By Allan Yap & Nigel A. Skelchy
Sipping my apple lime crush at Vivo, Pizza and Panini, a grinning, toothy, unkaleong and a slinky, hot Sze sidles up and gives me one of her lovely hugs. You know the ones I mean. A loving, affectionate hug that envelops you with the other person's aura. Not a "lean-forward-chin-on-shoulder-pat-pat-on-back-break-off-asap" type hug.
And that was the start to a hilarious evening.
From relationships to food, to sex (of course), and to alcohol, which of course then includes scuba diving, travelling, passports, our immigration officers, why women find gay men such a challenge, I don't think we left any stone unturned, any topic unexplored. Of course all this was done under the influence of a balmy night, with a slight cool breeze blowing; the after effects of an otherwise thunderous day.
It really was a great introduction to some new bloggers/friends;
http://beingmervs.blogspot.com
http://7-catsndogs.blogspot.com/
http://atonne.blogspot.com/
The rest, you know. Unkaleong, who has one of the most scintillating smiles I've seen in a long time, Jadedpoetry, who was her usual measured but knowing self, Lyrical Lemongrass, and of course the ever effervescent, ugwug or as she prefers to be known, wmw.
From soul baring to flaunting abs, you name it, the night air was to blame. New and old friends sharing a laugh, getting to know each other, and renewing bonds with only the impending end of the night to regret.
Lyrical Lemongrass very kindly loaned me the following photo, which really should be accompanied by her lyrical phrasing of the intent;
"And then there was Unkaleong who knew exactly what it would take to make us hungry. I later went home to eat some delicious wantan noodles with wild boar curry to satiate my hunger. But that's another story altogether."
Hmm sex, food, and fresh meat... Marie Antoinette knew what she was on about when she said "let them eat cake."
Photo Courtesy of
awhiffoflemongrass.blogspot.com
By Allan Yap & Nigel A. Skelchy
RELAY FOR LIFE KUALA LUMPUR 2 (6pm) -3 (10am) JUNE 2007 MSN Training Stadium, Bukit Jalil
Tel: 03-2698 7300
Fax: 03-2698 4300
Email:
contact@cancer.org.my 
In recent times, it has been my privilege and pleasure to meet more and more people from all walks of life. But thanks to serendipitous encounters, (otherwise known as "chance meetings" - don't get too much of a chance to exercise my RM10 words so feel a need to throw them in periodically) ;-) the people who've touched my life have been people I have been able to learn from. And I'm in awe especially of the cancer survivors.
Those who've survived a bout with cancer are serene, grateful, appreciative, funny people. People who have a penchant for enjoying or as they say in NCSM, Celebrating Life. One would think that having dealt with so much that they would be despondent, despairing, and depressed. But not at all. The ones I've met are happy, well adjusted, caring individuals. People who were grateful for their lives and for their loved ones. People who were content.
A far cry from people who are chasing, always looking and never finding.
The event above is intended to raise funds, raise awareness, and above all educate people about cancer and to show people that Cancer is not a death sentence anymore.
With proper self examination and early treatment, many forms of cancer are treatable and people go on having a great quality of life.
So attend, donate, or just send well wishes. All are welcome.
By Allan Yap & Nigel A. Skelchy
Had a "date" with Cel and on an impulse, having retrieved from the depths of my memory, this Korean restaurant that wmw went to on one of her many food adventures, decided to grab my big baby, my Nikon D70 and try that on food.
Bonjuk is situated opposite the Lotte Supermarket in Desa Sri Hartamas and up till then I was absolutely clueless as to how large the Korean community is in KL. As we approached Bonjuk, there were Koreans walking about speaking Korean and Lotte, it turns out, supplies the local Korean community in this neck of the woods. There's a larger enclave of them in Ampang.
Anyway, I digress.
We take out seats in Bonjuk and we find out that they serve traditional Korean fast food. Sort of like the equivalent of Japanese Bento. But much spicier and instead of everything being separated, it's all thrown into the rice. The other thing was the porridge. Rice porridge. If you guessed that the "juk" in "Bonjuk" is "chook" then you're pretty much on the right track.
Having absolutey no idea what to order we asked the waitress for help whereupon this young gent calmly sidles up and takes the ordering pad and says "I'll handle this." And so we meet Andrew Kim. The owner. Who gave me the impression he was no more than 19. After some pleasantries I finally get around to asking his age (you can't just blurt out, "omigod you look young enough to be my son") and it turns out he's still a young 28. With rather large ambitions. Another Bonjuk is opening up in 1 Utama later in the year and he has plans to open in Singapore by year end. Did I mention he's 28? 
