Althorp Estate

Feeling stressed?? Look up at the Relaxing skies for viewing ... Cheaper than spa treatment! (unless you are in polluted HK or Guangzhou in which case looking up at the sky might be depressing...)

Congratulations Mr and Mrs Vicari!!

Congratulations to our lovely friends Dom and Jules! They got married in Yorkshire in June 2006, and we were there at their evening wedding reception. We are very happy they have found each other.

They sent us this lovely card, which arrived last week in the post. Congratulations again Dom and Jules!!! And thanks for asking us to your wedding. :)

Its a Bank Holiday

Thank goodness for the long weekend ah!! Nothing to do but rest and place items on ebay for sale. Might earn 99p if I am lucky!!

Granada Sunset Video - Testing...

Just a test of the video imbedding from YouTube - this is a slightly dark video from our trip to Spain last year - its sunset in Granada with a view over the Sierra Nevada and Alhambra.

Love Malaysia No 2: KennySia.com

I took the quiz!!

Congratulations Mrs Kong, you are 42% not Malaysian.

That means you're as Malaysian as...


Michelle Yeoh!

How Un-Malaysian Are You?

Another Day

Work, Home, Cook Dinner, Eat, TV. ... can't wait for the long weekend!

Inappropriate Laughter

Went to see 'The Breakup' starring Vince Vaughn & Jennifer Aniston last night. It was Mrs Kong's choice & it was probably the only 'chick flick' on last night.

Surprisingly, I really enjoyed it. I've liked Vince Vaughn since watching his debut in 'Swingers' many years ago and he is still hilarious.

I was laughing all the way through but when I glanced over Mrs Kong had a really pained, uncomfortable look on her face. She did not enjoy it as much as she really disliked the character Vince Vaughn played, which to be honest was a jerk... but a funny one...

Anyway, its an ok film for a Friday night. Thought Vince Vaughn & supporting cast were good, Jennifer Aniston so-so. But be prepared for some uncomfortable breakup dramatics though.

There was one particular scene where they fight & she accuses him of not buying her any flowers & he goes "But when we first started going out, you told me you didn't like flowers... that they were a waste of money..." (lame I know) and she goes "All girls like flowers!" At that moment, all the guys in the audience (including me) laughed knowingly... hahaha! He should really know better...

Reminds me of the time when I watched 'Bridget Jones' Diary' when we were still Mr Kong + Ms Ho. We went with Mrs Kong's friends - about 5-6 women & I think I was the only guy there.

There was one particular scene where Bridget Jones complains about all the assholes she's gone out with, listing them out by type (this from the script: alcoholics, workaholics, commitment-phobics, peeping toms, megalomaniacs, emotional fuckwits or perverts...)

I thought it was hilarious & laughed out loud, only to realise I was the only one in the group laughing. All the other women had a look on their faces that clearly showed that they were reliving the rubbish men they had gone out with, in sympathy with Ms Jones.

Wow, their faces were quite black & I think I was lucky to escape with my life for the 'inappropriate laughter'...

Slurp!

Slurpppp!!!

Mrs Kong arrived from KL on Sat & she dragged us I suggested this place since they are doing a 2-for-1 meal deal & I've always liked it since I first went there all those years ago.

I know KTKK is not a fan but there's just something about the place that reminds me of the original near the British Museum. What to do, we are living in the sticks so even fake Japanese is better than none.

Went for the Chilli Beef Ramen. Was ok lah, trying to be some chaplang OP-friendly pho. At least it was quite spicy. Mrs Kong had the Seafood Ramen - was also ok only.

I think I'll stick to my ol reliable - Yaki (not Yucky) Udon.

And that photo above is what I get for bringing Mrs Kong there...

Two Men Looking Up a Tree?

Norfolk June 2006








Rather, two brothers looking up a tree.

Captions are still a WIP but suggestions welcomed. Not naming names but for the purposes of the captions, WK is in the white shirt and WL is in the "no shirt".

:) Its 6am, I am jet lagged and bored!! muahaha!!

The Story of 1 Taufu

So I flew back to UK on the glorious 'National Carrier' 2 weeks ago & for once I wasn't dreading mealtimes like I usually do.

For one, there was a grand total of maybe 20 people in the whole of Cattle Class. (20 people!!! Something is definitely not right there.) But less people = less airline food smell in a pressurised, enclosed space. Yeuucchh!! Even the thought of it makes my stomach turn.

