Chinese New Year Windfall

Looks like the Year of the Cow has started off pretty good for me.

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Visited five houses today, gambled in two of them and raked in RM320 profit. That’s not bad, considering I had been losing hundreds continuously in my previous attempts at playing blackjack during Chinese New Year.

Maybe I should be thanking the Cow God (the Holy Cow?) for smiling so bright upon me. But being a superstitious Chinese, I gotta say thank you to something else instead.

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So thank you, my new good luck red underwear!

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In Support Of KLIA East @ Labu Airport

I wanna take a break from writing about silly things on the net to focus on something slightly more serious.

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Over the past few weeks, there have been some intense debate online and offline over AirAsia’s intention to build their own airport.

The gist of the story so far is, due to AirAsia’s rapid expansion, it is fast outgrowing the current LCCT airport it is operating out of. So AirAsia approached Sime Darby and a proposal was put forth to the government to build a new budget airport called KLIA East.

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The new airport will be completely funded by private funds, and it will be located 20km to the east of the present KLIA in the Negri Sembilan town of Labu. Not only will this new airport be able to accommodate AirAsia’s growing size, it will also be better connected by road and rail to both KL city and main airport.

The government had a look at the proposal and subsequently approved it, but almost immediately a huge uproar from the public resulted.

Some were saying that the proposed Labu Airport will be located too close to KLIA to be safe. Others were saying that it is located too far from KLIA for transferring of passengers to be convenient. Most people were saying that it is a waste of money for a fourth airport in KL to be built after Subang, KLIA and LCCT – never mind the fact that AirAsia assured that not a single sen of tax payer’s money will be used.

Then there are those who resort to insults and personal attacks, slandering both AirAsia boss Tony Fernandes and the government, accusing them for being corrupted and uncaring towards the ordinary Malaysian.

Among the fiercest critics of AirAsia’s plans were several prominent social-political bloggers including Jeff Ooi, Rocky and PKR MP Wee Choo Keong. Even our former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir got nasty with his words, eventhough he is that very same man who sold AirAsia to Tony Fernandes for RM1 eight years ago when the airline was making huge losses under DRB-HiCom.

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The outcry from the online community was so loud that someone even set up an online campaign to boycott AirAsia.

Faced with such intense and public online controversy, AirAsia did something remarkably unprecedented in Malaysia.

While most corporations would’ve kept quiet and carried on with their business (after all they have already got the proposal approved), AirAsia decided to respond to their critics, sceptics and haters by launching a micro-site on KLIA East. Providing facts and figures, AirAsia tactfully explained the need to build a new airport and showed how such a project would bring more benefits than harm to the rakyat.

To anyone reading through the FAQs, it is clear that AirAsia is pointing a large Airbus-sized finger squarely towards Malaysia Airports Berhad, the sole operator of the three airports in Kuala Lumpur.

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AirAsia said that all three airports are not suitable because Subang is too small, KLIA is too expensive and LCCT is not expanding fast enough to cater towards their rapid growth. AirAsia is pretty much forced out due to the incompetence of Malaysia Airports.

To much surprise from everybody, Malaysia Airports did not sit still when faced with criticism either. Instead, they launched a series of announcements on their own website to rebuff AirAsia’s claims. Normally, people can’t be care less to log on to Malaysia Airports website. But because of this fiasco, web traffic at malaysiaairports.com.my suddenly shot through the roof!

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According to Malaysia Airports, there are indeed plans to develop KLIA North, a dedicated budget terminal located just next to the existing KLIA main terminal.

The only problem it’ll take longer to build and estimated to cost twice as much compared to KLIA East. Therefore it is AirAsia’s fault that they are impatient and instead run off to build their own airport.

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So to summarised what has happened, Dr Mahathir points his finger to AirAsia on his website, AirAsia points its finger to Malaysia Airports on their website, Malaysia Airports claimed innocence and pointed its finger back to AirAsia.

And I thought “blog wars” are the domain of bored teenagers who got nothing better to do with their lives. Who would’ve thought a “blog war” would occur between AirAsia, Malaysia Airports and the former Prime Minister of Malaysia?

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Reading through some of the harsh comments online, I honestly cannot help but to feel terribly sorry for Tony Fernandes.

I can see that AirAsia’s intentions are noble.

Tony Fernandes wants to build a cost-efficient airport, so that savings can be passed onto the consumers. He wants a large airport so that AirAsia can connect Malaysia to the rest of the world, so that Kuala Lumpur can usurp Bangkok and Singapore as South East Asia’s aviation hub. Tony Fernandes truly believes that this project is good for everybody, and he has even worked out a way to do these without spending much of tax-payer’s money. KLIA East seems like such a great win-win solution for everybody.

