Book Review: Digital Fortress by Dan Brown

Another one book by the hottest selling author currently, I believe this book was published before The Da Vinci Code (his first book?).

I must admit Dan Brown's thematic reference to breaking codes and cryptology is intriguing in each of the 3 books of his that I've read. Digital Fortress however, differs from the other 2 Robert Langdon stories, as it does not have heavy reference to religious symbolism. The setting of Digital Fortress is more high-tech and contemporary. It revolves around a department in the National Security Agency (NSA) that deals with breaking codes to deal with encrypted messages. When the NSA finds that there is a code that they actually can't break... what could they do? What would they do.

Dan Brown is a master at creating twists and turns, so Digital Fortress has been a pleasurable read. It's like walking down a corridor and *wham* you bumped into a corner and had to turn to find out where it leads you next. However, he created too many characters in this book... many who are almost irrelevant and can be taken out of the entire context.

Ratings: 3 out of 5

Event: John Digweed @ Zouk KL

One of the top club DJ in the dance scene today, John Digweed spinned at Zouk on Friday, 26 November. It has been years since I last attended a gig by a top DJ. The last time was for Paul van Dyke's show at the now burnt Movement YEARS back. The crowd at that time was unbelievable... the queue getting in was traumatic. Thus, most of the time I stayed away.

This time, I am glad that I was there to witness a maestro at work. Digweed was superb! I am not sure how long the queue was to get in, as I was at Zouk earlier for the MTV Asian Award event at 8pm. Saw some local acts performed (Misha Omar, Ruffedge and Too Phat) and lounge about until they begin the warm up set at about 10.30pm. Digweed started his set at 12am and it was pumping and rocking all the way! I was tired and left at about 2.30am, but he was still playing... the place was packed. I was told that he played on till past 3am... I was impressed, for a top DJ to be spinning more a 3 hour set.

Overall, this event has "rejuvenated" my interest in big name DJ... considering that I've missed Armin Van Buren of Godskitchen and Pete Tong in the past weeks... but Paul van Dyke is coming again... December 10 2004!

Makan Review: Good Evening Bangkok

The number of Thai restaurants in around KL and PJ are countless. Located on the ground floor of the new One Utama, Good Evening Bangkok is another spot where you can savour the hot and sour taste of Thai cuisines.

Good Evening Bangkok (GBE) is one of the latest in a series of Thai based restaurants operated by SEA Cuisines, who also operates Amarin Heavenly Thai, Rain Nudle House and Bangkok Jam. GBE's interior is spacious and wide. It also overlooks the indoor landscaped garden of One Utama's new wing.

Food wise is pretty standard Thai fare and the price is neither cheap nor expensive. I was there for a late lunch with 2 clients. We ordered a fish in Thai sauce (nothing to shout about), claypot tofu (a bit sourish) and tomyam soup (they have 2 type - clear spicy and those reddish kind... quite tasty). My client also introduced a very interesting appetizer, can't recall what it is called... but it's like popiah... you roll up a leaf, dump in some nuts, dried prawns, onions, lime, dip it in a nice sweet sauce... and put it in your mouth... yummy.

I think GBE can be quite a nice place to have a group dinner (6 to 10 people). It's spacious and the staffs are quite friendly (maybe because I was there when there were less crowd). I might check it out for dinner one night.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Suckspage email

For your information, suckspage@gmail.com and suckspage@yahoo.com is having the same password.

suckspage@gmail.com - can be use as file sharing or others you want to share.

suckspage@yahoo.com - suckspage 2nd photo album.

14 hours in Bangsar...

Tell me that I have nothing better to do. I actually spent 14 hours in Bangsar on Monday. I'm trying to figure out what else I did on Sunday that I decide to go hangout in Bangsar on Monday... Oh yea. I was being a good boy and was with my parents, uncles, aunts and my sister at One Utama on Sunday, then met a friend for dinner/snacks at Chili's before heading home to play mahjong with Paul and Keing Ming. So obviously I didn't have too late night, and no alcohol for entire Sunday...

So, I woke up early Monday morning. Do I need to go to work. Nope. It's still Raya day. Hooray. Okay, so buzz up a friend, said to meet at 11.30 in Bodega Deli but that fella said he still in bed, can make it at 12.30? I told him I'll be there at 12, need to go to the bank. Got to Hong Leong Bank bout 11 plus and stupid machine not working, so I can't pay them. Too bad.

Then went over to Bodega Deli, picked a seat near the cashier, and ordered my usual omelette with onions and beef bacon, plus a serving of chicken sausage. And a 8 degree Ice Peach Tree (I seriously has no idea what it was... but cost RM 10) and imagine my surprise when the waitress pour me a glass of ice peach tea from this white tiny bottle... I was like... WTF. Damn. Kena conned. Then worse happened. The waiter brought me my omelette, with onion inside, but told me the chef bloody forgot to include the bacon and had to serve the bacons separately. I thought of rejecting it, but my stomach said otherwise. My friend joined up later on bout 1pm.

