So there's this new shopping mall that opened up in Kursk not too long ago, it kinds functions as the hang out spot for the young nowadays. I myself am not someone who indulge in his capitalistic inclination, so I don't go there to 'hang' except when absolutely necessary.

Anyway, here I present you, Pushkinskaja Shopping Mall:

Scene 1. The case of Frosty- the patriotic snow man.


Scene 2. The case of the hanging contraceptives, I meant, ornaments.


Hanging from the ceiling of the shopping mall are beautiful decorations, boughs of holly, stars, moons and angles. But from the bottom looking up, you go, what is that? Is that a bird? Is that a plane? No that's _______ (fill in the blanks with what you think you see, be creative!).



Scene 3. The case of Tina Fey- the wonder woman!

Seen in a prominent corner of the shopping mall, on display in a shop, selling spectacles.


Wow! Now Tina Fey can add 'spokesmodel for a lower-end Russian-brand spectacle company' to her long list of accomplishments (which already includes actress, comedian, screen writer, producer, mother, etc). Super Woman indeed!

In case you're interested, this is also a picture I took during my day out here in Kursk. Seen in a billboard advertisement:
Translation: Bowling, for students! Pay 50% less!

Christmas Charity Concert, Kursk: Part Deux

After 2 long months of our charity drive, we ended up raising 24, 300 rubles! That was a vast improvement from last year! In fact we raised 5 times the amount that we did last year (Read about the drive last year here). All thanks to the hard work of various students and organizations who helped out in every way imaginable.

Anyway, on December 26th, 1 day after our christmas celebration. We rented 4 buses an brought approximately 6 children from the orphanage at Prospekt Druzhbei 5 to the Concert Hall in our University, where we had a concert just for them.

the children arriving in the concert hall

the crowd in attendance

So the event started at 3pm, and as was the case last year, I was the MC of the day.

me emceeing po-russki (in Russian)

During the concert we attempted to portray to the children the different aspects and different cultures of the students studying in the University, and so we invited students from different nationalities to prepare some performances which might be eye-opening to the children.

The performances included
1. Dragon 9, a pretty established band performed a christmas song, 'Carol of the Bells' and 'Yue Ya Wan' or Moonlight Creek, a song made famous by F.I.R.


2. I gave the children a simple geography test, and invited some children onstage to point out some countries on the map, all of whom received a pack of chocolate as a gift.


3. A stunning performance performed by a Sri Lankan student and a Malaysian student, the Pharaoh and Isis Phoenix dance, equipped with props and costumes to enhance the whole performance.






4. Julian and Andrea, these two Brazilian friends of mine, prepared this slide show presentation of Brazil, showing different pictures depicting the country, buildings, cities, popular monuments, food, people, etc.


5. Lana and Tarsis, another two Brazilian friends, teamed up with Jason, Diana and Mex to perform a musical rendition of the Josh Groban's song, 'You Raise Me Up'.


6. Shola, a Nigerian girl, prepared a slide show presentation of Nigeria, also with pictures depicting different aspects of the life of a Nigerian.


7. 3 Nigerian girl then performed a cultural dance to the song 'the Miracle song'.




8. We had an interactive game with the children. I introduced the children to our own Kung-fu Master 'Bruce Lee'. As usual, the children were all enthusiastic to see another Kung-fu performance. At first I asked the children to sit patiently while I call onstage our Kung-fu master. I hollered out, 'oooooooooohhhhh!!!!' 'Oooooooooooh!!' At which point the background music played, 'Everybody goes Kungfu fighting!' That was when Jason burst onto stage to wow the crowd. The children were laughing the whole time.

'I AM BRUCE LEE' huffs Jason

We invited 4 children onstage, and as Jason shows some Kung fu moves, the children were asked to follow after. It was hilarious! The whole audience were practically on stitches watching the children perform. But anyway, I did explain in Russian, 'you need to promise me that you won't be fighting with other children, understand that this is only a game!' I didn't want any fights to break out because of this!







9. Jason, Qi Jie, Jack, Ming and a junior, Ashton (who received Shao Lin Kung-fu training) went onstage to give an awesome Martial Arts performace to the thunderous applause of the children.








10. Janeth, a Sri Lankan student, went onstage to present a slide presentation on Sri Lanka.


11. Sandun, my neighbour, performed the Candle Crown dance.




12. An 8 minute movie clip on Malaysia and its various cultures, traditions, ways of life and so forth.


13. Abigail choreographed a dance routine to 'All That Jazz' from the musical 'Chicago'. It was a very well choreographed performance with plenty of cheeky and entertaining moments, enough to keep the children clapping the whole way through.




14. A tutor working in the orphanage, Mdm. Elena Vladimirovna, took the stage to present the next few performance, the first, a girl singing a Russian children song.