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But instead of being lauded and praised for taking the initiative to bring about positive change to KL, Tony Fernandes was attacked, insulted and ridiculed by the online community. Instead of getting even a
little bit of appreciation and thank you’s from the community, he was accused of undermining national interest, of robbing people’s money to achieve his own selfish aims.

For a businessman as far-sighted as he is, the ugly fallout from this incident is perhaps something he had least expected.

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And that is why I felt compelled to write something here to show my support for Tony Fernandes.

Then again, who am I?

I am not a politician. I am not a businessman. I am just a 26-year-old guy with a naive understanding of the world. No where am I ANYWHERE near the calibre of Jeff Ooi and Rocky, let alone that of Tun Dr Mahathir.

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If there is one credential I have over them, it is the fact that I have used the LCCT airport more frequently than all three of them combined. That’s a fact, because I have been travelling in and out of LCCT so frequently, I see the immigration officers there more often than I see my mom’s face.

I am a consumer. And the only thing I can say about the LCCT is that it sucks. The airport sucks so bad, we could’ve make more money if we market it as a porn star.

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Make no mistake about it. I hated it when AirAsia moved out of KLIA four years ago, and I am still hating it every single day until today. The LCCT is such an overcrowded slum that if the fare difference isn’t much, I’d rather pay extra to fly MAS.

Gimme the frills of checking in at KL Sentral and riding KLIA Express anytime.

Clearly AirAsia cannot stay in the current LCCT. So that leaves us with two options: (1) move to Malaysia Airports’ KLIA North, or (2) let AirAsia build their own airport at KLIA East.

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On the surface, KLIA North sounds like an ideal option. I too, would’ve supported AirAsia moving back into KLIA or at least somewhere close to it. But due to problems with the soil and the train tracks, it will take twice as long to build and cost twice as much. As consumers, are you prepared to pay extra for that? Do you all want to pay more for your air tickets?

If they wanna develop KLIA North, they could’ve done so four years ago before the current LCCT is constructed.

Building KLIA North apparently will involve a significant portion of taxpayer’s money. OUR money. Money that could be better spent on things like education, healthcare and luxury mansions of corrupt politicians.

Now, compare that with KLIA East, which can be constructed ready in two year’s time and won’t even cost the government a single sen. While other cities in Malaysia on their knees are begging for an airport, AirAsia is willing to give one to KL free of charge!

Please remind me why are we having this debate again?

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True, people do not like redundancy – having two set of control towers, immigration and customs instead of one is wasteful. But come on, if you wanna talk about redundancy, why don’t you talk about how many redundant shopping malls we have in KL first? Why not shut down Subang and move Firefly and Berjaya to KLIA?

People are scared AirAsia may compromise safety to save costs. For example, instead of building airport runways, AirAsia might land on Amber Chia’s chest.

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But are these rational fears? Why would AirAsia wanna compromise on their unblemished safety record? To put it simply, it is bad business for any airline to crash their planes.

Of course, as private entities, profit-making is their primary aim. But the intense competition between the two airlines has virtually left them no room for errors and plenty for improvement. These airlines know that if they screw up, we the consumers will switch to their competitor just like that.

Letting AirAsia build their own airport is sure to bring the already fiery and intense competition between the two to yet another level. Don’t forget that at the end of the day, the one benefiting the most out of these competition is us. Don’t we all want cheaper fares?

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The next question people would wanna ask is: why is Kenny Sia writing all these? How much did AirAsia pay kennysia.com?

The answer is zero.

AirAsia has not paid me a single cent to write anything for them. In fact, AirAsia has never even advertised on kennysia.com.

On the contrary, their direct competitor Malaysia Airlines is among my biggest advertisers. For me to write this entry, I am risking not just having AirAsia critics attack me, I am also risking my website’s revenue stream.

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But I am saying what needs to be said.

And the reason I am writing this is because I feel that maybe Malaysians can get a bit too negative sometimes. There are FAR wasteful and controversial government projects in Malaysia that warrant our attention, like the CIQ Complex in Johor and the Bakun Dam in Sarawak. Yet I cannot help but feel that in this particular instance we are beating up the good guys.

Something is very wrong here.

Airlines like MAS and AirAsia, in my mind, are doing a great service for this country. For that, they deserve our commendation. But what I am seeing here is that instead of supporting them, we are beating them up with a stick.

