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Blog of Extreme

My twisted view in My twisted words....

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Location: Sarawak, Malaysia

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

R.I.P. Ryan Dunn 6/11/1977 - 6/20/2011

Jackass and Viva La Bam star Ryan Dunn was killed in an accident when he crashed his Porsche early Monday. Yahoo reports Dunn was driving his 2007 Porsche in suburban Philadelphia when it careered off the road, flipped over a guardrail and crashed into the woods before bursting into flames. A passenger was also killed, and speed may have been a factor in the crash, West Goshen Township police said.

I've always been a fan of Dunn. Watching him on Viva La Bam, I always thought he was the kind of guy anyone would want for a best friend. I can only imagine how his best friend since childhood, Bam Margera, must be feeling now.

My thoughts and prayers to Dunn's family and the Jackass crew. Rest in Peace, Dunn. You will be missed.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

R.I.P. "Macho Man" Randy Savage 1952 - 2011

One of the all time wrestling greats, Randy "Macho Man" Savage tragically died early Friday morning after suffering a heart attack while driving and crashing his car. He was 52. One of my favorites as a kid, whether he was heel or face. May he rest in peace.

Friday, April 22, 2011

Everything wrong with the King of Fighters movie.

So for the heck of it, here is everything I see wrong with the Hollywood made King of Fighters movie, as I watch it.

1. Maggie Q as Mai Shiranui is probably the biggest miss-cast ever.

2. Mr. Big was a young guy with a head full of hair.

3. Iori and Mai are dating.

4. Terry Bogard is an middle-aged CIA agent.

5. Rugal looks like a bum and uses GUNS.

6. One minute Rugal is easily losing to Chizuru and then Mai, and the next he easily beat Iori.

7. Saisyu Kusanagi is a patient at a nuthouse. And his son Kyo (or Ki-Yo) is a gaijin.

8. Kyo rides a bike that looks like the one Ryo Sakazaki used in the Art Of Fighting games.

9. When Kyo was a kid, he was asian. I am NOT making this up.

10. Saisyu has a heart attack after meeting Iori.

11. Vice & Mature are Lesbians. Fan-fiction writers rejoice.

12. Vice & Mature lost to John Cena in a handicap match.

13. They name drop Ramon and Shermie, but we don’t see them.

14. Vice used Blue Mary’s ground leg-lock.

15. Mature fights with tonfas, and nothing like the game character she is based on.

16. Flying ball of snakes. They appeared earlier in the fight between Mai and Mr. Big, but I thought that was a one-off thing.

17. Iori actually looked like a passable Iori when he switched to Orochi mode.

18. Seriously, I may not have played every KOF game thoroughly, but I would definitely remember the flying ball of snakes.

19. Why was Chizuru in a wheel chair when she could get up and walk without any trouble?

20. Would it kill them to let Mai wear something red like the character she’s based on?

21. Why is there a patch on Rugal’s karate gi that says “Storm Team Instructor”?

22. Rugal, dressed like Geese Howard, fighting with a bo-staff. Yeah.

23. Mai beats up Vice & Mature with a garbage can. Because using a fan like her actual character isn’t hardcore enough.

24. If they are going to have a scene where Mai and Terry fight nameless jabronis, why not dress up the jobbers like characters from the game? It would be a cheap and easy way to get in more characters from the game without having any build up….and crush the hearts of fans of those characters all the same.

25. Terry steals his trademark cap from some random bum.

26. Despite showing Kyo training with his father, the guy has no fighting skill whatsoever and depends too much on a sword.

27. Just when you think Kyo is going to power up and finally beat Rugal’s ass, he uses the sword again.

28. Terry picked up his cap and dusts himself off. If they ended that with him uttering his famous catchphrase “OK” while putting his cap on, it would have somewhat redeemed the character.

Overall, this movie was every bit as bad as I expected it to be when they first started showing behind the scenes glimpses while the movie was still in production. We’re talking Uwe Bowell levels of QUALITY here. I wonder if SNK-Playmore are even aware that this movie was made using the KOF characters? The fight scenes were horrible and adding flames to the strikes didn’t help. Was it really that hard to incorporate something from the game when it came to the fight scenes? You all probably don’t need me to say this, but stay away from this garbage pile of a movie.

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Thursday, July 22, 2010

Where have I been?

Long story short: Contract with my previous employer expired when the project was complete at the end of last year. Went jobless for a month. Got a new job in February, and have been travelling around ever since, being based at wherever the project location is. Current location: Kemaman, Terengganu.

I haven't been home since early March, and I might still be here awhile.

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Batam Navigation 2009

Guess it's about time I got around to posting this.

So with the completion of our work project, the company decides to send me and a handful of other employees to Batam, Indonesia for the project completion party being held there when the barge arrives to demob.

