Torture.....

It sounded like a scene from a horror movie. The groans of pain and agony. I felt uncomfortable waiting. It was going to be my turn.

It's been a really long time since I last went to the traditional massage place. I somehow ended up with a twisted ankle which affected my mobility. I took 2 days off work and had another 2 days MC. The tendons on my left ankle were "out of position", there was swelling around my ankle and I couldn't even turn it at certain angles.

Sleep the past few days were disturbed. A couple of times I woke up when it felt like an electric current going through my foot.

It hurt like fucking hell when the masseuse pressed and rubbed on it to force the tendon back into place. Its not something that I'd like to go through again, if I can help it.

They say "no pain, no gain". And it hurt like hell. Seems to me more than it hurt before.

Good thing is I'm almost 100% healed after that session. Even though I have an MC for today and tomorrow, my leg should be problem free so I should be able to go back to work tomorrow. It looks like they really need me at work.

There goes my perfect attendance record. What a waste as it was just another few days before mid-year ends. Oh well, nobody's perfect. Even Superman has his Kryptonite.

The Apple iPhone will be launched on 29th June 2007 in the USA while the rest of the world will get it in October 2007, if I remember the reports correctly.

I've seen the demos. I want an iPhone. It's just such a freaking cool phone! WiFi, simple to use interface via TouchScreen. It comes in 4GB and 8GB versions and its design is nice and slim.

Apple calls it a "Revolutionary Cellphone" and "the best iPod". I agree.

The only problem with it to me is the 2 Megapixel camera. As far as I can tell, there's no flash on it either. Don't know what sort of quality the pictures will be. And the price, like all other Apple products, isn't exactly cheap. The iPhone will cost about US $500 for the lower end version presumably.

More info at Apple's official site of course.

RockStar's "Grand Theft Auto IV" will be released sometime in October 2007. They've just released the pictures for the Limited Edition set which would cost about US $89.95. That's about RM 360 at least! However, the stuff included in this edition is just awesome.

• A CD, "The Music Of Grand Theft Auto IV"
• A booklet entitled "The Art Of Grand Theft Auto IV"
• A duffel bag
• A RockStar keychain
• Safety Deposit Box packaging
  

What really caught my attention was the safe deposit box design of the packaging. Just awesome.

I'm planning to get the game. Should I fork out the extra dough for the freebies? Well, technically they're not freebies since its almost double the price for the normal edition. Damn you Rockstar. Damn you for tempting me.....

I guess this is an early Christmas Wish-List for me. So much stuff I want to get. Oh, why am I so easily tempted, why?

I've also been tempted to get a pair of Crocs.....

Chocolate Brown Islander - RM 209.00

Or two.....

Black Athens - RM 129.00

Tried on a pair of fakes ones in Phuket as well as the original. It really is comfortable like all the reports say. And there really is a difference between the real and the fake.

I'm still thinking whether to get the Brown Crocs or the other pair of brown Hush Puppies I've seen.

Choices, choices.....

Who The Man.....

Back in April 2007, I blogged about winning 2nd Prize for the Easter Egg colouring competition. Last month, it was 2nd Prize for the Mother's Day Dedication.

Today, I won 1st Prize for the Father's Day Dedication contest. On the day I submitted the slip, one of the judges in the team said I should just quit my job and be a poet. I should really consider starting to join contests with bigger pay outs! Time to get cracking?????

Don't wanna sound pretentious but.....

1st Prize

Famous Amos - my favorite kind of Chocolate Chip Cookies! Yum yum! It says "Chocolate Chip and Pecan" on the bag. I hope there are no nuts. I'd rather have them plain ol' Chocolate Chip and nothing else. Of course its meant to be for Dad, but I don't think he likes sweet stuff..... And the mug is pretty useful I guess. These are the first photos that I've taken with my camera phone ever since I got it back from the shop. Cheers for that!

I wasn't really paying attention to what the runner's up and consolation winners received. I was already planning to get the hell out of the office. It was a long day yesterday due to our performance rehearsal for tomorrow's event. Plus after that, Din, Sitham and myself went to the mamak for a bite.

It's been too long since I had supper at that time of the night at a shop/stall. Too long.

The big day's tomorrow - its showtime!

Got news that Enterbay's "Way Of The Dragon" Bruce Lee figure has reached local shores.

Yeah - its something "nice" to have. But at close to RM 1000, I can continue dreaming.

But for something cheaper, about half the price, the Medicom version.

This guy makes it look really, really good.

Medicom - Enter The Dragon Bruce Lee Review

Just read this bit of news online:

A Homer statue (from The Simpsons) were stolen from the GSC at 1Utama. A RM 1000 reward was offered.

Original Report on NST - Homer Kidnapped!

But then, from another site - it appears that the statue has been recovered.

The Chicago Tribune - Homer Found!

Reminds me of the reports I read of people stealing the Ronald McDonalds and Colonel Sanders sometime ago.

Crazy MoFos.....

This guy, just completed his set of the "Transformers" movie figures. Sighs.....

