233rd United States Marine Corps Birthday Ball

Last Saturday Lady Patsy and I attended the 233rd United States Marine Corps Birthday Ball at the JW Marriot in Bukit Bintang. The ball was hosted by the Marine Security Guard Detachment of the American Embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

After watching lots of NCIS and A Few Good Men, we're finally gonna see the men in uniform in the flesh!

Our preparation for the ball started in the afternoon when Lady Patsy met up with me at the YMCA in Brickfields after my French class. We then drove back to my apartment to get dressed up. But before that we stopped at Sonali's to get matching bangles and earrings for Lady Patsy's blue lengha.

By the time we reached my apartment, some bloody driver had parked their car in my lot. I complained to Security and they clamped the car. But before that, I sent my 'love' to the driver on a piece of paper and stuck it on to the windscreen. The message read: "Please don't park here anymore, stupid!" That was me being nice, I could have used more 'colourful' words ...

Cocktails began at 6.00pm and dinner at 7.00pm. By the time we did our hair and make-up, it was already 8.00pm!!!

I was hoping they would follow Malaysian timing, but these are military guys, so I guess they would be military precised in their timing.

By the time we got to the Marriot, the second course was about to be served. This means we missed the salad and the opening ceremony which was some flag procession, I heard.

But before we could enter the ballroom, we had to pass through a metal detector like the ones at the airport. Expect this at most events that involves the Americans, what more a Marine ball!

Luckily they didn't ask us to remove our shoes, otherwise I would have been pretty pissed having to tie my shoes back and already late for the ball.

Red and white wine supplied by the Embassy ran out during the second course. Only beer was available throughout the night. So those who wanted more wine had to purchase from the hotel. What a rip-off for those who paid to attend the ball!

After the last course was served, most of the guests started hitting the dance floor. After dancing for a bit, we went to snap pics outside the Grand Ballroom.

Lovely ice sculpture.

L to R: Lady Patsy, Tini Sharman and I.

This is GySgt Shaun Washausen. He is the Detachment Commander of the Marines in Kuala Lumpur. I think he looks like Robbie Williams.

Cpl Juan Machuca and I.

There were two of this on each table, and I took two sets home as souvenir.

Rest in Peace - Michael Crichton

As the world celebrates the first African-American President, I am sadden by the demise of one of my favourite author - Michael Crichton.

He passed away on November 4 at the age of 66, after a battle with cancer.

Even since reading Rising Sun, Crichton's work has never failed to fascinate me with his use of simple language and his vivid imagination. His ability to churn out stories that gripped my attention makes me want to read all his work.

My fav Michael Crichton books are:

• Rising Sun
• Jurassic Park
• The Lost World
• The Andromeda Strain
• Congo

Michael, the world will miss your literary genius. Rest in peace.

Profile of an Internet Dating Conman

I was having dinner with a friend today and the topic of internet dating scams came up. We exchanged notes and here are some pointers on how to identify an internet dating conman.

• A huge majority of these conmen come from Nigeria.
• He usually poses as a single parent with a young daughter/son, has a good job and is a Caucasian from either the United States or United Kingdom. His wife would have died in a car crash or some illness.
• Inconsistent information. There was this guy I was corresponding with who referred to his kid as a 'he' and sometimes as a 'she'. Unless his child is gay, I don't think a parent could mix up the sex of his child.
• Notice how he always talks about other things (like declaring his deep love for you) but never talks about himself. This is because there's nothing to talk about himself, his whole life is a lie.
• When you ask for his pic, he'll email you someone else's pic - usually a Caucasian guy's and claim that's him. One give-away is the pics will be blur, which means he would have gleaned it from cyberspace.
• He will declare his deep love for you by the third email, latest. Can a person fall in love with someone so fast without even knowing you? I can't, for sure.
• He'll want to fly all the way to your country to visit you very early in the relationship.
• When he gives you his number, check and see if the country code is +234 (Nigeria's country code). Some of these cheats are not too bright and won't expect the girl to check on the country code. But girls are smarter these days.

Now you might be thinking what are the motives of these conmen. Why do they go through all the trouble to pose as somebody else?

Well, the main motive is usually to cheat the potential victim off her hard earned money. And he'll usually do this by convincing the girl he's in a dire situation like stranded in a foreign country while on his way to visit the girl and needs money badly.

Well, I hope these pointers will come in handy in case an email from a hunky male Caucasian suddenly drops into your mailbox.