15. Her sister accompanied her onstage to perform another singing performance.


16. 4 boys appeared onstage for, of all things, a break dance performance. I must admit at this point, I was screaming so loud cheering them on! You should see the video clip of their performance. They did things I thought only profesionals could do, two boys could run a short distance then propel himself skyward, do a 360 spin and land squarely on his feet! One boy did a headstand, another handstand. Then at one point, 2 guys hoisted 2 of his friends into the air, at which point the both of them did another 360 spin at least 6 feet in the air!!! My jaws dropped at this point! And all of them have been 12 year old! One I thought looked maybe 8, 9!










17. Another singing performance from one of the elder girls.




18. GAME TIME! We asked for 7 children from the crowd to pair up with 7 of our foreign students.







Each team are given a piece of newspaper. At first, the music starts (I like to move it move it! from Madagascar) at which point you and your partner must dance. Then I yell 'STOP!' at which point the music stops and immediately the countdown begins from 10 to 0. During this time you must fold the newspaper in half and by 0, both of you must return to the newspaper. The team that fails to do that loses.




Anyway, pictures are worth a million words so just check out the following pictures for yourself.










19. The last surprise of the day is Santa Claus and the Snow Maiden (the Russian version of Santarina, the Snow Maiden is the Russian Santa Claus' granddaughter) who came on stage to distribute gifts to the children, packets of candies and confectionaries and a gift package of 2 exercise books, pencils, a 6pcs colouring pencil, an eraser, a ruler and a pencil sharpener.








Following which we invited the representatives from the orphanage onstage to receive the gifts that we prepared for the children.


20. We invited the Children onstage to accompany the Christmas carolers during the finale.


The concert lasted 2 hours. And at the end, the bus came back and picked them up to send them back to the orphanage.




As we were lifting boxes of gifts into the buses, the children were thanking us profusely and wishing us Happy New Year. You kind of feel this sense of satisfaction, that your goal, after 2 long months, was reached.

Also, these children are the MOST polite, kind children I have encountered. Before the concert I had the chance to speak to a few of them and you should have seen the earnest in their eyes as they reply you. Then, after the concert ended, I've heard of two stories where my friends were saying- those children who won chocolates during the events, when they left stage, they didn't hesitate to share their prize with their friends. In fact one boy broke his bar of chocolate immediately, took only ONE piece, and then distributed the rest to all of his friends. Stories like these are the ones that really break your heart into pieces...



Anyway, I really have to thank everyone who was involved in the success of the concert, from the performers (some like Jason, who performed FOUR times in 2 hours, Abigail, Sandun and Diana who choreographed dances or had to write musical score not once but TWICE, some like Lana, the Brazilian girl who had exam on the day but attended anyway, all of those who never hesitated in performing and SO MANY MORE it will probably take me hours to list them out), the also those who helped out in the background with distributing gifts, taking care of the PA system, decoration, backstage crews, ushers, Photographer, Video Cameraman and many many more.

Just thank you very very very much!


Anyway, also not to mention those who helped out during the two month long charity drive. I know this will sound corny, but this is the absolute truth- I kind of felt a sense of pride that the students who helped out came from all different walks of lives, from different religious and racial background, and did this selflessly to achieve one goal- to give the children a memorable experience. This drive really wouldn't have been such a great success if it wasn't for each and every single one of them.



Barbecued Chicken Dumpling


Jane's Haircut Service




Handmade Christmas Cards and Friendship Trinkets




Chicken Dumpling






Personalized mobile phone pouches




Fried Chicken Wings




Indian flat bread and Malaysian Fragrant Rice



Our Stall during a recent Malaysian Student Food Fest

At the end of the drive, we raised a total of 24, 300 rubles. And we stayed true to our promise- every single cent from the money raised were spent ENTIRELY on the children. We didn't even use up a single cent for the decorations, etc!

1. Transport to and from the orphanage

2. A packet of juice and a packet of Russian snacks for each of the children


3. Presents - 11 bars of chocolate and 2 gift packets to the winners of some of the interactive events during the game

4. A wrapped present of 2 exercise books, pencils, an eraser, a ruler, a pencil sharpener and a box of 6pcs colour pencil for each of the children

5. Candies and confectioneries for each of the children


6. Toys for the girls
Playsets, make up kits, dolls





7. Sport equipments and toys for the boys
Footballs, volleyball, table tennis rackets and ping pong balls, kites, badminton rackets and shuttlecocks.



8. Games and Activities for both boys and girls
Frisbees, Snow/Sand scoops, Puzzles, Bowling ball set, chess sets, Monopoly (Manager) game set







9. Books catering to children of all ages


10. Diapers
Diapers of different sizes for the toddler and infant orphanage from Ulitsa Puchkovka, 38


I would like to end this report by referring all of you to this organization that I chanced upon while researching about Russian orphanages. Click here- http://www.invisible-children.org/english/ to find out more information. Basically it is an organization that seeks for mentors through a penpal/correspondence for the children in the different orphanages in Russia.

