My Lil Brother busting a groove

My Brothers Keeper

G-Money: "Am I my brother's keeper?"
Nino Brown: "YES I AM!"

(Nino Brown then shoots G-Money in the head)

- From the movie New Jack City

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Last Sunday, I met up with Marie and I decided that we should watch The Bra Boys. I convinced her that it was a romantic comedy centralised around the themes of family, brotherly love and about Australian surfing culture.

No, I am kidding, of course I didn't say that!

The Bra Boys is a documentary currently showing at many of those indie type cinemas like Dendy and The Palace. The story is centered around the four Abberton Brothers - Koby, Jai, Sunny and the other one (kinda like the third tenor who know one really knows).

The primary focuses is on the suburb Maroubra and the group of people know as the "Bra Boys" which hang around Maroubra beach, which the Abberton brothers are a part of. "Bra" is short for Maroubra in case you didn;t know.

The movie does go into the world of the Bra Boys through the Abberton brothers. They are surf heads, in that their whole life is centered around surfing. Sunny and Koby compete on the world stage and the brothers travel the world looking for the best waves.

Koby Abberton - Back

However, their world comes crashing down when a violent standover man Anthony Hines threatens Jai Abberton and to rape his girlfriend. Hines pulls a gun on Jai, and in the ensuing struggle Jai manages to shoot Hines with the gun. Jai then is charged with murder and faces a maximum of 30 years jail time. Koby refuses to give evidence against his brother and to co-operate with the police and is charged as an accessory. He faces 15 years jail. If you want to know the rest, see the actual movie.....punk!

Are the Bra Boys a gang?

The doco goes to great pains to reposition the group to not be a gang.I have tried to avoid mentioning the word "gang" til now as it has negative connocations. But let's not kid ourselves here.

The Bra Boys have gotten a lot of publicitiy from fighting, rioting and the notorious incident where they fought like 100 police at the Police Xmas party. I believe and this is my own opinion, while the Bra Boys are not exactly a gang they do have gang-like elements.

They are not into committing crime like drug dealing, and shootings but the fact that they do get into terrotorial fights and the movie does also depict the Bra Boys defending their terrority against outside gangs trying to invade Maroubra in the 70's and 80's. If that is not a gang, then give me one of these "2053" Bra Boy tattoos!

That's another factor - the tattoos. if you have been a member of the Bra Boys for 5-1o years and done your time as a member, you get approval from the older boys to get a tatt. So they'll have a massive "bra boys" tatt on their back, on the familar tatt of "my brothers keeper" or the postcode of "2053".

The movie is a bit of a sellout of the Bra Boys. And they are also come up with crap about how the Bra Boys had an influence in stopping the race riots in Cronulla by meeting up with these Biker lebbos in Brighton. Apparently they reached out to their "connections" and played a role in calming down the race riots. Yeah they did a bit, but I hardly think that influenced any one.

Conclusion

Before I forget, the story is narrated by Russell "put the telephone down" Crowe. He chimes in every now and then but I'm surprised he actually took up this role. He doens't add any credibility to the movie.

The movie wasn't that fascinating and didn't really tell me anything about the Bra Boys that i didn't already know. The one good thing they had was awesome surf shots and they depict how crazy the Abberton brothers are when they surf.

Overall rating: 7 out of 10. Wait for the DVD.

I'm out like Biker Lebbos in Brighton,

DJ Ho.

This is how we roll

In the summer of 2003/2004, which some might call the summer of Jackson gate/boobgate, there were two young interns sitting next to each other in a workspace booth crammed with files, office workers rushing around them, and the constant buzz of telephone calls. These office rookies quickly became friends cause they were both freshmen, knew absolutely nothing about working, and loved to talk loudly about boob gate.