Day 1 - 17th September, 2009
Reached the airport around 7am to catch the 8.20am flight to Kuching, and I'm booked on Business Class for this leg of the trip since there were a shortage of seats due to the upcoming Hari Raya holidays. You get bigger seats in Business Class, I think a better selection of foods, but it was just breakfast, so I couldn't really tell. The flight was delayed a bit though, and there was a bit of turbulance due to bad weather, but we made it to Kuching in one piece.
We had a two hour layover in Kuching, and I looked around the very long departure hall while everyone else hung out at the Coffee Bean. Found a Mary Brown fast food outlet and had some chicken nuggets for breakfast.
Our connecting flight was supposed to take off at 11am, but it was delayed since they had to refuel and seemed to have a lot of cargo to load. The flight was a little more bumpy this time, but I made it through again. Touching down at Changi International Airport, we had to wait on the plane while it made a LONG taxi ride to the terminal, and then it was a LONG walk to the arrival hall. Not a good thing when you have an urgent need to visit the men's room.
I was surprised to see my brother waiting for me at the arrival hall. I got my bags and went to see what was up with him since I did inform him I wouldn't be spending the night in Singapore and was heading straight to Batam that evening. He just came to pass me the Singapore SIM card. I get it from him, turn around, and find that I've been left behind at the airport by my posse! WTF? I was supposed to go with one group to visit the Singapore office, but now I was stuck with the B-team who were going to hangout at Vivo Mall by the harbour where we would be taking the ferry to Batam that evening. I didn't have a problem hanging with them, it's just that I really wanted to check out the Singapore office since I don't know if I'll ever get another chance now that the project is over.
So we hung out at the mall until meeting up with Team-A later and had a Japanese dinner at Sushi Tei before boarding the ferry for Batam. We reach Batam earlier than expected and catch our ride to the hotel, and when we get there, surprise surprise, no hotel booking for ME. So 2 of the girls share a room and I get the scraps, while everyone else goes up to their rooms. The room was good though, with a lovely view of a dirt hill. I give the missus a call to let her know the day I've been having, and end up watching TV till about midnight Malaysian time before hitting the sack.

Day 2 - 18th September 2009
I wake up to find it's only around 6am Malaysian time, so I kill some time playing PSP and taking a shower before heading down for breakfast. The hotel breakfast had the worst waffles I ever tasted. I think maybe the chef accidentally poured too much salt in the mix, but wouldn't throw it out to make a new batch. I take my time and wait it out for everyone else to come down so I can find out what the plan for the day is. So at about 10am we get picked up and are given a tour of the Batam fabrication yard before we go to visit the 2 work barges. We get caught in the rain getting to the second barge cause the girls wasted a lot of time on the first one relaxing in the message chairs in the leisure room, but other than getting a little wet, it was ok checking out the boats.
After the yard visit, we had some time to kill before the big party that evening, so we visited the Nagoya Hill Shopping Mall near our hotel. Nothing really to shout home about, but they did have an A&W, and I haven't had that in years! I changed RM50 for 134,000 rupiah, and paid 38,000 rupiah for a meal that sucked save for the root beer. The food was dry and tasteless, and I had to actually get ketchup to add some flavor to 'em! At least I got a big cold mug of root beer out of it.
The party that evening wasn't really much to scream home about either. The food was simple, but it was more about giving the crew a chance to drink cheap beer on a working night. Back to the hotel after, and I spent the rest of the night in my room watching TV and playing PSP again.

Day 3 - 19th September 2009
Getting up at about 8am and heading down for breakfast, remembering to stay clear of the waffles this time. The eggs were good and so was the miso soup. We meet up in the lobby at about 10am to check out and catch our ride to the harbour and board the 11am ferry back to Singapore. Bit of a rough ride this time since it was also raining that morning.
Met up with my bro at the harbour and parted ways with the rest of the guys. We dumped my stuff in my bro's car and went to check out Vivo Mall some more. Toys'R'Us was having a clearance sale on WWE figures and I had to get me an action ring that came with 2 figures, Ken Shamrock and Arn Anderson. We then had lunch before heading out to another mall to get my MMA gloves which my bro finally found. Unfortunately he didn't get them for me first, and it ended up that the place was out of stock! It's all good though, since the store had a website and I'm ordering them online from them.
We then went to check in at the Hotel 81, and admittedly it was a pretty crappy room for S$89. I'm guessing the room was roughly the size of a prison cell. Open the door and there's your bed with a mini desk and cabinet in front of it. Close the door and you see the bathroom. Class.
I go out with my bro for the rest of the day and we went to China Street and there really is a lot of cool stuff down there, and a whole lot cheaper than what I usually get them for when I order from KL. We went on a wild goose chase looking for old Sega Dreamcast games since my copy of AJPW Giant Gram 2000 was shot. We had dinner at McDonalds before hitting another mall that had the DC Comics clothing shop, and as luck would have it, they were having a stock clearance sale, so I manage to get some stuff. We then hit the arcades till late night. I got my shot at Street Fighter IV, and the players there kicked my ass, but I like to think that I held my own. Heck, I won a round against Abel using Guile! That has to be worth something?
We then head back to my hotel and watch Van Helsing before Al calls it a night. I play some more PSP before finally calling it a night myself.