Okay, lunch's over. What's next, thought of heading home to sleep, but I had my novel with me so I thought I'd head up to Bodega Lounge upstairs too see if can chill out at the couch. My friend joined me. I ordered a glass of pink guava and he started with white wine. At 1pm. What is wrong with him. Geee. Ok. Bodega Lounge wasn't really packed yet, and we managed to grab a couch seating. Got bored after a while, and checked out some boardgames they had there. And we started playing Snakes & Ladders! I don't think I've played that since I was 8 years old. And the game takes bloody long to finish, keep on hitting on a snake and sliding back. Then we started to say everytime we hit the snake, we gotta take a sip of wine... and ended up opening a bottle of wine. Oh my god.

Time now, I think only about 3pm. So we started with Monopoly... another game I've not played since Standard 6. But hey, I still kicked ass. Managed to make my friend bankrupt in 1/2 hour. Hahaha. Ok, he's not satisfied. Another round. Then another friend joined, and watched us played for a while before she got bored. So we got her into the game, her first time. Hmmm, a monopoly virgin. And after almost 1 hour of game... I won again. Hahaha. Maybe I can challenge Donald Trump in real estate now. By this time, we've finished our 2nd bottle of wine.

Whoops. and it's not even 6pm yet. So ordered a jug of white sangria. And we begin to play Pictionary. I think we were making so much noise people are staring and wondering what idiots. Hehehe. Got bored with Pictionary, and we started with Taboo when another friend join. We paired up and the earlier girl was already tipsy from the wine and sangria and can't play Taboo straight, keep on making mistakes... which resulted in her drinking more... wahahaha...

Ok. Almost 8pm, let's head for dinner. Went to the chinese restaurant next door, and ordered 3 dishes of noodles for 4 person. Just nice. Was discussing what's the plan after dinner (and supposed to head home to shower...) but I ended up with one of the girls having a drink and chat at Bar Flam. It started to rain again, so decided to stay on... until I had more friends joining up at Bar Flam at about 10pm... I knew then that I won't be home until I spent at least 12 hours in Bangsar, and true enough, after 3 jugs of beer, some nice R&B and hip-hop music, and a total of 14 hours later at 2am... I finally drove home. To sleep.

And what did I do on Tuesday? I spent the whole day at home. Didn't go out for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. After 14 hours in Bangsar, I think I had enough of going "out" for a day.

So what did you all do on your long weekends?

Music: New York City - Peter Malick Group feat. Norah Jones

Admittedly, I don't think I've heard of the Peter Malick Group, but when my friend passed me this CD and said it has Norah Jones in it, I asked, or new Jazz album? He said no, it's kinda "chill out" music. I was baffled for a while, until I pop the CD in my player. Whoa.

For those that enjoy both house/chill and jazz sounds, this CD provides you a perfect fusion. Soft bass and electronica in the background, coupled with Norah Jones' soothing vocal, the CD's perfect for setting the mood for a slow quiet night at home.

I am not sure how the original Peter Malick tunes sound like, but this is a Remix album with club DJ putting those mix with Norah Jones' vocal, but I must say, I like the result.

Full CD title: New York City: The Remix Album
by The Peter Malick Group featuring Norah Jones.

Ratings: 4.5 of 5

Music: Parade of the Athletes - Tiesto

I had missed the opening ceremony of the Athens 2004 Olympics Games, where for the first time in history, they have a DJ spinning music during the parade of the athletes. I thought that was pretty cool, and they couldn't have picked any other than the best DJ - DJ Tiesto.

For those familiar with the dance scene, Tiesto's name and sounds are well-known. I am not sure how long was the entire parade during the opening ceremony but this CD starts of with an > 8 minutes track call Heroes, which is just superb! Powerful and exciting.

Rest of the tracks in the CD are perfect for some trance session as Tiesto is the master in playing with the mood... from high to low to some lingering feel and to the climax!

Ratings: 4 of 5

Book: Aphrodite by Russell Andrews

This is Russell Andrews' 3rd novel, after Icarus and Gideon. I have a this habit of picking up novels by the same author (if they are good), so I had been waiting for months for this paperback as I had enjoy both his earlier works.

Aphrodite tells of a story of a small town cop who got entangle in a web of murders, cover-ups and lies. A suspense-thriller, paced nicely that makes you want to turn the pages. The writer doesn't go to elaborate length to set the tone, but the action is fast and coming to you. I like how the all the little storylines/plots are revealed as you read along towards the end of the book.

Good read, nothing too heavy, just treat it like watching an action/cop movie.