During that summer, they both worked their proverbial behinds off, ate lunch together, and knocked back countless drinks. They would even SMS each other to find out what the other was wearing to the casual friday to ensure that either of them did not turn up in an outfit unsuitable for work. At the end of that summer they parted ways, promising to keep in contact. One went back to Canberra to work for the next 3 years, and the other stayed with the company in Sydney.


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Fast forward to 2007.

My friend Gurav got a 3 month transfer to work in Sydney so I met up with him last night. We decided to meet up for a couple of drinks. He's actually originally from here but he hadn't been out in Sydney for a while. Well he hadn't been out with DJ Ho as his tour guide. So this is how DJ Ho rolls.

Here is a snapshot of the places I took him to :

1. Verandah Bar @ Martin Place: All business types inside. Nice bar but too crowded.

2. MacDonalds - pitt stop for food.

3. Ryan's Bar @ Australia square: Packed. This chick asked me to buy a drink for her friend. I was like what the ####. She accused me of knocking it over when I hadnt even walked past her. Apparently, I needed to be calmed down cause I was not cool about it. I told her to try it on the next guy in the line. In fact I wouldn't even buy her a drink under normal circumstances. I guess us Asians must all look alike :P

4. Opera Bar @ Circular Quay: $5.50 for beers on tap? I guess the view aint too bad.


5. Industrie @ Pitt St: Chilled out music but this place is too small and narrow.

6. Bar 333: This place was dead so we didn't stay there

7. Privilege @ George St: This place was going off. Played some old school classic rnb/hip hop. I got there as the place turned into a nightclub (yes!) but as the $3 drinks stopped (nooo!).

7. Bungalow 8 @ King St Wharf: Under normal circumstances I would not go to King St. This is exactly why: The small aussie bouncer introduced us to his big black "friend". The "friend" proceeds to interrogate us with "where have you been tonite? How many drinks have you had? What are you doing here?". This is the kind of attitude I don't need. Eventually we got in and paid the ridiculous prices for drinks.


8. MacDonalds for second pit stop to refuel on food

9. Cohi Bar @ Darling Harbour: This place was dead but since we had walked 20 mins to get there we stayed for a drink. Upstairs was just empty.

10. Tank nightclub @ Circular Quay: Refused entry as we didn't have stamps and the line was not moving at 1.30am in the morning. I used to walk into this place with no issues and now there is a line?

11. Pavillion Hotel: Again, this place was dead and we didn't want to get stabbed, so we quickly left.

12. Equilibrium: They were closing up so it was completely empty. Disappointing.

13. Scruffy Murphys: We got refused into this place? Are you kidding me. This is the dirtiest place on earth!

14. Paddy Maquires: Closed.

15. Harry's Hotdogs: You can always count on a Harry De Wheels Hotdog with chilli, peas, and smothered in mustard and tomato sauce to hit the spot at 2.30 in the morning.

16. 7-Eleven for a slurpie.


I'm out like introducing patrons to the big black friend,

DJ Ho.

I'm back!

I'm bringing blogging back, you fans don't know how to act


Local guide lying on his back on the elephant as it drinks water

I came back on Monday and it feels like a world away. I thought when I was travelling I would be blogging every couple of days and telling you about my trip, but you get so busy and want to do so much, you kinda neglect the blog. Well back, with a vengenance.

Chiangmai continued

The last time I updated my blog was during my first day in Chiangmai. Chiangmai was really cool. One of my favourite places on the trip. it's got this real hippy vibe to it - think of Bob Marley hairdo's, weed, hill tribe villages, and just a chilled out environment.

Highlights of Chiangmai would be the two day trek that we did in the jungle/mountains. We rode a elephant and my guide was off his nut - he was high! Smoking a joint. This guy is controlling a 3 tonne elephant and he actually fell off the elephant and rolled down this hill for about 5 metres. He was bleeding slightly but wasn't fazed and hopped back on the elephant. I'm thinking *&%^ - what kind of guide have I got? Turned out to be pretty cool experience.