Day 4 - 20th September 2009
Can't remember what time I woke up the next morning, but my bro picks me up at about 10am and we check out before heading straight for the airport. Took a while to check in since the MAS counter was all the way at the other end of the airport from where we came in. We had lunch at the Burger King before I make my exit for the departure hall to board my plane. A one hour transit in Kuching, and I buy myself a new wallet as well as high tea at the Marry Brown before catching my connecting flight back home to Miri.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Navigate for Vacation 2009

So last week was my annual holiday trip for me and Ling, and we decided this year to travel international, and we went all the way to Singapore! OK, that ain't too far, but maybe next year we'll try for a more exotic location.

The whole thing began last Friday, July 3rd, as my brother from Singapore came to visit to attend our cousin's wedding that following Saturday. The wedding itself was a nice little ceremony, and we made it there just in time as the bride arrived. That evening was the dinner at Eastwood Valley, which was good, but the activities went way too long and guests started leaving while the bride & groom where still visiting guests table to table. Still, congrats to Mel & Angeline and hope they have a long life together.

DAY 1 (6/07/2009)
Our flight was on Monday evening, so we had the whole day to get ready and prepare for the trip. I sent my car for some much needed servicing, and was lucky to find a dollar someone had dropped. That palled in comparison to what my wife got, as that evening at the airport we ate at 1901 hot dogs and the cashier mis-counted her change and gave us almost 30 bucks more than it should have been! We asked her twice if sum was correct, and since she didn't notice it, it was her loss :P
Speaking of our flight, it being Air Asia and all, wouldn't you know there would be a delay? In this case it was delayed by about 40-minutes. Luckilly I had my PSP with the newly installed Pangya Fantasy Golf to help kill time. When we finally get on the flight it was a rather bumpy ride with a lot of air turbulence. NOT the way I like to fly.
When we reach Johor, my brother had his car waiting for us at the parking lot, but on the way to Singapore he missed one of the turns and we ended up taking a much longer route to the border, and we finally arrived at our hotel at about 11pm! We were staying at the Golden Landmark Hotel at Bugis Street, and since we didn't call ahead to inform them of our late arrival, they only had twin bedrooms available and we didn't have much choice then. Me and my brother made a quick trip to the 7-Eleven accross the street from the hotel to get a few snacks and toiletries before me and Ling called it a night and got some much needed sleep.

DAY 2 (7/07/2009)
Happy Anniversary to us! Honestly, I couldn't sleep well that night, and I was awake at about 6am already! Not wanting to bother Ling, I grabbed my PSP and plugged in the headphones to kill some time and try to tire myself back to sleep. Didn't quite work. We went for breakfast at about 9am and was rather dissapointed with the breakfast selection, mostly that they ran out of pancakes and replaced it with french toast. Shops didn't open until at least 11am, so we walked around the hotel area to see what we could see, Ling catching the attention of a flock of pigeons at one point.
At about 11am my brother came to pick us up and sent us to the Singapore Zoo, a place I had been wanting to visit since we started planning this trip. I thought we would kill half the day going around here and spend the rest of it around town somewhere. It surprised me then that it took us the whole day to get around that place, and we still missed a few things as by 6pm in the evening they had locked up a few of the animals such as the polar bear and the big cats! We were burned out by the time we reached back to the hotel, and we ended up calling room service for dinner rather then going out for a romantic anniversary dinner.