Ratings: 3.5 of 5

Book: Angels & Demons - Dan Brown

The first book by the acclaimed author of Da Vinci's Code, is it really good? Well, no doubt I had enjoyed Da Vinci's Code, I had a little reservation about Dan Brown's writing style, as I am probably more engrossed about the facts & myths presented by Brown in the book than his storyline, style and pacing. Thus, I decided to pick up this first book by him to see if I can "explore" deeper into his style.

Well, suffice to say, I finished the book in about a week. Considering that I had actually started on another book (The Family by Mario Puzo), which I dropped, and started on Angels & Demons, I must say that it had been an engrossing read.

The book tells of the story of Prof. Robert Langdon being summoned to CERN, a high-tech research facility in Switzerland to help investigation on a murder, where the corpse of the dead was "branded" by sign of a secret cult, the Illuminati, thought to have been disappeared centuries ago. Together with the daughter of the deceased scientist, Langdon then travelled to Rome and Vatican City, where the Pope has just passed away, and the election of a new Pope is to commence. But the threat of Illuminati threaten to put the entire foundation of the Catholic church in disarray, with 4 top cardinals being kidnap and the Vatican itself is being threaten by a high-tech bomb.

Again, Dan Brown has shown great ability to meld historic art, ancient believes, religious topics and modern technologies into an intriguing storyline. Although most of the paragraphs are used to describe the environment, the architecture and the structures, he managed to pace the book in a way that makes you want to keep turning the pages. With some twists and turns, the book keeps you hanging to find out who is the villain behind it all.

Now, will his 2 other books be as good a read? Time to find out soon.


Rating: 4 of 5

P/S: Talk about coincidence, when I bought this book and The Family by Mario Puzo together, I didn't realized that both books will touch on the Vatican, the Pope, the process to elect a Pope (known as the conclave). The Family talks about the conclave in early 17th century (when there are only 5 or 6 cardinals) while Angels & Demons' conclave is set in the 21st century (there are 165 cardinals). Just one of those moments that makes you ponder...

Music: Suit - Nelly

One of 2 albums released by Nelly concurrently, Suit contains some pretty good listening of R&B tunes. Slick lyrics, rhythm & bass (I think I burst one of my car's speaker playing this album...) showcased Nelly's smooth gangsta style. The other album, Sweat, supposed contain heavier gangsta stuffs, while this album contain the milder ones.

Among good tracks are the first single - My Place, In My Life, N Dey Say and Over and over. Most of the tracks contain collaboration with some other hip hop artists, including Jaheim, Snopp Dogg, Mase and Tim McGraw (isn't he some country music guy?)...

Ratings: 4 of 5

Movie: Shark Tales

SandyWoo: The movie does not live up to expectation (or something along that line...)

That's what Sandy told me when I asked her how was the movie. So, when I watched it, I wasn't expecting too much.

The story is about a little "Fresh Prince" fish who boasted to have kill sharks, thus being appointed as the protector of the reefs. Throw in the mix a group of Mafia sharks, a couple of Jaimaican jellyfish, a puffer fish that owns a car... i mean whale wash... you have a recreation of New York City in a sea world settings.

Although some movie critics complained that the movie "over-humanized" the sea characters (the characters doesn't act or behave like actual sea creatures like in Finding Nemo), but I think it's fine. It's fun to see all the references created from the environment and characters to mimic NYC. You get GUP (GAP), Coral Cola (Coca Cola), and some other interesting puns and gags.

In terms of characterization, you can basically see Will Smith and Robert De Niro in Oscar the Fish and Don Lino the shark respectively. So you can expect some good laughs from Smith and typical Godfather style from De Niro.

Overall, still an entertaining watch, good for a lazy afternoon... like the Friday I took off from work and caught this movie... hehehe.

Ratings: 3.5 of 5

Hollywood's remake of "Infernal Affairs"

In case you guys like the 'Infernal Affairs' movie, here's some latest news about the remake of the western version, as reported at www.cinema.com.my

The "Infernal Affairs" remake is underway and cast has apparently been chosen according to the Boston Herald. This Hong Kong film’s remake is to be titled "The Departed" and will be directed by non other then Martin Scorsese.

Poised to play the leads made famous by Andy Lau and Tony Leung in the Hong Kong version are Leonardo Di Caprio and Matt Damon. Previously Brad Pitt was attached to the film, however, according to the Boston Herald, he and his wife, Jennifer Aniston, will be the producers along with Scorsese. It is unknown whether either will have starring roles in the film.

The movie "Infernal Affairs" tells the story of two men, one working for the triads and one for the police, who infiltrates the opposing organisations. Damon will play Andy Lau's character of the triad mole in the police force while DiCaprio will play Tony Leung's tortured police mole in the triads.

As a fan of the original movie, I'm definately very excited about this news, I bet Leonardo will play his role well, this guy can really act. But don't know how well will Matt Damon perform as Andy Lau's role. Let's hope this will be a worthy remake and it won't disappoint the fans!

Happy Birthdady to Paul !!!

Happy Birthday to paul.