Tim riding the beast

Then we trekked for 3 hours to the top of this mountain. It wasn't particularly difficult, just a lot of up hill walking, crossing over lakes and little man made bridges, around rocks. We had a pitstop at this waterfall, and I thought what the hell - I'll jump in for a quick shower - it was freezing! But refreshing.

At the top of the mountain was the Lahu village tribes people. There were dogs and chickens running riot all through this village. Really outback stuff - I had another cold shower and next door was grunting pig. A very unique experience - you know your alive when that water hits you. It was such a cool experience sitting on top of a village, getting back to basics and sleeping in a bamboo hut.

Our trekking guide was a legend - he would break out into these random laughs "ahahaha" and made the whole trip so enjoyable. He even made me a slingshot which the Australian customs people confiscated (nazi's!). We stayed up and just talked into the night and the hill tribe people played some traditional folk songs and then broke into Bob Marley "no woman no cry" and some contempoary tracks.
Left to right - young trek guide, main trek guide

Next day, we trekked for a couple more hours and then stopped for another quick dip in another waterfall. that was even more freezing! Then we went white water rafting and that was pretty cool. Our boat got caught in the rocks on a lil drop and water just kept flooding in. It was unreal experience white water rafting along the rapids of Chiangmai.

After that we hopped on some rafts made up of bamboo. Hollow logs of bamboo that were tied together! Somehow they managed to stay afloat and I actually got up and rowed/guided the boat for a bit.

If you are ever in Thailand, I highly recommend you check out Chiangmai. It was my favourite place in Thailand - better than Bangkok and Phuket. The two day trek was perfect. Average fitness is required for the trek. Get away from the heat and craziness of Bangkok, all the tourists and dirty old men in Phuket.


Julie's guesthouse - funky, cheap and excellent people. Best guesthouse in Chiangmai!

Oh, and i forgot to mention on our last night there, Tim and I went all out and feasted at this restaurant. We ordered like 5 or 6 dishes and couple of beers, attempting to spend up big in this restaurant, yet the bill only got to like 400 baht - which is $13 AUD. Ridiculous how cheap Chiangmai and Thailand is. Our accomodation at Julie's guesthouse was $2AUD a night in a dorm! Cheap as bro. We upgraded to our own room with hot showers and spent big - $3AUD a night! I've already

The only sad this about Chiangmai is that the people in the tribal village are not allowed to enter the city. If they do go to the city they will get arrested. They must remain in the village as they are nomadic people who have orginally come over the border from countries like Burma. Children under the age of 15 are allowed to have a Thai passport and can go to schools and get regular jobs.

Tourism has changed the tribal villages. They have ipods, mobiles, solar panels providing power and beer! I was initially a bit reluctant to visit them, as tourism changes their ways. Snapping pictures, pointing at them, invading their space. But on the flipside, tourism brings in money for these people and allows them to sustain a decent lifestyle and pay for things like schooling for their children. Its hard to find that balance between being a tourist and respecting their ways and letting them be. The more exposure they have to tourism and the outside world, the more their ways will change.

Oh, I love Chiangmai!

Sunrise at the top of the Lahu village

Chilling out in Halong Bay

Halong Bay, Hanoi

Hanoi and Chiangmai - No Same Same

It appears in Asia that they are obsessed with saying "same same".THey just can't say the word "same" once. Incidentally, there is a roaring trade in same same t-shirts with the tourists.

I'm currently now in an internet cafe in Chiangmai, THailand. Its in the North of Thailand, near Burma and the GOlden Triangle. I flew from Hanoi to Bangkok, then we got an overnight train to Chiangmai. I spent about 13 hours on the train and slept on a hard sleeper bunk. Its a different experience to travelling by plane or bus. Travelling by train is more comfortable and slightly more expensive than bus, and its better for your ass. COnsidering that i slipped on the stairs on a boat in Hanoi and landed on my backside.....that's another story.