DAY 3 (8/07/2009)
I went out for breakfast earlier today cause I didn't want to miss the pancakes. And I was lucky to get my share :). We spent this day checking out what we could around town. First stop was the new Iluma Mall on Bugis Street near the hotel, though we did stop at Bugis Street open air market along the way to see what they had. A lot of food and pirated goods XP.
Iluma itself was interesting as it wasn't as big as some of the other malls, and since it was new, not a lot of stores had opened up there yet. The food court was up and running though, and it was HUGE! A wide variety of international food outlets there, one of the highlights being a huge 8-inch burger at Empire State Restaurant, which costs a whopping SG$29.90 (RM73), and the other was the big Japanese street area with a variety of Japanese foods. Everything felt out of our price range though, and we ended up having lunch at a Japanese restaurant called Benten, which served Japanese hamburger steaks and parfait deserts. I always wanted to try one of those, and it didn't dissapoint.
There was also a Filmgarde cineplex at Iluma and we bought ticket to watch Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen that night, and near the cineplex was an arcade with a whole host of games I so desperately wanted to play, but never made it here to Miri: KoF XII, Street Fighter IV, Tatsunoko VS Capcom, the new 3D Samurai Showdown game, and more!
When were done at Iluma, we caught an MRT to City Hall to check out things there. I picked up a pair of CDs at Grammaphone, Rammstein's Reise Reise and Fear Factory's Archtype, both I had been wanting the original CDs of for a long time now. And I bought myself an SG$8 shirt at the Factory Outlet at a nearby mall. We spent the rest of the day walking around that mall checking out all the video game and electronics shops before heading back to the hotel to rest up for the evenings outings.
My brother picked us up around 7pm and brought us to Carl's Jr. for dinner. This place had a nice classic American diner feel to it, and served up some really BIG burgers! It didn't match the one I saw at Empire State, but still put as big a smile on my face. Should have taken some picture of the place. After that it was back to Bugis to watch the movie, making a quick stop at Bugis Central so we could check out the DC shop there selling DC Comics related clothes and accessories. Problem with places like this is they never have my size. We then caught the movie and it wasn't as bad as most of the reviews I've read made it out to be. I might right up a seperate review for it later. Movie finished, it was another quick stop to check out the arcade before going back to the hotel to call it a night, though I did stay up a bit to watch Die Hard 4 on TV and the Michael Jackson funeral.

DAY 4 (9/07/2009)
We started our day in town almost getting lost trying to find the Antique Toy Museum. We eventually find it and they have a nice collection of some really old collectables there. The place just seems rather small for the fee we had to pay to get in, even after our 30% discount for being Toys'R'Us card holders. After that we met up with my brother again who brought us for lunch at a popular beef noodle store. It really didn't taste like anything special though. He dropped us off at Takashimaya on Orchard Road and we spent the rest of the afternoon there, mostly checking out the food fair that was currently going on.
After that we went to Border's Bookshop to check out the CD section, as the last time I was there a few years ago there was a lot of good stuff. Unfortunately that was then, and this is now, and aside from everything not being arranged properly and jumbled up, I didn't find anything that I was willing to pay SG$22 bucks for.
It was getting late, so we head back to the hotel to rest up a bit before heading out to Bugis Central again for dinner and to look around. We had Tappenyaki there but I don't know why they chose to prepare the meals for the teens that came after us before our meals, which really slowed things down for us.
After that, I went to Iluma accross the street again to play some games at the arcade. I didn't get a chance at SFIV as there were alot of people lining up to play, so I played KOFXII instead, and I like the totally new look and feel of the game. Only downside is there is no boss and you are playing for the fastest time instead. I ended up beating the game in 75th place on my second playthrough. I also played Tatsunoko VS Capcom, another fun game that you can only play at home on a Nintendo Wii. Lots of fun until you reach the last boss, a huge orb that doesn't sell any of your attacks! Ling met up with me at the arcade after walking around on her own and we made our way back to the hotel to call it a night.

DAY 5 (10/07/2009)
After breakfast this day we went seperate ways to do some last minute shopping. I took an MRT to Orchard Road to get something I had seen the previous day before heading back to Bugis and meeting up with Ling, then heading to Iluma to get some novelty souveniers from the Amoeba shop there. It was then back to the hotel to pack and check out. My brother picked us up and we stopped by another mall on the way to have lunch, and we ate at the Burger King this time before making our way back to the airport at Johor. There were no delays for the flight this time, and the flight was a lot more comfortable compared to the one we took to Johor. We touched down early and Ling's brother picked us up in my car which I had sent to him for servicing. Dropping him and Ling's sister off, we made our way home and spent the rest of the weekend relaxing as our legs were killing us from all the walking we did on our trip.

Looking back, we could have planned this trip better as there were still a lot of places we wanted to check out. But it doesn't help when all the store there open at about 11am, so half our day is wasted just sitting around the hotel. Next year we might go someplace a little more exotic, but I definitely hope to visit Singapore again. Maybe when the WWE makes another Asian tour?

Friday, June 26, 2009

Long Live The King...?

This morning the first thing my dad tells me when he sees me is that Michael Jackon has passed away at the age of 50. I haven't been a big fan of his in recent years not only cause of the child molestation accusations, but because his newer music didn't appeal to me all that much either. But he did have his moments with some really memorable songs and videos, like Smooth Criminal, which remains one of my all time favorites. So may the King of Pop rest in peace.

Also passing away on the same day was actress Farrah Fawcett, best known as one of the original Charlie's Angels, and being on one of the most famous posters ever (It's even in the Smithsonian!). She lost her battle with cancer at the age of 62.

These two unfortunately join the list of other recent Hollywood celebrities to have recently passed away: Dom Deluise, David Carradine (who died in Thailand under mysterious circumstances), B. Arthur, Ricardo Montalban and Ed McMahon.

May they all rest in peace.