The lolanimal collections

For those who didn't know, my little condo is practically a mini petting zoo. Animals my family has or have had in my condo include:

1) A psychotic shih tzu. It's one mean little mutt that growls or tries to bite whenever anyone tries to pick it up/ touch her butt/ touch her paws/take her snack away. But she loves it when I scratch her neck and belly, so she's still somewhat normal.

2) An asian box turtle. I found it wandering on the roadside near my home one day and decided to keep it (although at first I wanted to sell it :P). Its daily routine consists of me taking it out and putting it in a tub of water to drink, eat and poop. After which is crawls into a box and can stay in there hours til I take it out for drinking/feeding/pooping time again. I named it Melon coz' it looks like half a melon.

3) A family of gerbils (african rats). Kept these guys for almost 6 years now, had a whole big family of them at one point (over 12 of them) and I had a name for each of them. Then separated the males and female until slowly one by one died and now I have only one female left so I'm wondering whether to let her breed again and drive my mum crazy (she doesn't likes gerbils) or wait until my last gerbil dies a lonely and miserable death.

4) Some birds. The number of birds changes frequently. Initially we had a dove, coz' apparently my dad went to a friend's wedding where they released 2 doves, and one proceeded to land on his head. Or something like that. Anyway, he took it home and fed it til it was stronger, but it was nice quiet dove that would happily on my hand. But eventually his friend asked to release it coz' it's a bad omen for the marriage to keep the dove caged up. So then my dad had a birdcage with no bird, so he bought a two budgerigers. Then one went missing (escaped the cage), so he replaced it. Then that one died, so he replaced it again. And got a couple more. Then he let go of two coz' my mum was apparently complaining that they were too chirpy. So currently the number stand at two. For now.

5) Some goldfish. These belong to my dad. I don't particularly care for them, although the funny thing is one of the buggers coz' its fins damaged and now it can only wobble around at the bottom of the aquarium and we have to help it feed or else it'll starve to death. It's been like that for a few months now, so we've been doing a good job of keeping the disabled goldfish alive.

So every now and then I take photos of the petting zoo. And every now and then I get a few funny ones. So I've been wanting to do this for a while and finally got round to it.

You've heard of lolcat. You may have heard of loldawg. I now introduce to you.... lolturtle, lolgerbil and lolbird. I pass on lolgoldfish though.

(Photos are in no particular order other than what I consider to be progressively most lamest to what I hope is somewhat reasonably funny)

The lolanimal collections

The PEE car

Just when I thought the WTF car is the funniest car license plate number one could get, I see this gem on the road:

Even funnier was my mum in the car with me at the time really needed to use the loo at the time, and when I mentioned the word above, she practically gave me the look of death. :P

The PEE car

If Chun Li celebrated Chap Goh Meh....

Today was the last day of the Lunar New Year celebrations (which means all of you who have been holding on to your ang pow stash until day 15 can start counting your moolah, and give your ang pow packets to meeeee please!), and also the Chinese equivalent of Valentine's Day, Chap Goh Meh. And if you have no idea what this day is all about, this site explains it like so:

Chap Goh Mei being regarded as the Chinese Valentine's Day, also brings forth lots of fun and gaiety. It is well-known that Chap Goh Mei is a night of courtship and has since been the forerunner in promoting match-making. On this night, many young ladies would make their way to the temples, dressed in their best, with hope of finding prospective suitors. One of the fun activities that take place on this auspicious night includes the throwing of oranges into the sea by these young maidens. It is without a doubt, the most popular and colorful moment in the history of Chap Goh Mei. It is believed that by throwing tangerines into the sea, these young girls would find themselves a good husband. For many, the act of throwing tangerines into the sea also signifies that these women are available for marriage. It is also said that if someone else who sees the floating tangerine in the water and picked it up, that generally means that the single who threw it would be able to find a good spouse.

You might be even more surprised to learn this tradition didn't come from China, but started in our own little humble Penang island!

Of course, these days in KL, I doubt very few lovely young maidens bother with the whole idea of throwing of tangerine oranges into the river... simply coz' KL rivers are so full of pollution and other crap, no man in his right mind would pick up anything floating along in there.

So in light of that dilemma, I had a fun idea of how to update and simplify the good old CNY tradition.

Ladies, if you fancy a guy and he doesn't know it, just grab an orange and chuck the thing at his head.

By golly, if that doesn't get his attention, nothing else will.

Just be glad that the tradition doesn't involve throwing watermelons. Happy Chap Goh Meh, everyone!