As you can probably imagine, an aversion to airline food is fine on a 3, 4 or even 5 hour flight but a bit of a nightmare on a 12 - 13 hour flight.

But this time, I thought I had hit on the perfect solution. On our trip back from HK on China Airlines, we sat across the aisle from these two Indian guys. Boy, were they dodgy, but that's another story...

They had a special meal that looked & smelled fantastic. I leaned over & asked them what it was & they told me they has ordered 'Indian Vegetarian' special meals. They had some capattis, dhal, a nice salad & were saying things like 'This is the best meal!', 'Ask for one next time...', 'Ask the flight attendant if they have any more, tell them you are my friend, I'm sure they'll do for you...'

Unfortunately, they my new friend didn't have that much clout with the attendents & they didn't have any extra meals on that flight but I resolved to order it for the trip back to UK.

So, I was looking forward to my 'Indian Vegetarian' meal. I love Indian food and had visions of mamak stall quality stuff, forgetting who I was flying with. Oh, what a deluded fool I was.

All was going well, I had my emergency exit seat so my legs weren't twisted into pretzels, plenty of elbow room as the OP next to me had gone off to sleep on the empty seats & they were calling me 'Mr Kong this... Mr Kong that...' probably cause there were that few people on board we'd transformed from cattle to actual people.

The first meal comes along and another advantage of special meals is you get served first. Rubbing my hands in anticipation, I look down & find:

2 small, thick round pieces of what I can only describe as oven mitts in looks & taste
1 small chick pea salad with maybe 5 peas
a forgettable dessert of some description (forgotten what it was already, it was so good!)
and in the main meal was:
a few measly strands of french beans in watery curry
a LOT of rice
and the main attraction, in the corner there - 1 fried cube of taufu

ONE CUBE OF TAUFU!

They could not even stretch to 2 cubes, or even 1 1/2 cubes... sigh...

Feeling extremely disappointed, I finished what I could (it still tasted slightly better that the normal plane food) and left the rest. Then I went back to the normal routine of sleeping, reading, watching movies, being extremely bored etc etc

After some hours, the second meal was served. I looked down to find:

2 small, thick round pieces of what I can only describe as oven mitts in looks & taste
1 small chick pea salad with maybe 5 peas
a forgettable dessert of some description (forgotten what it was already, it was so good!)
and in the main meal was:
a few measly strands of french beans in watery curry
a LOT of rice
and the main attraction, in the corner there - ...

...eh? Where's my cube of taufu?!! It was missing! Gone, disappeared, vanished, magicked out of existence - poof!

They could not even provide the 1 taufu for the second meal! What the heck!?!!! I know they are cost cutting, but this is ridiculous!

So I just pushed the meal away in disgust & from now when I fly the National Carrier, I'll have to go back to my fasting policy...


On top of my plane meal
All covered in ghee
I lost my poor taufu
when MAS flew 'cross the sea

It rolled on the table
And on to the floor
And then my poor taufu
Rolled out the galley door

(sung to the tune of 'On Top Of Spaghetti' aka
'On Top Of Old Smoky' )

Mr Kong
(Mrs Kong insisted I identify it was me ranting and not her - I take full responsibility)

Why does one love Malaysia?

3 years ago, I attended an interview for a work placement scholarship, and was asked at the end of the interview, to write about the 10 things I loved most about Malaysia. I can't remember what I wrote on that uneventful day but I do remember not getting the scholarship. I have always wondered since whether I would ever find 10 things to love about Malaysia.

Of late, (perhaps due to the years pilling on), I have re-discovered our ultimate home, with new eyes and ears. Perhaps its just the opportunity to look at home from a different perspective.

With all the bad news on the going-ons in this world - (about war, illness, crime and generally - people killing more people), I thought it would be a change to share a pleasant thought, of observation and wonder at the beauty that can be found in this lovely tropical country.

Here is Love Number 1 for today:

THE WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE OF SWIMMING AT 12 NOON!

Having the warm Malaysian sun on your back and its reflection in your eyes, while glidding seamlessly through a mass of water so cool that the sensation of the hot sun on its surface is a welcomed relief. If you are lucky enough to have the pool to yourself, and a slight breeze over the water, don't forget to notice the refraction of the many many tiny surface ripples, beautifully magnified onto the bottom of the pool - following you along as you glide through the pool.

This is my heaven - more pleasurable than a gucci handbag

(much to Mr Kong's relief I am sure)!

Kong Tai Tai

Come back later!!

No news la, blog not updated! Sorry!!