Most of the children 'graduate' (in actuality, they just simply have to leave when they reach a certain age) from the orphanage, some of them will turn to drugs, some to illegal things, some commit suicide, some will commit crime and get themselves into jail just so they have a place to spend the night and have their meals taken cared for. By providing the children with mentors, they get to learn from a figure, who knows them and cares for them and provide them with the undivided attention that they deserve.

Click on the following link to read about the goal for this organization. http://www.invisible-children.org/english/2slova.html

I personally signed up immediately after the concert, and now have a mentored boy who lives in the orphanage here in Kursk. It really doesn't take a lot out of you. Those who are interested please contact them by sending an email to this address.

E-mail: kinderhilfe@gmail.com

ICQ: 490-002-883

Also, the children speak only in Russian, so if you do not speak Russian, if possible, try to get someone to translate on your behalf.

That's all for now, ciao!

===End of Christmas Charity Drive: Part Deux===

I probably should apologize for the long absence, no? I did mention on several occasions that I'm pretty erratic, in fact my attention span might be slightly longer than that of a China-made electrical appliance.

Anyway, some updates you should probably know about me:

Total...
Weight lost- approximately 10kg
Number of hair lost- Uncountable
Number of Hook-ups- 0
Number of Break-ups- 0
Number of times I thought, 'Lord, I'm bored out of my wits!'- 3, 4
46, 219 times
Number of Charity Drives I helped launch- 1

Speaking of which, this is the ad campaign to the Christmas Charity Drive: Part Deux that I designed (inspired by Heroes, lol!). Click on it to enlarge.

Congratulations on Anwar Ibrahim's victory at the by-election. I'm a little lazy with posting up new posts, plus I'm leaving to Russia already tomorrow afternoon, but before that, let me leave you with this clip-

A New Revolutionary Way at Bowling, clip shot at Ipoh, Perak, while I was out Bowling with Benny and Bernard

Disclaimer: Some of my friends would probably KILL me for posting some of these pictures... But where is the fun in life if you don't get death threats every now and then right? Heehee!

The latest season of Malaysia's Manly Next Top Model sees the final 4 contestants battling it out, catching shots after shots in the beautiful, historical town of Malacca.

The Portfolio
1. The final 4 contestant shooting for the cover for backstreet boys' latest album.

2. Yours truly was eliminated first owing to his premature receding hairline issues (not depicted here thanks to the fedora hat).

3. The final 3 now goes head to head to win the prestigious title.

4. An attempt to recreate the Spanish Steps, albeit the shorter version.

5. Blooper- A duck flew by just as this shot was taken.

6. Bernard the Boring was eliminated next. Judges commented on how his poses were as stony and flat as the stone slabs behind him. Muahahha!

7. Ming attempts the 'Blue Steel' pose.

8. Benny tries 'Magnum' the look that saved the life of Malaysian Prime Minister in Zoolander.

9. Ming refuses to back down, flexing his manly mounds.

10. Benny double backs and uses the smiling-guy-next-door approach.

11. In one final attempt, Ming channeled the spirit of Bruce Lee.

At the end, 2 persons stand in front of me, but I only have one picture in my hands. This picture represents the one who will become Malaysia's Manly Next Top Model.

And the winner is...

Ming

~No trees or ducks were harmed during the photoshoot~

Malacca is a town located 2.5 hours away from Kuala Lumpur. It is known as the historical state of Malaysia, being the place where essentially the sultanate of Malaysia began. As one point in time, it was one of the busiest port in this region, connecting the east with the west, not unlike how Singapore and Hong Kong is at the moment. Having being colonized by Dutch and Portugese, and been visited by the Chinese in the olden days, the buildings in Malacca can be seen as having influenced by all these different cultures.

Anyway, we supposedly should have left by early morning, supposedly 8am. But by the time we woke up, dilly-dallied around, showered and left, the clock pointed 10am.

The journey took 2.5 hours. Having skipped breakfast, upon arrival, we immediately dashed to this infamous restaurant. Ask around and everyone will tell you-

The infamous A' Famosa Chicken Rice Balls Restaurant

Anyway, we have friends studying with us over there in Kursk who has told us of this dish before. And having never really seen it with my own eyes, there were many a heated discussion on whether it should really be named as 'Chicken Rice Balls' or 'Chicken Ball Rice'. Because in both of this instances, they can mean different things. Chicken Rice ball would imply that you'll be served with rice balls together with chicken. Whilst Chicken ball rice means that you'll have rice served with Chicken balls (whatever that means?!?!).


