a film star! And so on and so forth….

Interestingly, one of my friends does his cruising at such places and had his successes – with shoppers and the stall owners/helpers alike. I know he told the truth because I have met him with one of the gorgeous stall helpers in a shopping mall!

I, on the other hand, just feast my eyes and salivate! Sigh ... all those delectable bodies and out of reach. My HIM with his automatic organic restrain keeps me on a short leash :-)

Kuching, Gawai Festival and Men

2006-06-05T13:28:00.000+08:00

In Kuching, one can see the banners about the Gawai or Harvest Festival all over the spanking-new KIA.

Unique to Sarawak, the 1st and 2nd of June are public holidays but really is also the start of what was a month (now probably a week) long festival of feasting, drinking and merry making for the native races of Sarawak. The men of entire longhouses normally became inebriated. They also have the same door-to-door visits for family and friends much like the other races in Malaysia. So, a visit to a 60-door longhouse means that one can hardly walk after sixty thimble-sized glasses of the potent tuak or arak!

The name Dayak is a generic term to call these natives (Iban, Bidayuh, Kayan, Kenyah, etc) ranging from the darker Ibans to the fair Kayans and Kenyahs.

The Dayaks (especially the Iban) men are some of the toughest workers in the world, can work under the toughest conditions and are now to be found all over the world working on oil rigs. Despite their tough macho image, they are generally very accepting of gays and do not treat them any differently from anyone else. In fact, this is true of their society as a whole.

True to their tough macho images, these men, while small of stature, with their lithe yet muscular bodies, give the impression of such sheer raw virility and sexuality that few other men (especially the gym-sculpted guys) can match.

My gay Sarawakian friends who had Dayak schoolmates and colleagues spoke of them as being broad-mindedness about gays and gay sex. In fact, one of them, Jin, has a Bidayuh boyfriend and had, previously, a number of STRs with these young men over the years. Sadly, these STRs never developed into LTRs - all of them got married as they get into their mid-or-late 20's. He is keeping his fingers crossed (being the "horny" guy his is, also "his legs wide open" :-P) in the hope that his current relationship can last.

So why is their culture of tolerance towards gays so different from that of the other Malaysians? It is really hard to say - most of them are Christians but they have not taken the route many Christians do but have instead retained part of their own culture while accepting Christianity.

Amongst the Dayaks, strange as it may seem, their traditional culture allows trial marriages where young people are allowed to form 'sexual liaisons' without a commitment to marriage. There is a time frame though and at the end of the trial period, they must either marry or terminate the trial marriage. Before the advent of Christianity, this was widely practiced but with the arrival of Christianity in the 19th Century, such practices slowly disappeared or went underground under the disapproving eyes of the imported repressed priests of the Churches.

Tribal or cultural memories of such repressed practices often re-surface with the loosening of the repression. In modern times, such practices came back not as trial marriages but under a modern arrangement of living together.

Gay STRs appear to fall well into this into this category of 'sexual liaisons' without marriage and the temporary relationships these straight men formed with gay men are sexual (non-monetary) in nature. They are also not shy about remaining friends after their gay relationships end upon marriage.

Malaysian society, in general, is not so liberal and one can only hope that this changes with time. We can take a leaf out of the book of life from these Sarawak native cultures for a better Malaysia!

Flying, Food and Men

2006-06-02T01:04:00.000+08:00

The unappetizing clumps they call airline food made me wondered if it would make my stomach churned. Right, I was writing this on a domestic flight to Kuching - the food was a typical concoction that was supposed to suit all taste and ended up a mess neither here nor there.

Obviously I was bored by the food - so looking at men was the obvious thing to while away the time.

That got me thinking......

On domestic flights, virtually none of the air stewards are anything to shout about - obviously the 'choicer' guys are on the international sectors!

