Comix Stripz : Rubik's Cube Part 01

Rubik's 5 x 5 Cube INFO
Price : RM 79.95
Place you can buy: Toys"R"Us

It all started with a 3 x 3 Rubik's cube owned by a guy fren of mine (actually it's not even his... but sumhow it was wif him *sweat*). It got me stuck, more so with him teaching me the tech. to solve half of the 3x3. I wasn't satisfied with just the half solved puzzle tech. so I've decided to buy my own Rubik's Cube (Last time always confuse with the name... Rubik's Cube...Cubic's Rube... @_@). There are some which are sold for RM 2 (This can be bought at Melaka if you're lucky... =p like someone I know hehe), RM 5 - RM 10 (Mostly from normal toy shops) , and the RM 29++ (From Toys"R"Us). The latter version (even though expensive as hellz... ) is easier to handle, rotate & it's smoother, slicker than that of the former ones coz not only the cheaper one doesn't last long, it MIGHT also be a whole new puzzle in a few days... if you get what i mean. See picture below for clearer explanation! :p

to be Cont.

Melaka Trip Organized by 'Midnight Sphinx'

Who/What the heck is 'Midnight Sphinx'? It's an underground yakuza organization (except that it's in Malaysia, to be exact in Cyberjaya, err... Satyam.... lol ... not in the Land of the Rising Sun) . You wish! =p It's actually a CAT ... a kuro neko (black cat) with red ribbon tied 'round it's bushy tail, yeah exactly like in the <-- picture. The name Midnight Sphinx was from a brief brainstorming session between me & a friend (From... typical 'Black Cat' to 'Black Feline', 'Midnight Cat', 'Midnight Feline'...).

Well initially I was just ravin' around, hinting bout a Sunway Lagoon jaunt (So excited bout this coz I've never been there before... not even once T.T) & it's true that Melaka was in my 'I'll-definitely-visit-again' list but I'm not really sure who actually started the talk bout Melaka but it sure did bring about a whole new excitement to look forward too that particular week. Started off casual 'nuff, with a series of interesting places in Melaka that we can visit, carefully laid out on the white board... on the office white board (Thanks to thorough research by everyone involved... siap print info gune printer office lagi... ho ho ho). But alas, we can only do so much in such little time, like the saying 'We Can Only Plan, God Will Decide' but I still think that if we do a proper schedule & actually stick to it, we could haf covered more places... that's just my overzealous self talking there, ignore her. =p *sigh* Well I guess I gotta say that in the end, in everything we do... what makes it more meaningful & entertaining is the company... but I still think we could haf covered more places... *double sigh*

All that planning eventually ended up on a not so 'black & white' edited/altered & printed document which required everyone involved to sign em... ehem. Breach of contract will result in wallet/purse slimming mwauhahah. (Just kidding... the document was just for fun... or not... :p). It consisted of the probable itinerary, mini maps of Melaka cut & pasted from the net & that was it... You can download the original copy HERE if u wanna... see wat happens when 1 crazy idea is put on paper. =x

This was just a 2 days 1 night journey, commenced after work hour (around 7 pm Malaysian time) on Friday, 22nd of August 2008 involving 2 cars, 8 very exhausted individuals (Well I was... not really sure bout all the others thou...). It took approximately 2 hours (Including a short break at the Seremban R&R) to finally arrive at Ayer Keroh, Melaka. By that time, we (This time I'm sure that it's ALL & not just me =p) were all perdy hungry & it was the only time that we actually followed the darn itinerary ...duh. According to program, the first destination is 'Umbai' (This is where you get all the seafoods... or sea chickens... pft hehhe), around 30 mins from Ayer Keroh (Or was it 45? I'm not sure coz we had to ask around for direction... not lost but wrong turn... eheh). Upon arrival, Cik Intan recommended the shop at the far end (She's a Jasinian...Orang Jasin la!), no energy to argue at that time so we just followed and had our dinner at the 'Ikan Bakar Parameswara' restaurant. Not bad actually, infact I think it's kindda cheap with approx. RM 24 per head for 8 people.

The menu consisted of...

a - Sotong Goreng Tepung (Flour Fried Squid)
b - Sayur Campur (Mix Vegie)
c - Kerang Bakar (Baked Cockle)
d - TomYam Sotong (Squid TomYam)
e - Udang Butter (Butter Prawn) - not sure! :p
f - Ikan Bakar (Baked Fish)
g - Asam Pedas Ikan Pari
h - Ikan Masam Manis (Sweet & Sour Fish)
i - Nasi Putih (White Rice)

Bloated I tell ya...

We made a move at around 11 ++ pm & called it a day! (but before that, we made a short detour to MMU Melaka... =p Where I used to study!) Thanks to Intan & family for their hospitality, provided us with a place to stay for the night & breakfast included! That's Day 1 for you!

Day 2 : Ayer Keroh, Melaka Town & Jonker Walk/Street

Supposedly according to plan, we should depart for Ayer Keroh at 8 am... but it stretched to 10 am instead T.T . Everyone overslept or at least pretended to sleep. Due to that, we just managed to visit 'Zoo Melaka' for the Ayer Keroh zone. Even that took us bout 4 hours but it was much fun! Lunch was at Mahkota Parade's Nandos. By this time, we were really, really off course actually... but none seem to pay any heed to that, just me being paranoid here @_@. Well at around 5 pm or so we started roaming the city of Melaka. Visited the 'Ruins of Fort A Famosa', 'Stadhuys'... went shopping for awhile around that area. I was hunting for Fridge Magnets which basically goes for around RM 3 per piece or RM 10 for 4 pieces. Regrettable! You can find them cheaper at 'Jonker Street'. We went there at around 7pm & some of the stalls haven even open yet.

Began as a group & ended up as triplets, pairs & solo... u do the grouping! Hint! I went solo in the end ... which was perdy fun considering I can take my own sweet time evaluating all the neat stuff around me... should have drag Mr. Dino wif me T.T . I like Jonker... LOVE em! Time to drag ur feet back to the entrace... At around 9pm, we're ready to say Good Bye & Good Night to Melaka personally by means of the 'Menara Taming Sari (Revolving Tower)'. Ticket sold for RM 10 if u present ur IC that is... gaijin will hafto pay double for that, bummer. Can you sense that I'm really rushing to end this post? lol Ok I'm seriously ending this! T.T Geh... Teacher... do I get an A++ for my weekend essay homework?

That's it for our trip to Melaka! More piccy can be found at picasa! [^o^]

Word Play 1

I like to learn new words... 'like' is actually an understatement, I'm obsess with learning new words & here I would like to share em & as a reminder to myself in the days to come...

Rather than manually flippin' through the Oxford Mr. Dic, made my life a bit easier with the Google 'define:' function & currently trying my hands on babylon... nifty lil' software to easily help you search for the meaning of words from various offline/online dictionary... you can even dl additional dictionary!

Words of the day peeps... (yeah... i defined...and babylon-ed)

Palanquin - type of carriage made of an enclosed seat carried on poles (used formerly in India and other Eastern countries to carry important people), litter

Apothecary - pharmacist, druggist

Well that's all for today...