In any case, we ordered 2 kimchee laced dishes (a bibimbap, a hot casseroled rice and juk) and they turned out to be delightful. Not too heavy but intensely flavoured with the sweet fermented sourness and spicyness of Kimchee. There was a generous portion of beef in the rice and octopus in the "chook."
I heartily recommend the place. Not least of which is the fact that you have a great young guy taking the world balls on. I thoroughly admire his guts, his savvy, and his intelligence. If you look around the place there are pictures of him meeting Colin Powell and George Bush snr. (The more intelligent one). ;-) Obviously someone to watch.
Replete with dinner, Cel and I head over to "Romanza" a concert by my voice coach, Cha Seng Tiang and his friend Cecilia Yap who is also a vocal teacher.
Both were in fine voice and I must admit it was lovely being able to take in some culture. They sang a varied selection of music from Arias, to folk songs and art songs. 
The thing which never ceases to amaze me is the fact that the Chinese speaking chinese community is so big into classical voice. The whole theatre was filled with people speaking mandarin.
That did not detract from the stellar performance however, and it was all in all, a lovely evening. Good food, good company, and good entertainment. What more could you ask for?
By Allan Yap & Nigel A. Skelchy
It's always an honour to be nominated at Kakiseni's Boh Cameronian Arts Awards. This will be the third time in as many concerts that we have been nominated. For a group that does this for fun to come up against seasoned professionals like Sean Ghazi before, Dama Orchestra, Joe Hasham and Faridah Merican of Actors Studio fame, is to my mind an achievement that we can be proud of.
The theme this year was "Carnival." So it was up to you to interpret what you thought should be the dress code. We decided it was like Rio's Carnivale or Venice's Carnival. So masks it would be. ;-)
The rush this time was even more intense as The Wicked Pitches nominated in 4 categories. We thought we stood a good chance in at least one of them but it was not to be. My take on it is that we're not ready to accept an award yet and well, God knows that. We need to strive and keep doing that thing we do.
One thing we did though is have fun and meet some new friends. Have a look at the pics below.
Dinner at Suria KLCC's food court - not bad. But then again, how could you go wrong with curry chicken on top of wantan noodles. Yum!
Coleen and Allan, sis and bro, in masks. I designed Allan's mask and started it off and he put the finishing touches on it. It's really rather good, don't you think?
Zal & Hubby, Eugene. Yes, she wore a mask as well. She is such a happy girl. Am privileged and honoured to know her. It's so great being in her presence as she is so vibrant. Needless to say, she says all there is to say so Eugene is the strong, silent type.
Me with the redoubtable Ms Lee Lee Lan. Birds of a feather and all that. Allan made my mask. 
From Left to Right, Ms Lee Lee Lan, Yue Ling from The Wicked Pitches, and Allan Yap, my partner.
New buddy. Samuel. Trying on my mask for size. Also sang with the group that I started out with in Malaysia. You know how you click with some people immediately? Felt that with him. Looking forward to good times. 
Sam with the incorrigible Ms Pan Swee Chin. ;-)
The gorgeous and attention seeking Tony Eusoffe (hehe Tony ;-) Just kidding lah ha) and Eugene. I'm sorry I'm not sure who the lady is. :-)
Swee Chin, Kathy Rowland who started this madness at Kakiseni - love her - in the first place and Allan. She came back from the US for just a few days to attend the event. 
Colin and Swee Chin - Colin was up for a nomination for best solo for Broken Bridges - great performer
Coleen, Me and Allan
The Wicked Pitches minus a couple 
The guys from Hand's percussion performed
Sway Kow from Restoran Sg Besi at supper after - prawns, nice texture, soft wrap = very good
The sambal that made the meal - har mei slow fried with chillis until it's reduced like this
Allan walking into the restaurant 
1230am - yes Malaysians eat at all times of day
Wantan mee Sg Besi
The Char Siew Wantan mee - the noodles were textured with a good bite (I hate mushy noodles), the char siew was a good mix of fatty and lean and the sauce was full bodied, savoury and sweet, just like good wantan mee should be.
And that was the start to a hilarious evening.
Lyrical Lemongrass very kindly loaned me the following photo, which really should be accompanied by her lyrical phrasing of the intent;