One does get the occasional cute ones on domestic flights – note I wrote cute ones. You don't see hunks ever - never - not even on the international flights. Hunks probably took up too much space. Obviously, given a choice, in an emergency, I would have preferred to be carried out of the plane by some hunky air steward, or be wrecked on a deserted island with a hunk and not some small slim guy who looks like I will have to carry out of the plane instead in a rescue! The sad thing is that many of our Malaysian air stewards nowadays are just too 'petite' to even lift a notebook and load it into the overhead cabin! I have seen some struggling with small bags - bags I can lift with my small finger (or even you know what!). Sigh...

No good food, no sexy or hunky stewards, the only entertainment left besides reading is to browse through the in-flight 'catalogues' of men. I wrote 'catalogues' as when seated in the rows of seats, they are just like the rows of mug shots you see on those online dating websites!
Just pretend that you are browsing such sites, only difference is that you do not get to read their stats - not that online personal stats are really not figments of imagination!

Frequently, one sees the 'ONE' - a superhunk or supertwink eye candy! More often than not he is also superstraight - for display only, no touching. So you walk up and down the aisle flaunting your assets, if you have them (otherwise, tough luck) and see if you can catch some eye candy's eye.

Cruising does work - not all the time, but it really does work, especially on not-so-full long distance flights - horny males are available for quickies! On short domestic flights, obviously, the deed will be upon disembarkation - have a quick one and then collect the baggage!

KLIA is obviously better - they have clean restrooms near the baggage collection area and there is plenty of time to enjoy a quickie or two while waiting for the baggage :-)

Mushrooms, Belly Buttons and Men

2006-05-31T13:07:00.000+08:00

I was at the local market and bought a variety of fresh mushrooms - button, abalone, golden needle, shiitake and bunashimeji mushrooms. They are great when freshly sliced/diced in salads or as appetizers when marinated in olive oil with a dash of salt, pepper and balsamic vinegar. The dainty button mushroom set off a chain of "culinary" thoughts that stopped dead at "belly buttons" :-)

Huh? :-O Belly buttons?

That was when I saw the young cute stall assistant stretched up to reach the top shelf for a bottle of chilli sauce, lifting his t-shirt and thus flashed his smooth belly with a cute belly button at me!

Oh, for a bite of that!

That got me thinking ....

What is it about the male belly button that is so sexy or erotic to many gay men that whole discussion groups and websites have been dedicated to it?

Admittedly, on the right body, when a fully/partially clothed hunk or twink allows us a quick glimpse or flash display in public of the belly button just above the forbidden zone - it does bring various elements of eroticism and sexual thrills to the "voyuers" :-)

After all, the belly button is among the last thing one sees when the pant comes off to reveal the grand prize that one is looking for! It is like the tasty and dainty marinated button mushroom appetizer before the main course of a prime steak :-)

Of course, some great appetizers led to the most disappointing main courses - but that is the problem with a set meal. You get the lot - lock, stock and barrel!

So it is with men.

Sometimes, one gets to see this gorgeous belly button on a gorgeous male which does not give us any indication as to what comprises the whole set meal.

The only thing to do is to take all of him first and then pray hard that the hoped-for tube steak is a prime tube-steak and not just a chilli padi :-).

Of course, we can go a la carte for our food - maybe one day, we can also do a a la carte for our men :-) Until then, let's be grateful that we still get our men - even if they are not perfect!

As they say, the way to a man's heart (and belly button and tubesteak) is though his belly and I believe my mushroom salads and marinated mushrooms appetizers should get me at least his belly button or his prime tube-steak, if not his heart :-)

Rare ....

2006-05-30T11:47:00.000+08:00

Was in downtown KL yesterday for a meeting and since I was there, went to look for DVDs. Most mainstream films and TV series on DVDs are easily available but gay/lesbian movies and TV serials are pretty rare in almost all video outlets in Malaysia.

There is, however, one shop (I believe it is a gay-owned biz) that does carry lots of G/L movies (not talking of porn!). Many of the G&L titles carried by Wolfe, Amazon, Strand Releasing, etc are available there .... it is a true blessing as otherwise we will never get to see all the alternative movies we read about.