I prefer train rides over buses as they are more comfortable bus also because you get to see more of the countryside. Its goes through towns, villages, nature and you get to see more of Thailand that way. Tim and I had a seat to our ourselves, and next to us was a chick from Holland. We talked to her most of the night about travelling, Europe, drugs, and even a bit about tax!~

How come How long


THe last two days, we have spent in Halong Bay which is about 4 hours from Hanoi. It is one of the most beautiful places in the world. There's about 1600 islands (yes 1600!) in this area. We took a cruise and saw all the islands. It was so peaceful and serene. It reminds me of Milford Sound, in New Zealand. WOrds cannot describe how awesome this place was.

We cruised for a while and then we went to this massive limestone cave. It was huge, like half a kilometre long. THere were heaps of stacalites hanging from the roof, it was just simply unbeileveable. Think Jenolan Caves to the power of 1,000,000.

We were supposed to go Kayaking, but the bastards running the tour ripped us off. In fact we were supposed to go to several islands and that didn't happen either. So we had to call up the Captain and complain and eventually spoke to the tour operator who then took us to an island the next day to appease the tourists. These Viets are just dodge cause they try to do the absolute minimum.

We slept over night on the boat. From time to time, these hoochie mamas on little paddle boats would come up to our big boat and try to sell us food, beer and drinks. It was fun negotiating with them. In fact, I tried a pick up line from my viet phrasebook and pointed at Tim "Can I kiss you?". She gave us the biggest cringe i've seen in my life and just paddled as fast as she could away from us. Apparently that line doens't work in Vietnam.

That night we went to the top deck of the boat and all 14 tourists sat around talking. To me that has been one of my most interestnig experiences on tour. THere was one dude, Bob who really inspired me. Just to hear everyone's travel stories and where they had been was amazing.

I so want to see the world now, as much as I can before I get too old. There's just so many places i need to see, like the Jesus statue in Rio De Janiero, the pyramids in Egypt, cross the Ocean from Antigua to Europe, the Inca Trail in Peru. I want to see India, South America, Canada and more!

Meeting all these people on my travels has really inspired me to travel even more. And i've met so many interesting and varied people from backpacking.

On the bunk below me in Hanoi, was a lawyer from Melbourne who works at Allens. I met these two Spanish guys in the door way of the hostel who work for the Spanish Consulate in HOng Kong. THis Canadian guy i had been hanging out with he's been to the Himalayas in 3 different countries in the last two years and is now studying chinese in CHina. Bob, is a private tutor in Taiwan who's been travelling for the last 30 years. On the train last night, the Holland chick just quit her Public Relations job in London to go travelling. Amazing people with amazing stories.

I'm out like no two things the same same,

DJ Ho.

Good Morning Vietnammmmm!

Everyone that has written a post about travelling to Vietnam uses that opening line and its a bit cliche, but i had to use it!

The thing I like about travelling in South East Asia is that you can eat whenever you want and there are always snacks available and its so cheap. That's what I love about Hong Kong. On every street corner, your bound to find a snack shop and they are open 24/7. So yesterday I had the following to eat at these places.

Breakfast
2 semi-stale rolls with Marmalade (provided free by hostel)

Lunch
TIm hadn't arrived yet so I went with these two Canadians who befriended me. We chilled out at this fancy cafe by the Red River Lake, which is the centerpiece of Town.

Papaya Shake
Rice and Stir Fried Beef with Capsicum

Afternoon Snack
Tim and I went for a walk around the city and did a loop and ended up at St Paul's cathedral. We stopped at this lil local cafe and I had a Custard Apple Shake - simply beautiful. I've never had one before and we shared a fried rice.

On the way to picking up our friend, i grabbed a pearl milk tea. I wasn't exactly sure what i was ordering, i just pointed at what the girl in front of me had.

Dinner
Tim and I had dinner with this chick from the Czech Republic, who he met on the bus. She's 32, travelled the world, 6 foot tall and blonde. Did I mention she's hot?