Alas it seems the former holds true. You're served rice balls with chicken. We ordered the original rice balls and glutinous rice balls, just to try it out. Everyone visiting Malacca should give it a try.

Next up, we took out time walking along Jonker street, this area in Malacca known for its well preserved shop houses.
A richshaw ching-a-chinging by
If it weren't for the Malaysian flags, would you have mistaken this sight for just another canal somewhere in Amsterdam?

As of July this year, Malacca has been listed as a prominent World Heritage Site of UNESCO.

Some of the highlights of Malacca include-
A row of shophouses famously knowned as Hung Uk, or 'Red Houses'

St Paul's Church, from where you can catch a bird's eye view of the Malacca city

Studhuys Square with a fountain

Christ Church, Malacca, constructed in the 1700's

Church of St Francis Xavier

And A' Famosa fort, built hundreds of years ago by the Portugese. Now it's a site that's visited by millions of travellers.

If you do visit Malacca, there's another delicacy you must try. Cendols are popular in Malaysia. They are basically a dessert consisting of shaved ice served with boiled red beans, green starched noodles, enjoyed together with flavourings like coconut milk and palm sugar. In Malacca, though, you can enjoy a different variety of cendol, aptly named 'Durian' cendol, it is served with Durian flavouring.
Many people have commented on how strong and pungent Durian smells, to the point where it is overbearing. However, true to the saying a man's trash is another's treasure, true-blooded Malaysians like me can't live without it.

We had our durian cendol at this shop, which emits this old-school feel. And the most special thing about this is the tables used are actually parts of an old sewing machine.

Let's ask our experts on their take on the Durian cendol
(Benny takes a mouthful)
Hrm... Not bad at all, not bad at all...
Ming was more generous with the review- thumbs up!

While asking for directions, we had an interesting encounter with this lady at the petrol station there. Before we knew it, we had converse with her for the past hour about all things including our studies in Russia, our career choices, her life as a mother, et cetera et cetera.

One thing about Malacca though, having being enlisted as a city in the UNESCO list, I would have thought that the locals would be a little more... polite? A little more tourist-friendly, maybe? As I was about to cross this road towards the Studhuys square, as there were no pedestrian traffic light, I was waiting for the streams of cars to stop before crossing over. When I saw what seemed like a good chance for me to cross, not knowing much, I took my time walking across. Suddenly from about a few miles off I can see a car coming. It was speeding, speeding and before I know it, I had to leap across in order not to be knocked down. And the driver was what seemed like a middle aged woman! Would it have been that difficult to slow down your car to let a tourist cross the road?

But anyway, all too soon, it was time to ciao. All and all I felt it was a worthwhile travel. After all being a short distance away from Kuala Lumpur, I would recommend a trip to those planning to visit Malaysia.

The journey back.

Disclaimer: Anyone who knows me know one of the biggest passion (if not THE single biggest passion) in my life is travelling. And while others splurge and indulge in theirs, I do mine a little unorthodoxly. Granted I squeeze every penny's worth, I still try to maximize fun everyway I can.
This is the series of adventure during my trip around Peninsular Malaysia during this past 3rd- 13th August. Enjoy, woo-hoo!

All right, for those of you who do not live in Malaysia and do not speak Malay, the word 'meliwat' means sodomizing, which is actually a play on the word melawat, which means visiting or touring. Seeing the state in which my beloved country is in at the moment (what's with the politics and the sex scandals and et cetera...) I deem it fit to name my 10 days journey 'Tahun Meliwat Malaysia 2008'.

DAY 1

The first picture I captured using my newly bought Sony Cyber Shot digital camera.

The crowd at PC Fair, KLCC

The greatest sales tactic known to mankind- have chicks distribute flyers for your company in revealing clothes, push-up bra and heavily made-up face. You'll fall for it every time.
In front of the Petronas Twin Towers, our national monument.


Us Malaysians and our 'yam cha' habit
Benny
Ming and Bernard having a hearty chat

As we were doing our shopping around Mid-Valley, there was this ruckus and what seems like a crowd of little children.
It was some promotional works done for the High School Musical Ice Tour here in Malaysia.
I don't know if other people see it the same way as I do, but franchises such as High School Musical, Hannah Montana and others are really just capitalizing, and using children as fodder for profit. Not really the best people to reap a profit from.
Having said that, me and Ming left the shopping mall that night, all the while humming to the tunes of 'What time is it? Summertime. Anticipation!' Damn those catchy High School Musical tunes!


Flaming Platter from Manhattan Fish Market for dinner
Liar liar pants on fire!


We ended the night at Halo Cafe, Sunway branch
Met up with Kazakh friends, Shopan and her boyfriend, Ira, with whom we chatted in Russian with.