It’s like helping a fallen girl off the floor, then getting wrongfully accused for molesting.

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That is why as a frequent flier, I am throwing my support behind AirAsia to construct KLIA East @ Labu.

Because I believe Malaysians should not be so pessimistic and negative about everything. Because competition is good for the consumers. Because if AirAsia can do what Malaysia Airports do, but in a way that’s faster, cheaper and more efficient, then for us consumers the choice is clear.

Don’t say no to KLIA East.

Supporting this project is the way to go.

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Barack Hussein Obama

Tomorrow, the world will witness ‘change’ as Barack Obama starts his first day of work as the President of the United States.

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And I just found out today also that the Defence Minister of Israel, aka the man responsible for the war in Gaza and the most hated man in the Arab realm right now, is a guy named Ehud Barak.

As if having “Hussein” and something that sounds like “Osama” in the name wasn’t bad enough for his image, somebody had to ruin “Barack” for him as well. Suddenly, the President of the United States share similar names with the evil Ehud Barak, Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden.

With a name like Barack Hussein Obama, everyone would’ve expected him to look like this.

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But the future President of the USA was recently photographed looking more like this.

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Holy cow! A world leader with a six-pack abs!

Can we have that too, Mr Najib?

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Singapore Engrish

I noticed on my most recent trip to Singapore that there seems to be a lot of mainland Chinese on that little island state lately.

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Nothing against them of course. But I do find it fascinating that so many of them mainland Chinese can be found at virtually all levels of society in Singapore: in coffeeshops taking orders for your drinks, in universities studying for their exams, or even in a luxury condo after marrying some rich Singaporean tycoon.

Like what Chinese-turned-Singaporean actress Gong Li did.

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It is very different from the situation here Kuching, where the only place you can find Chinese nationals, is in a foot reflexology!

Having so many of them living and working in Singapore also brought about some… unintended side-effects.

I went to an authentic Chinese restaurant the other day hoping to sample some authentic Si Chuan dishes. What I found there instead, was something much more exciting.

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Behold, a Singapore Chinese restaurant menu… in Chinese and Engrish!

Who would’ve thought you could find Engrish in post Speak Good English Campaign Singapore?

Apparently, you can. Over in this PRC-operated restaurant, you can sample such famous dishes as:

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Woh Tie.

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Char Siew Pau.

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Western lettuce. Runs on petrol!

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Sourced from monolithic cow.

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Sometimes, their menu even doubles as a weather report.

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Eat your ma’s tofu!

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Someone call the fire brigade!

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Oi! Don’t rape the onions! They will cry.

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It is not offence in Singapore to have sex with vegetables.

They’ll tie the mushroom down on a bed, collect S$7.80 from you, then let you perform various sexual acts the mushroom.

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The diced chicken community is not happy.

Then there’s my personal favourite.

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They take a joss stick, stick it up the cow’s ass, and call it “Joss Stick Porn.”

All together now… WTF?!

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ADV: If I Had An Absolute Extreme Life

I would be a Viet Cong soldier.

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At least that was the impression I get after watching a Vietnam War propaganda video during my visit to Cu Chi, a war site located near Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.

The black-and-white video, filmed just after the war, nearly had me convinced that I should learn to be like that valiant 12-year-old peasant girl who fought for her country, killed 118 "devil" Americans and was declared "American Killer Hero" (their words, not mine) by her communist government.

A couple of Americans in our tour group were flinching uncomfortably after watching the video. Clearly they’d think twice when approached by a deadly 12-year-old Vietnamese girl next time.

Of course, the Vietnam War has long past, the Cold War has warmed up, the animosity between the Vietnamese and Americans have long ceased, but this war between the Americans and the communists remained one of the most fascinating in history.

How is it possible that the Americans, with their superior war planes and technology, lost out to a bunch of communist Viet Congs who probably never handled a gun before their entire lives?

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The answer lies underground in Cu Chi, a Viet Cong village 90km away from the anti-communist stronghold of Saigon.

Cu Chi is pronounced "koo chi". Yes, the Hokkien word for "tickle" is also called "koo chi".

But these stealthy underground tunnels beneath Cu Chi ain’t no laughing matter!

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As the Americans bombed the surface with their napalm bombs and B-52s, hundreds of Viet Cong soldiers were secretly hiding underground, emerging only during night time to launch surprise attacks on their enemies.

They lived in there, sometimes up to months at a time. The tunnels were so well-equipped that there were even sleeping chambers, kitchens and hospitals for the Viet Cong soldiers.