Back to the food....

The restaurant was a hot pot place but Tim and i really wanted to get down and dirty and eat on the streets and squat on those plastic stools. We couldn't find a place so we settled on this hot pot place.

I had beef in black bean sauce which had a pepper steak taste to it.

Came back to the hotel and chilled out on the rooftop and had a halida beer.

Water Puppet Show
We checked out this water puppet show and it was boring as. It was mainly full of old white folks like grandmas and grandfather types. The first 10 minutes were interesting and when they had these puppets kind of pop out of nowhere and dance in the water.

After the show, we went with our crew of 8 backpackers to find a pub. In our group there is an Irish dude, two Swedes, two canadians, Melbourne chick and two extremely good looking Aussie males (Tim and myself. Ahem.).

We walked through this food market which stretched for like 100 metres. There were rice paper rolls everywhere, fried fish, vegies. The roofs were hanging real low so sometimes we had to duck, so it was exactly like how an Asian food market should be! Including food scraps on the ground, slippery walkway, being real right, we could barely fit through, and some locals were driving motorbikes in the opposite direction to us!

We ended up at this Westerner expat type bar with the best seat in the house. It was ok. Didn't really feel like drinking since I've had 4 beers in two days and i was so tired.

So I ended the night on a sweet note with one of my all time favourite drinks - a mango lassie. It' s a yogurt based drink, thick and creamy. Whenever i have indian food, i always get my standard: butter chicken and a mango lassie!

That's been my food adventure on my first full day in Vietnam.

Hostel International

In case your wondering, I've been staying at this hostel in Vietnam called Hanoi Backpackers Hotel. It's so chilled out. Half the people in here are Aussies! Its the only hostel in Hanoi and a really well run one - its run by Aussies of course! Staying here its been so easy to meet people and hang out with them.

We've got a bbq on the rooftop tonite and apparently we are doing a swimwear/bikini competition. The chicks have been working on their catwalk runway hip movement/lap dance last night at the pub, so it should be a good show :P Supposedly the guys are supposed to wear their swimwear too, so not really sure about that.

Staying at a mixed dorm and at this place has been an excellent decision. I was a bit apprenhisve at first having never hostel'd before and i was concerned with my security of my personal belongings. I've got my own locker and everything was cool, until the person with the locker above mine opened my locker and took everything out and chucked her Hello Kitty paraphenalia in. Nothing went missing so that was good and I've just chucked my valueables in Tim's locker.

As soon as I walked into the dorm I met these two Canadians and we chatted like we were old friends. Then a couple of Aussie chicks showed up and we talked about our travels, education, "mushroom" shakes in Thailand (yes, those mushrooms!).

Since Tim hadn't arrived, I went to explore the town by myself. I walked around the Lake and got comfortable crosssing the road. There's just a million bikes everywhere. You can't cross the road completely, just have to weave yourself in between the bikes. Last night we started walking into the oncoming traffic - that's how the locals do it! You just have to walk slowly, confidently, and people will give way. Don't run cause that'll cause them to swerve. So far no close calls.


The Plane Ride

interesting. Should I say more?

In the departure line, I saw two of Australia's best fast bowlers - Glenn Macgrath and Brett Lee. It was unmistakable. Every one kinda had quick glances and hushed whispers. When they walked past me, i deicded to chat with them. In fact, i was the only person that spoke to them - they were going to NZ for the one dayers. Then they let in Shane Watson into the line - who do they think they are - they can't even beat the Pom's in one day internationals!

The passenger from Hell

On the plane from Sydney to Bangkok, i got a nice prime window seat. Then this 35 year old FOB lady from Laos sat next to me. This was ok, and i was minding my own business. Her arm and leg were touching mine and i was ok with this contact. A while later, i felt something poke my leg. I was like what the hell?