It Was A Good Night.....

It was a deal. I buy her the Molten Lava Cake, and Reena buys me the Mocha Mud Pie. I don't remember trying the Molten Lava Cake before and Reena hasn't had the Mocha Mud Pie before.

Once again, her train was delayed and she only arrived at the Kelana LRT station at about 9:40 pm. Parking wasn't much of a problem at that time of the night at The Curve. Maybe because it was a working day the next day.

We headed off to TGIF and got a table. I called Jason to see if the shop was still open. He told me they close at 10:00 pm. I guess I'll have to collect the XBOX some other time then.

Reena made a face when she had the first bite of the Mocha Mud Pie. She saw me looking, and laughed. She said she makes that face when something tastes good.

She called me a "Devil" for bringing her to places like this and accused me of wanting to make her fat. I think that's impossible. She told me she didn't want to look fat as she had to wear a swimsuit on today. It was a company trip/team building session for her.

Now I'm curious - why would she want to tell me about wearing the swimsuit. I told her to take lots of photos. She'd better show me some with her in a swimsuit!

She told me she went for hair re-bonding. As part of the conversational topic, I asked her how much did it cost her. She told me it was RM 200. I asked if its about RM 250 in KL. And she asked me how I knew. I told her half of the occupants in my house are females. And that I sometimes read the women's magazines lying about the house.

She asked me if I read CLEO. I said I might have. Then she finally told me that she was one of the runner ups for the CLEO Cover Girl competition.

Interesting, something that I never knew before. She warned me she looked ugly in it when I told her I would go home and look for it. I did manage to find it, she doesn't look ugly. To be honest, I like her current look more. If she asks me, I'll tell her that.

It was her treat this time. I promised to take her there again to try the Jack Daniel's steak/chicken. That's something to look forward to.

When the bill came, we found out that TGIF's is having a promotion. A free 3-Tower Fajita for completing a survey online. Reena told me that it was my job to get the survey done. I can assume that we'll be making another visit there pretty soon.

I dropped her back home, and she wanted to shake hands.....again. I told her no more shaking hands because it seemed too formal. I got a slap on the hand for that. Hmm.....

While keying in some details from the receipt, I discovered that we were charged for the wrong item. They actually keyed the Brownie into the cash register, which was RM 4 cheaper.

Well, paying less PLUS getting a free meal for our next visit. Wouldn't you call it a good night? And I can't complain about the company, she's cover girl material after all..... But not only that, she's good company as well. I've surprised her as well. I'm not what she thought I was. She had a good time. I'm glad. I'm looking forward to the coming weeks.

Just a couple of pictures I got in the email, the "Batcycle" from "The Dark Knight" is finally revealed! In the next movie, the Batmobile/Tumbler is supposedly destroyed. That's the thing I don't understand, its a tank! How will it get destroyed! I guess I'll have to watch the movie to find out.

The Batpod

It's called the "Batpod" - hardly what I imagined. I was thinking of something like a superbike, sleek with curves at the right places. Looking at the photos and the rumours of the Batmobile being destroyed, I can only assume that this bike is made from the leftovers/parts that weren't damaged in the blast? The wheels on the Batpod totally look like the Batmobile's wheels.

Still its, going to be an awesome movie. 18 July 2008 is such a long way off.

Summer Nights.....

I finally got my phone back. It's still acting up but I think it could be the damn game that I installed. Something called "Insaniquarium". Funny how I'm playing it again. It was more of a test because I've installed it before.

The phone freezes when I played the game while listening to music on it. Can't it handle the multi-tasking anymore? Or it just because its just recovered, I need to take things slow? I also haven't taken any pictures of it since I got it back. I'm still abit upset that I lost all the pictures that I took in Phuket - but I'll live.

Still, its good to have it back. It felt a little weird when I first held it. It just felt different, alien.

The event at work yesterday went pretty well, some of the people were impressed. One of the VIP guests (Center Manager) who originally declined the invitation to attend due to other meetings/appointments suddenly showed up. And its a good thing I saw her and managed to get the team to improvise their speech.

The team has worked hard. I need to get them something for their efforts. They spent so many hours coming in early and going back late to finish up the wall, while I, as the Committee Advisor just came in early and leave as scheduled. I was thinking Dunkin Donuts, but now, maybe a nice cake from Secret Recipe. A surprise for them. I'm sure they were expecting something which I didn't have the other day.

I went to Toys R Us last weekend with Vik and Jon after lunch to claim my RM 20 vouchers. I decided to look around at the new Transformers Movie Toys. They didn't have the Leader-class Optimus Prime that I was planning to get. I asked the guy at the counter and he told me it sold out on the first day. Imagine that! Well, you'd think you'd get used to something like this since I've seen this kind of craze before. Anyone remembers the Happy Meal Toys (Hello Kitty, Snoopy etc). But these are near RM 200 toys. Selling out on the first day it hits the shelves. Insane.

Just for reference, the Optimus Prime that I'm looking for, along with the movie Megatron which I borrowed from someone who posted them online.