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Of course, the Americans trained soldiers as their "tunnel rats" and attempted the infiltrate the tunnels.

But when they entered, they risked having their sorry faces smashed right into one of these.

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So successful were the Cu Chi Tunnels that eventually that Americans retreated.

Ho Chi Minh’s communist government took over Vietnam and ruled till today. Meanwhile, Cu Chi became a tourist site charging visitors USD6 + VND80,000 (or RM36 total) per entrance.

There’s a firing range at the Cu Chi Tunnels, where they let visitors try their hands on some real guns used by Viet Cong soldiers during the war. A round of ten bullets cost about USD10 (RM36).

It’s a little expensive, but these are real guns, using real bullets.

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Considering this was probably the only chance I’m gonna get, I simply could not pass up on the opportunity to fulfil one of my male fantasies.

After years of playing games like Counterstrike, I finally had the chance to fire the real version of my favourite weapon, the AK47.

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Videos games are fun, but nothing beats holding on to the real thing. I was imagining a terrorist leaping across in front of me as I pulled the trigger.

"Enemy sighted!"

BANG! BANG! BANG!

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"Counter-terrorist wins!"

Such a cool and satisfying experience. It was exactly like Counterstrike.

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But with much better graphics.

This one is a M60 machine gun. It had a much stronger recoil and damn, it was loud! Without the ear muffs on, the deafening ringing effect in my ears could last for a few seconds after each shot.

Imagine how the Viet Congs have to endure all these back in the days. No one wonder so many of them went crazy.

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After having our fun at the firing range, we had the chance to explore a section of the underground tunnel.

Getting into the hole was no problem for me – the tunnel had already been enlarged to accommodate much bigger (read: fatter) Western tourists.

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But crawling through the tunnel… now that’s definitely an experience.

The tunnel, even after enlarging was still extremely small. We spent 10 minutes wriggling and manoeuvring through a 100m section and already we’re sweating like pigs.

I shudder to think how it was even possible that the anyone could tolerate living underground during war time.

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The Viet Congs were living under absolute extreme conditions.

There may be a kitchen and a well, but there were definitely no shower or toilets in the tunnels. To top it off, air ventilation underground was dismal at best. The stench of 800 sweaty men must have been unbearable.

Next to deadly enemy fire, the main c
oncern for Viet Congs must’ve have been deadly body odour. Times like these, they gotta wish they had…

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Rexona Men Absolute Protection deodorant.

The latest most powerful deodorant from Rexona Men ever!

I mean, just check out its product description on the back.

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"New Rexona Men Absolute Protection with its new improved formula is designed to react within 1.8 seconds to release more than 1.4 million microcapsules of odor protection for any increase in body heat or adrenaline. Rexona Men Absolute Protection, the most advanced and powerful Rexona men deodorant ever! It won’t let you down."

Wow. Sounds extremely extreme.

I think they must have left out the part where it says it will MAKE YOU FLY THROUGH THE AIR AND SHOOT MISSLES OUT FROM YOUR NOSE.

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No doubt, the deodorant smells pretty good.  

Some say they love the smell of napalm in the morning.

But surely, "napalm in the morning" cannot possibly smell better than my fresh and dry armpits.

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This, smells like… victory!

P/S. Join the Rexona Absolute Extreme blog contest. There aren’t many entries received yet, so the chances of winning are very high.

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SUPPORT THE PALESTINIANS. BOYCOTT AMERICAN PRODUCTS!

Ladies and gentlemen!
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kennysia.com hereby express its disgust towards the United States of America for their support of Israel’s invasion into Gaza! The Middle East may be located far away from us, but that does not mean there is nothing we could do!
We urge all readers to heed the call by Dr Mahathir and the two MCAs (both the Malaysian Chinese Association and the Muslim Consumer Assocation) to show our support for the Palestinians by doing your part as follows!
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Stop using the US dollar!
Using the US dollar will only keep their economy strong. If the Americans are rich, they will for the Zionist invaders to kill Palestinian babies!
We must also boycott all American companies and American products!
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Boycott Coca-Cola!
You won’t die if you don’t drink Coca-Cola!
But if you drink Coca-Cola, Palestinians die!
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Boycott KFC, McDonald’s, Starbucks!
Colonel Sanders trained the Israeli armies! And Ronald McDonald is Jewish! I think.
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Boycott Hollywood!
Next time you go to the cinema, don’t watch American movies like Twilight, Yes Man and The Spirit!
Watch Cicak-man 2: Planet Hitam!
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Boycott Pinkpau, Suet Li and Dawn Yang!
All three of them are students studying overseas in American universities! Therefore these three are contributing money directly into the pockets of Americans! Money that are used to buy guns and bombs to kill Palestinian babies! Pinkpau, Suet Li and Dawn Yang are indirectly Zionist supporters and Palestinian haters!
Boycott Xiaxue too! Her boyfriend is American.
Don’t boycott kennysia.com! This blog may be hosted by a US server, but I tried to pay them in Malaysian Ringgit and they won’t accept it!
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Boycott Google, Youtube and Facebook!
Do you know? Every time you are poking someone on Facebook, you are indirectly poking a knife into the hearts of the Palestinians!
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Boycott Microsoft and Apple!
Need I say more? If you are using Windows, shut it down NOW!
Oh shit, that means I h

