Ok..i know this is really a late update. Things were kinda in topsy turvy these days. I just got my comp last week and I need to reinstall quite a number of programs before I can get it back to how it used to work for me.
If you had been wondering what really is this 23rd Souled Out thing, it is just another one of my birthday celebration with my buddies. This year was quite a special one. I celebrated in KL. For the passed 22 years, it had been in my hometown, Penang. Beside that, i had quite number of surprising birthday gifts. Junn and Mee bought me an Aston Martin. Captain Teh actually had David Beckham showing me how to take a free kick. Kate bought me a T-shirt. Most astonishing of all is the present from Boonz. I love it man. Zack! Seriously you wanted half of it as your birthday present? It's kinda pity to split it. Boonz hardwork leh....
Anyway, the dinner at Souled Out, KL was fun because we rarely had the chance to sit down and make fun of each others these days. Too busy with personal stuff. Unlike those schooling days where we can see each other day in day out and still hang out at every other opportunities. I'm glad that I decided to organise a get together with them especially on my birthday because I had a big big reason to force the come. Haha. No come means no give face.
The food was not bad. Just slightly above average. Even the appearance didn't made any of us drool. But the environment was good. A good place to laugh out loud, teased each oter without boundaries and not being stared at.
But timing is seriously out. I asked them to come at 630 but we only get to order at 8pm because we had to wait. I, the birthday boy had to wait for 2 hours. But it doesn't really matter la. At least I get a cup of flaming lamborghini and a dinner treat from them. Haha. The Souled Out crew even had me wearing a funny hat and took a family photo for us.
After dinner , we headed to Wong Kok again for the big big cup of Teh Peng. I even had a birthday card and a photo album from Wong Kok. Haha..
It was quite a tiring day but it was definitely a complete day. You guys made the day complete for me. Your presence and the get together was the best present I wanted to have. :D
@ wongkok
teh peng and photo album from wong kok
me and flaming
crazy family photo
serious family photo from left (top) Junn, Mee, Kate Choong, Captain Teh, JayChuah from left (bottom) LeeXW, Ah Meng aka Keith, me, Zac, Boonz
One more thing. Mr JayChuah..i know u want to be famous but need every pic also put www.wedtakes.com meh...haha....just kidding...
I'm back in KL after 4 unplanned dramatize days in Penang. It was a great trip back to my hometown but not the best la. I have got no transport there! That makes my life suck while I was in Penang last weekend. Didn't get to enjoy as much food as I did during my previous trip back to Penang. I've got a lot to blog about but I'm in office now. I'm blogging using the office comp again. Haha. My comp is in the workshop. Decided to reformat it after 4 months long of unconditional tolerance towards the error win32. No idea what is that even after Tony (the computer guy) explained to me while I was in the theatre half mesmerised by Keanu Reeves in "The Day The Earth Stood Still."
Anyway, Starwalk seems easier this year. Maybe because the weather were on our side. It was quite windy and the sun wasn't as strong as the year before. But one thing remained the same, our spirit! Haha. But we were slower this year. Zac were jokingly complaining about the being tired at the start of the walk but halfway through the journey, we splited path as me, ck, joyce and tk were walking and talking and we didn't realise how fast we were. Zac, Boon, Yan and Thern were slowly enjoying the breeze and having pit stops along the walk. Almost at the end of the walk, they caught up with us and we crossed the line together.
Not really in the mood of typing because my left hurts and I'm lacking of peaceful sleep. I was dreaming the whole night. Don't remember the details but I know it is quite a dramatic dream like those TVB series. Haha.
Coming Soon.....
Wedtakes Photography Workshop -1st time collaboration of DominiqueBan with Wedtakes crew brining you a photography experience like never before
DominiqueBan 23rd Souled Out! - my souled out birthday party
DominiqueBan @ POTI - my dramatic days in POTI
The Day The Earth Stood Still - the honest movie review
Thanks for all your wishes! I really appreciate it. I had a crazy birthday this year. Just came back from dinner with some bros. I'll be back in Penang next week for another belated birthday meal. Thanks to all your sms that jam my phone. As you all should know by now that my phone is a quite off these days. I was so frustrated this morning and last night because my phone kept hanging but when i knew the reason, I was very touched and surprised. I had to delete 87.5kb of sms from my inbox before i can receive any sms. Averagely 1 sms is 1kb. So you count and see the number of sms queueing up to be received by my phone. When i login facebook, I saw 20+ notifications in which all are birthday wishes. Thanks again to all for blasting my birthday this year.
I had a great night at Souled Out and WongKok at SS2 (again). Haha. I will upload the photos once I get it from JayChuah. You guys seriously rocked my world this year. All the best to you all too. Once again, THANK YOU!!!