If Chun Li celebrated Chap Goh Meh....

The Awesome Ang Pow Packet Collection (^_^)

Ah... ang pows. Those little red packets filled with money and given away during Chinese New Year traditionally from those who are married to those who are not. Which makes CNY much more enjoyable for those who are single, such as yours truly... although considering I'm already a working adult and almost hitting my 30's, it does get a bit weirder every year that goes by that I'm still getting 'ang pows', especially coming from friends my age who are already married (I haven't gotten from married couples younger than me... and I don't think I would really want to though technically I still can).

For me, however, the fun of receiving ang pows isn't just in the money (I actually give ang pows to my two kid nieces, and the amount I give is enough that the money I still make a net loss after deducting the amount of money from ang pows given to me!). I collect ang pow packets (I only keep one of each design) and have been doing so for quite a few years now. It's pretty much the only thing I actively collect, coz' the for one thing, ang pow packets come in all sort of interesting and nice designs, for another thing, most ang pow packets are in the most awesome colour of RED, and for another other thing, ang pow packets are usually free, so I save a heckuva lot of money compared to if I made a hobby of collecting superhero toys or other expensive whatnot. Except when I actually buy sets of ang pow packets from those Chinese prayer shops just for the sole purpose of adding these to my collection. I only buy sets that have differently designed individual packets, and those are usually much nicer than the free ones.

Anyway, after years of diligently hoarding the little red packets given to me, buying some from the shop, getting stashes from my friends, and even snitching ang pows from shops using them as decorations (it technically doesn't count as shoplifting since they would get thrown away after CNY is over anyway :P), my collection of ang pow packets, all of which have different designs, has swelled to a nice amount number of 580! Woo hoo!

And I still expect to get more this, especially from my wonderful friends who see me regularly and happen to be reading this post. Hint. Hint. Double hint.

I'm also a bit OCD in that it was very important to store my stash in such a manner that is neat and orderly and allows easy perusal of my collection by visitors. Therefore my prescibed method was sticking each packet into a clear sheet and arranging them in folders, such as follows.

Looks like a lot of work? You betcha! I already have TWO folders that are full, so I need to get myself a new one for next year. :)

It gets even MORE OCD in that I love arranging my ang pows according to 'themes'. Yeah, so all those packets with pictures of mandarin oranges go together, all those with pictures of chinese fans go together, etc, etc...you get the idea. So my ang pow design 'themes' include flowers (these are the most common ones... especially ang pows with cherry blossom designs), mandarin oranges (I even arrange then according to designs with pairs of oranges, and oranges in baskets :P), koi fish, gold or money, chinese fans, chinese lanterns, the Chinese God of Prosperity, and the animal of that lunar year. And then there are the ones which don't fit in any 'theme' and just drive me kinda crazy trying to figure out where to put them, and eventually they all just went under a big theme of 'whatever'.

Oh yes, I just had to show off the fruits of my ang pow collecting labour here. Here are some of the coolest ones I have. The one below is my favourite design, coz' I like the way the red and yellow blends into each other (same for the second pic below, for the packet on the left), and it has gold font, and the pic is just cute. :)

The two below are also the really nice ones, and made it on the cover of one of my ang pow folders.

Here are some from my 'mandarin oranges' collection (all those with pair of oranges).

The koi fish ang pows! Note the coolness of the similar way in which fish on ang pows are designed, although these are all from different companies. You might as well write 'geek' all over my forehead now. :P

GOLD koi fish!

Ah, these are some from the super huge collection of ang pows with flower designs. As I said, the cherry blossoms are really common.

And here are some flower designs arranged according to colour (am I freaking you out with my OCD tendancies yet?)

I REALLY like this set coz' it's a similar design among all three, but again, all three were made by different companies.

Packets with chinese lions.

And chinese lanterns.
Fireworks...

And chinese fans. The fan for the ang pow packets on the top right is actually glued onto the packet, so it adds texture. And the design for the one below (where the top part of the fan forms the flap of the packet), that is really cool.

This is a set with the same common chinese word. I can't read Chinese for nuts, but I believe this word says 'prosperity'. Correct me if I'm wrong!

Same theme, but all same size packets. All of the ones below were made by Public Bank, except for the one on the bottom right. I'm not sure, but I think Public Bank came out with a new design every year and I just happened to get quite a few of them.

Another couple of sets with chinese words. I have no idea what the words are though! :P

The typical Chinese boy and girl design.