So after collecting my loot of gay DVDs, it was just a short walk to JOGOYA at STARHILL where I arranged to meet HIM for dinner. HIM had not been there before but I had for a couple of biz dinners with my clients.

According to the blurb, Jogoya KL is :

"Japanese buffet at its most extravagant, with the freshest of seafood, tempura, sashimi and even cooked-on-demand fare brought straight to your table. At a reasonable buffet price the atmosphere is casual, relaxed and elegant.

K.L Jogoya, with its 580 seating. Chiang's vision for his restaurant chain to provide value-for money Japanese cuisine in an elegant setting. It may be buffet style he is offering but because the setting is upmarket and the food is abundant, fresh and quality stuff. "

Jogoya is a Taiwanese chain and it does live up to its blurb for fresh food and at very reasonable prices which is rare! Dinner is RM88++ pax and you can eat and drink as much as you want from 530 pm to 930 pm :-) So gorge yourselves there!

HIM and I met on the Fiesta Floor at the small seating area outside the restuarant. By 630 pm the place was pretty crowded and - and we headed straight for the fresh oysters, boiled crabs & prawns and fresh salmons and ...... :-P

Suffice to say there was a huge variety of food (raw/cooked) and drinks and I am not about to list out the food items we ate :-).

We left about 9 pm and walked back to the car - and on the way got accosted by a variety of men and women offering various "horse-killing-chicken" services ..... :-). I did try to hold hands with HIM during the short walk but HIM was too shy to let me hang on :-)

Back at home, we saw that our area got hit by a not-so-rare thunderstorm, our house alarm was beeping ...... and our flowers got battened down by the heavy rain ... and a whole lot of unripe mangoes were scatterred over the garden. Luckily, all the mangoes may not be wasted - can still make pickles or Thai mango kerabu.

Sigh, a lot more work needs to be done in the garden at the weekend.

Another day .... but before the end of the evening, HIM worked extra hard :-) to make up for not holding hands with me earlier!

Day Dreams & More

2006-05-29T12:52:00.000+08:00

I just started this new blog - and all I can think of right now, instead of writing my thoughts, is thinking of where and what to eat for dinner with HIM :-)

No, no - just food only - no sexy eats.

Maybe we can get something from the night market in SS2 in PJ this evening. Right now, I live in PJ with HIM - you know PJ is that small town about to be a city and which is totally lost inside a Greater Kuala Lumpur. I mean KL does not really stop at the Arch (ugly thing) but extends all the way to Subang. Boring stuff but when thinking of EATS, ah, PJ is good eats and cheap, too :-)

But how to feed a hungry HIM. I mean, I want HIM to be strong and healthy :-)

Back to eats - at the SS2 area, beside the weekly Monday night market with the myraids of food stalls with delicious food, there are all the small restuarants there.

We went to one last Friday evening - it was raining heavily. We were wet. We were cold (or rather the cold bit comes from the wet part!) amd we chance upon this new Italian Restaurant occupying one shotlot.

Very simply but nicely decorated - and very quiet - the heavy rain obviously kept all foodies at home! A quick flick though the menu got us what we wanted and the two of us shared the lot :-)

The bruschetta was delicious with the coarse-cut tomatoes and the flavoursome tangy balsamic vinegar. The clams and the chopped garlic in the sphagetti vongole were out of this world and I cleaned out the plates - every last morsel of the garlic (my POOR HIM!!!)! The pork sausages (oops, the restuarant is not kosher!) were made by the chef - the filling in the sausages was coarse-cut and meaty, not like many finely ground mush they call meat filling! We had a great tiramisu (it was not too sweet, just right!) and a complimentary pistachio ice cream (nice but I do not quite enjoy the slight "oily" taste from the pistachios) .....

If you feel hungry, try the BUONASERA. BTW, the chef used to work for the Aussie John Howard :-)

Oh heck, what was I doing - I should be thinking of food for tonight not think about the food last Friday. Hmm, it must the the afterglow from that evening afters that got me to think back to then :-)

Now, what to do dinner tonight? Maybe I should serve myself up on a platter :-)