Street lights were my companion on LDP Radio waves plunges me in a way or two "Happy Birthday" from you to me "Friends Forever" from me to you
Tonight was a very quiet night. I had never enjoy such a quiet night for a long time. Maybe I just need time to slowly adapt to my new life here in the rapidly growing city of Kuala Lumpur. As usual, I was browsing through a few blogs and surfing the web looking for something to catch my attention. These days i found a lot of blogs talking about how to earn money and how to spend money wisely. I thought for a while. Can we spend money and at the same time be wise? Is it to buy a cheaper yet presentable gift since Christmas is just around the corner? Then suddenly, I begun to wonder, do people actually appreciate the gifts we gave them? Hmm...after that i continued browsing around until I saw this particular article that caught my attention. It was about a charity drive to collect fund for the Payatas to celebrate Christmas.
At that moment, I seriously had no idea what is Payatas. I know Nasi Pataya but never had I heard about Payatas. As a curious person in nature, I decided to google it. After reading what I found in the web, i felt sorry for them but it wasn't until I saw this youtube video. Believe it or not, after watching that video, I could feel tears rolling down my cheek. It was then that I decided to write it here hopefully to lend a helping hand in bringing Christmas for Payatas.
Some of you might have heard of them but to be honest, I've never heard about them. There is this place in The Philippines which is located in the suburbs of Manila, 20km away from the central area of the city known as the Payatas dump. It is at a place called the Smoky Valley after Smoky Mountain, the biggest garbage dump in the Philippines and one of the three biggest slums in the world. Smoky Mountain was dismantled by the government in 1995. For over 35 years, that place had been a heart wrenching place which remind us of the desperate conditions of humanity. Smokey Valley is 70 ha large where 3,000 ton of garbage is brought in every day. Around Smokey Valley, approximately 92,000 scavengers (18,000 families) live.
scavengers of Payatas collecting rubbish for a living
Something tragical incident happened on 10 July 2000, after a period of torrential rain, a trashslide occurred in the Payatas dump claiming over 200 lives, including many children. The victims were the scavengers and sorters at the dump site and those living nearby. After that incident, authorities instituted better management of the site but still many continued to depend on scavenging because that's the only way for them to survive for the day.
From the video, I could see that the people of Payatas were actually running after an incoming rubbish truck just to collect the fresh rubbish that just arrived hoping to find something valuable to sell so that they could buy food for the day. Even children as young as 4 years old would be there helping their parents to collect valuable rubbish because that remains their only means of livelihood. Therefore, many of them were unable to go to school. Due to the harsh living conditions, many children suffer from malnutrition and skin diseases. The infant mortality rate is as high as 30%. They lived and stayed next to the rubbish dump and the children spent hours under the hot sun trying to find food. I can see that they felt so happy to find sausages from the rubbish. Can you tell me what would you do if you found overdue sausages in your fridge? If you saw the video, can you see how contented they were to find a half eaten sausage in the dump? Moreover, can you imagine sleeping at a rubbish dump? Now you tell me, how far is your car from the rubbish truck when you saw one stopping right in front of you at the traffic light. Let me tell you how far I was last saturday. I was roughly 7-8 meters away. Can you imagine at Payatas, they were actually competing against each other to see who reaches the rubbish truck first? And that is not only the adult, the children did the same.
Children of Payatas
There are over 20,000 children living on the Smokey Mountain. This foundation hopes to be able to feed 5000- 10000 children everyday. Besides that, this foundation is also trying to bring education for the children. Only by education that they can move away from this scavenging lifestyle and improve on their life. In response to the plight of these children, Totedaddy.com is working with Lighthouse Center For Children Foundation to bring a little cheer to the children this Christmas. Other supporters includes FusionExcel International, which has previously donated funds towards this worthy initiative. The purpose of this charity drive is to bring Christmas for Payatas.
from left : Matthew Ting, CEO of ToteDaddy; Paul Ting, CEO of FusionExcel International; Judge Lorenzo B. Veneracion
Lee Sharpe, former Manchester United star showing off some of his skills to the children of Payatas
This charity drive, Christmas for Payatas is actually supported by a lot of celebrities. I even saw some of our childhood football stars Lee Sharpe from Manchester United and Ray Parlour from Arsenal. Other celebrities includes Philippines Basketball Legends Allan Caidic, Samboy Lim and Alvin Patrimonio.
Philippines Basketball Legends
from left : Allan Caidic, Samboy Lim, Alvin Patrimonio
Christmas is a time where everyone should be happily enjoying themselves with their family and friends. I too hope that the Payatas will enjoy a delightful Christmas this year. If I had the ability to donate, I will definitely do so but as I just moved into the busy city, I'm still struggling to meet ends. For you people out there who enjoy reading my blogs, please do lend an arm for the Payatas so that they could enjoy a peace and pleasant Christmas. I believe it would brighten up the day in which they need not go to the rubbish dump to collect rubbish just to earn a living for that day.
You just need to click here and donate. It's that easy. For every donation, you actually planted a seed of happiness in each and every resident of Payatas. I, hereby, bravely voluntarily thanking all you generous people on behalf of the children of Payatas.
Energetic volunteers and children of Payatas
Here is the video that touches deep enough to make a big man like me rolled a tear down the cheek.
@ wongkok
teh peng and photo album from wong kok
me and flaming
crazy family photo
serious family photo