Same theme here, but different look of the boy and girl, and all these are from Drinho.

Ooh, the next couple of sets are all those made by the same company, with different but similar ang pow designs. I totally LOVE getting sets of ang pows like these! Right now I have the set from Proton....

As well as from M&M's.
I dunno how many companies have done these kind of ang pows (unique designs for each packet in one set), but I would surely appreciate anyone who gets these and pass the whole set to me. Hint. Hint. Double Hint.

The ones below are all from Ambank Group, but these aren't so much a set, as I think the different designs were produced in different years.

Mickey Mouse angpows! You get buy these easily from the shops, but the free ones are more fun. :)

And then there are the angpows with designs of the animal represneting that lunar year. I have angpows with designs of most of the animals, but the ones I really like is this set for the year of the chicken, from UOB bank...

And these tiger design ang pows, from all different companies. The designs are unique in that the tiger forms a chinese word in the top two.

For this year, I only have TWO rabbit themed ang pows. And I would love to have more. Hint. Hint. Double Hint.

Alrighty, enough of my soliciting for more ang pows from my poor readers. Hope you enjoyed it and Gong Xi Fa Chai to everyone again!

The Awesome Ang Pow Packet Collection (^_^)

Happy & Blessed Chinese New Year!

Wishing all my family, friends, readers and blog visitors and happy, prosperous and most awesome Chinese New Year 2011!

Excuse me for my self-indulgence in cute poses and bad Photoshopping in the name of this auspicious occassion. Amazingly, there's nothing red in this pic! ^_^

Oh yes, since it's the year of the rabbit, my pet 'rabbit' wish you a happy chinese new year as well.

Well, I couldnt' find a real rabbit, so it was either this or Photoshop bunny ears on the fella, which probably wouldn't have been much of an improvement. *grin*

Happy & Blessed Chinese New Year!

Top Eight Reasons Why Self-Photography is Awesome

I almost hate to admit it, but at risk of sounding self-absorbed and vain, and I decided it's time to come out of the closet and reveal one of my favourite and so-far, kind of well-kept secrets.

I like taking photos of myself.

I would almost use the term 'camwhore' on myself...but after reading Wikipedia's definition of the term as "...an individual who performs sexual services on the Internet with webcam software in exchange for money, goods, or attention..." or "...individuals who post pictures or videos of themselves on the Internet to gain attention...", as well as some of Urban Dictionary's definitions, including "Girls who are amateurs at posing slutty and seductive... " I realized that my idea of a camwhore (a person who likes taking pictures of herself/himself) is rather mild compared to the actual definitions. I don't do slutty pics or try to make money of my own pics...

I'm just of those people who have more or less mastered the art of taking multiple pics of myself when I think I'm better looking than usual... either using a tripod and the camera's timer, or through the more challenging method of single handedly aiming the camera at myself at the right angle. This usually results in many failed photos where I end up looking more like disproportionate whale than anything else... but after many round of shots, eventually I do get some nice ones (and thank God for digital cameras which allow me to delete all the lousy pics easily). For the most part, I store my 'photo shoot' collections hidden away in the deep abyss of my computer's hard drive, and I've limited the sharing of my best self-taken pics to my friends on Facebook.

So I'm not a full-blown camwhore yet! Yay! I would guess I am simply the much milder version of the camwhorer... i.e. the self-photographer.

Now most people would consider a love of taking pictures of oneself as a sign of self-absorption or lameness. Especially when you starting snapping away at yourself in public, with everyone else looking at you in a bemused manner. To a certain extent, I would agree that the frequency of self-photography one partakes in is a pretty good indicator of a person's level of vanity, but I don't think all people who like taking pics of themselves are definitely self-absorbed, and for some, it is simply a indicator of a healthy level of confidence and liking to look good. Besides, I've also learned that the ability to takes photos of yourself can be quite an art which offers a numbers of benefits and advantages.

Therefore I present to you, my Top Eight Reasons Why Self-Photography is Awesome (because I was too lazy to come up with two more reasons to make a top ten...):

8) You have nice looking photos of yourself

Most obvious reason of course. When other people take photos of you, they don't really care if your yawning with your mouth big enough for a fly to go in. Or that you were reacting to a friend's bug eating story resulting in your face being contorted into a retarded look. Or even if you ARE paying attention, your hair could be messy, or your shirt button accidentally popped open, or you had veggies in between your teeth. Self-photography allows you the freedom to retake your photos at any time to get the perfect shot. You'll still have to worry about getting your friends to delete that yucky pic of yours though.