Megatron (Jet) and Optimus Prime (Truck) along with their Revoltech versions

Megatron and Optimus Prime (in bot mode) along with their Revoltech versions

They look pretty plastic-ky for RM 200 toys, but they're starting to grow on me the more I look at them. And that includes the alien-looking Megatron. Some people are selling them online as a pair, or RM 189 each. Still, they should be restocking as the movie opening comes closer. I might still have a chance to own them, or Prime at least. Guess I can put the Toys R Us vouchers to some good use?

The summer is upon us (in some parts of the world) and the movies just keep on coming. I think the only movie I'm really looking forward to at the moment is "Transformers". A new poster I found online.

I was also reading up links to some news about movies, like the next Spider-Man movie. There are rumours of the people who will replace Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst.

From the article I read, the contenders rumoured to replace Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker/Spider-Man:

Joseph Gordon Levitt and Jake Gyllenhaal

You might remember him from the series "3rd Rock From The Sun" as the youngest member of the "family" of aliens, who was in fact, the oldest one - if memory serves me correctly. I've never seen any of his movies he's made recently.

Jake Gyllenhaal on the other hand, used to be going out with Kirsten Dunst and almost took over the role from Tobey Maguire when he injured his back. He was famous for a few movies, but I guess the movie that got the most attention was "Brokeback Mountain" (which I haven't watched yet). But if you think about it, Heath Ledger who was also in "Brokeback Mountain, has gone on to do a SuperHero movie "The Dark Knight" and now, Jake Gyllenhaal rumoured to be in "Spider-Man 4"?

Mandy Moore

Yes, its THAT Mandy Moore - the one that used to sing songs like "I Wanna Be With You" and "Walk Me Home". After that, she was in a few movies which I didn't bother checking out. I have listened to some of her songs which I think aren't too bad (but anything goes for me, except for Classical and Heavy Metal and some of the other "heavy" music) but that's a different story.

From the picture above, I don't mind one bit. I honestly think she makes a better looking Mary Jane than Kirsten Dunst. Wouldn't you agree?

There were 2 other rumoured actresses and frankly, I don't recognize the names nor did I bother to look it up.

The 80s are coming back in a big way. There are rumours of some of my favourite cartoons being made into movies: Voltron and Thundercats!

Thundercats (comic cover)

He-Man (1980s)

He-Man (2004)



Masters Of The Universe (1987)



Brad Pitt as He-Man?????

That's right, rumours were on the Web that Brad Pitt was going to play He-Man. I just can't imagine him being He-Man/Prince Adam.

And finally, my personal Most Anticipated Movie, "The Dark Knight". The new Batsuit is finally revealed!

I like it, but I still think the original one looked better in "Batman Begins". This one looks too much like armor. Maybe this is just the initial, promotional photo?

Also found a scan from a magazine article.

In the article scan, it says that now Batman can turn his head side to side, look up and down because the new mask is made to fit like a motorcyle helmet instead of the one-piece head and neck cowl in the older movies. They made the first Batman movie in 1989. It took them almost 20 years to come up with a design so that the actor doesn't have to bend over backward just to look up!

Still, this is good news. I can't wait. And I've added a couple of new links to the side for all you other movie freaks.

We've all been guilty of getting some pretty expensive shoes, I'm sure. I know I have. But would anyone really pay US $ 2000 for a pair of Nike Sneakers? Made from real crocodile skin, with 18 K gold bits. The price really shot up. Sneakers for investment? Who would've imagined! I met a guy online who bought 4 pairs of these. Looks like he made a good investment decision.....

Nike Air Force One - Limited Edition



18K Gold



Limited Edition Dog Tag/Plaque



Croc Skin Baby.....

Todd McFarlane and co., McFarlane Toys, brought us the "Twisted Fairy Tales" series of figures. A mature, version of the children's fairy tales:

Gretel (from Hansel & Gretel) mopping up blood



Red Riding Hood - with the wolf's belly slit open, and if you look carefully, you can see grandma with the rest of the guts spilling out


Dorothy from The Wizard Of Oz - now comes in 12 inch versions!

I've always wanted to get Red Riding Hood, Gretel and Dorothy. But just never got around to getting them. They're sold in sets of 6, or marked up prices as the nicer figures are always sold out first.

Now, they've got a new set coming out. Scheduled for a October 2007 release, Twisted Christmas!

Santa Claus - freaky

Mrs. Claus - looks like a stripper, pole dancing (get it?)



Santa's Little Helpers - one these guys could kick Will Farrell's ass in "Elf"



Jack Frost - supposedly personifies crisp, cold winter weather



Snowman - McFarlane version of Frosty?



Rudy Reindeer - No one will be laughing at his red nose now

Check out more pictures of Twisted Christmas as well as other figures here.

The kids will just freak out and get nightmares if they see this. They won't be leaving cookies and milk for Santa on Christmas Eve.

Me..... I just want to get Mrs. Claus. And Gretel, Red Riding Hood and Dorothy.