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Ponggol Nasi Lemak Centre Review

I fly to Singapore quite regularly.

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There are normally two types of places I stay at everytime I head down there.

If I’m lucky, then some benevolent company inviting me to attend their function in Singapore would pay for my stay in some spanking 5-star hotel so freaking expensive, it would’ve cost the equivalent of my left testicle.

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But if I’m not-so-lucky, then I would’ve to pay for my own accommodation in Singapore. And I usually stay at One Florence Close in Kovan where it’s cheap and clean.

Right across from where I stay is a kopitiam with a red sign board called "Punggol Nasi Lemak Centre".

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Don’t be fooled  by the word "centre" in it’s name though.

When I saw the name, I half-expected it to be something big, like a medical centre, shopping centre or a err… health centre. But really, Punggol Nasi Lemak Centre is just a glorified name for a nasi lemak stall from Punggol.

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Despite passing by the place so often, I never really ate there because hey, I live in Malaysia, and nasi lemak is quintessentially a Malay dish. How could a stall operated by a Chinese selling nasi lemak in Singapore possibly taste any better, right?

That would be like going to Japan and saying Sushi King makes better sushi.

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What eventually changed my mind was when I came back from clubbing one evening, and noticed this a huge stretch of queue extending from the stall all the way out to the road.

From my experience, I know that Singaporeans only queue for three things:
1. Louis Vuitton.
2. Hello Kitty.
3. Something really really good.

Given the absence of an overpriced monogram handbag or a cat with no mouth, I think it is safe to assume that Punggol Nasi Lemak falls under to Category 3. Something really really good.

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And it was damn good alright. In fact, it was possibly one of the best I’ve had.

Unlike in Malaysia where our nasi lemaks are pre-packaged at RM1 each wrapped in old newspaper, at Ponggol Nasi Lemak, they do it Nasi Kandar-style.

That means you have to go up to the counter and tell them which side-dishes you want to go along with your rice.

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There’s a wide variety of choices: ikan bilis, fried chicken, tempura prawns, sotong balls, long beans, otah, acar, peanuts, fried egg, curried vegies, etc just to name a few.

After you’ve made your selection, they’ll then slather on a slab of sambal and put two slices of cucumber on your plate. But if they like you, then sometimes they’ll put three slices of cucumber. Like me!

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This is what I’ve chosen to go with my dish.

Clockwise from that delicious piece of fried chicken wing, there’s the ikan bilis with peanuts, sambal, two sotong balls, fried wanton, cucumber, sambal lady’s finger, acar and a beautiful piece of fried egg right in the middle. All together, they cost close to SGD$8 (RM20), which is freaking pricey for a nasi lemak. But damn, it was well worth it.

If you’re not sure which to choose, you can’t go wrong with the fried chicken wing and acar. Those two go exceptionally well with the fragrant rice and sambal.

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As a testament to how good Ponggol Nasi Lemak is, they even have to put up this notice in the newspapers.

Apparently, some competitors have been copying their namesake to fool customers into thinking that they’re the same company.

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Nowadays, even nasi lemak also got pirated one.

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kennysia.com Is Four Years Old

For years, I have been using w.bloggar to update my blog offline. It’s raw text HTML style coding with a clunky image upload tool. Nothing fancy, but it gets the job done.
And then, I discovered Windows Live Writer, which completely blew me away with how easy it is to put together a blog post. The enhancing and watermarking of the photos, which normally took the longest time, now take nothing more than just a few clicks.

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kennysia.com Is Closed

Update: kennysia.com has finished renovations.
Welcome to the new look kennysia.com!
————————
kennysia.com is closed.

…for renovations. 😉
It should be back up later today.
Meanwhile, please entertain yourself with the wacky bunch of people on kennysia.com Chatbox.

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