7) You don't need to find someone to hold the camera

The tripod holds your camera for you, or you do it yourself. Even armed with only a cute little mini tripod (I don't have a big one), you can still be creative and stand it on a table or anything else you can find. And you don't have to worry if the random stranger you asked to take photos of you with your buddies will up and run away with your RM2000 DLSR while you're busy posing.

6)You don't need to worry about people who take really bad photos

For example, you're on a holiday, you want a nice pic of you with the full blown scenery... but the person taking photos of you either aims too high (most of body gets chopped off), zooms in too much (can see only you but not the scenery) and no matter how you describe your ideal photo to him/her, the person just can't get it right. No problem. Pull out your tripod, find a good place to stand it, set your camera on timer and snap away to the perfect shot.

5) You don't waste the photographer's time

In same scenario as above, imagine your bad photographer has already taken a few pics of you, but you're not happy with the result. If you're shameless, you'd ask the fella to take more photos even though he or she is ready to run off somewhere else. But if you're the type (like me) who does respect other people's time and lack of interest in ensuring you look hot in your pics, you'd let the fella off to go do his thing and proceed to snap pics of yourself in your own sweet time. As such, you don't result in photographer rage, such as follows.

4)You can take some cool pics that wouldn't be as cool if taken any other way

Especially useful if you're into extreme sports. Imagine the coolness of taking a profile pic of yourself while falling 10,000 feet from an airplace with the land below as your backdrop! Ok, that might be a bit extreme (although I'm sure someone would have done something equally as crazy before), but just as a real life example of a cool self pic, here's one I took on a roller coaster at Genting Highlands with my friends behind me.

Yes, I took a risk of having my camera drop into the ground and smash into a gazillion pieces...but the risk was worth it just coz' of this pic. :)

3) You can take quick photos with celebrities!

I once read about this guy in Hollywood who, everytime he met a celebrity, would ask to take a photo of him with them. But knowing that the celebs have little time to waste on waiting for him to pass his camera on to someone else to take the photo, this guy would just stand next to the celeb, hold the camera facing them at the right angle and snapy a quick photo... all in less than 5 seconds which was not enough time for most celebs to get over their amazement at the efficiency of this dude.

Unfortunately, I don't have any photographic evidence or even a URL link to demonstrated this coolness coz' my Googling failed to produce the desired results. But I assure you, it's a true story!

2) You can make cool projects like Noah Kalina

And I hear you say, who?? Noah Kalina is a guy who took a photo of himself every day for 6 years from 2000 to 2006 and compiled it all into a 5 minute and 46 seconds video, as shown below:

The video made him famous. Famous enough that even more famous people wanted to take photos with him, as seen here. And famous enough that it seems to have spawned a massive number of copycat videos. Just search for "takes photos every day" on Youtube, and there a long list of people doing the same thing.

Speaking of fame, that leads me to the top reason why self-photography is cool

1) You can become famous!

In addition to Noah Kalina, yours truly can also personally attest to the potential of self-photography in resulting in a certain level of fame, even if it's only for 15 minutes. Although in my case, my 'fame' is nothing more than getting my mug on the face of my company magazine, which distributed to all of my company's almost 500 offices around the world (for the purpose of self-protection, I warped the wordings on the mag cover and my company name. I still like to keep a low profile when it comes to my work. :P).

How I managed to get on my company's mag cover was pretty funny. The mag reporters wanted to do a story on the work I do (which is outdoor work and quite unique in my company), and they needed photos for the article. So my boss took me out to the field and we got a guy take a whole bunch of pics of us pretending to do stuff in the field. Then along the way, I used my own camera and my cute little mini tripod, stood it on the ground so the camera was facing up at me, and I knelt down at an angle where the camera could take me and the backdrop of the trees. My boss initially said not to take such a pic coz' it wouldn't be nice. But I thought it made a cool looking pic, and sent it in together with the other pics anyway.

It turned out the magazine people loved it! So much that they said it would make a great mag cover, and I had to take more photos to get a better one. So I did a 2nd shoot, with a colleague's DLSR (he was taking the photos this time), and one of those pics became the mag cover while my initial first pic with my own dingy point and shoot camera went in the mag accompanying the article on my area of work. And none of the other pics we took went into the mag. :P

So there you go, my case of the awesome-ness of self-photography has been made. Go out there and start practicing, you all! ^_^

Top Eight Reasons Why Self-Photography is Awesome