She then bumped me a couple of times with her foot and was kinda brushing up her arm against mine. It was unmistakeable, she was flirting with me. Her whole body language suggested it as well. Her legs were crossed and she was leaning over towards me and using her left foot to touch my left foot. I'm on a 10 hour flight and this FOB lady is rubbing her leg against mine. I'm in a cramp space and I'm trapped. So I pull out my picture of Marie (Thank God I had one) and just concentrated on her hahaha.

TO top it off, she then gave me post cards from Laos and used my headset. What the hell? WHo takes someones headset to use when they go to the bathroom? I tried to give the postcards back but she wouldn't have none of that. What am I, some kind of inflight entertainment?


I love you shortime

Then on the connecting flight from Bangkok to Hanoi, I was sitting next to this Viet dude. We didn't get off to a good start as I almost crushed his laptop when i put another bag over his laptop bag. He borrowed my pen to fill out his arrival card and I thought what the hell, i'm gonna talk to him.

I whipped out my Viet phrasebook and asked him a couple of basic phrases. He smiled and taught me hello, goodbye, etc.. Then we started talking and I found out he's really cool guy. He's been living in Germany for the last 3 years studying Civil Enginnering.

We talked about our girlfriends, checked out this hot Thai Airways chick and tried to guess her age. Apparently the local girls in germany aren't his cup of tea :P He likes that Viet flava too. I then flipped over to the "special section" in the phrasebook - pick up lines. We had a blast as he taught me how to say "that was amazing/wild", "honey, you are my everything", and some other phrases that can't be repeated here. But i made sure he taught me "i love you forever" which translates into the more common phrase "I love you longtime"!!!!!!!!!

When I was walking around the lake, i went into this side street and found this quaint DVD shop. They had all the covers of all the latest movies and I walked in. I negotiated the price down from 16,000 dong to 15,000 dong which is like AUD $1.30A to AUD$1.20. Hey, its Asia, you always gotta try and negotiate! Also cause i'm tight (Hoi, thanks for telling Marie that!). I was about to pay for my purchase and noticed that the sales person was trying to learn english via this computer program. So I asked her about it and we ended talking for about half an hour. She was really talkative and wanted to know my age, where i was from, my story, etc... so I whipped out my newly learnt phrase.... "I love you longtime!". I wasn't saying it properly so she wrote it down for me and practiced it a couple of times.....so Marie......

"Anh se ye em mai mai"!


I'm out like I love you long time,

DJ Ho.

One pho bo please!

Hey all,

I'm in Hanoi, Vietnam at the moment. Flew in yesterday night after a 12 hour flight. It's been really good. Hanoi is just full of peopel on bikes, hustle and bustle everywhere.

I'm staying at this Backpacker Hostel and its awesome. its got this really good vibe and i'm heaps of interesting peopel. Been hanging out with these Canadian group. I'm in a mixed dorm and were 6 Aussie chicks in my room from WA (Chuck , aren;'t you jealous?). There's 12 people in my dorm and there are only 3 guys.

I've never backpacked before i.e. stayed at a hostel, but everyone is so friendly and we hangout togather. I'm here with Tim and we just came back from a walk around the streets. The streets are just so alive here, the locals live their lives out on the streets. Squatting and eating Pho Bo (beef noodle soup), selling flowers, the town is building up for Vietnamese New Year.

I'll be going to Halong Bay, a place with awesome limestone caves, doing some snorkelling and kayaking. Only been here a day and a half and i was up to 4am on the first night walking around the city, drinking beers on the rooftop and chatting the night away.

I'm out like Pho Bo,

DJ Ho.

Shoutouts!

Not in any order of importance but here are some shoutouts :P

Happy Valentines Day Marie!

Happy B'day Aleks! Bar Europa was good.

Congrats Howard on your engagement.

it's 2am and i gotta go sleep. T minus 8 hours to Hanoi! Going to Vietnam and thailand for 3 weeks. Talk to you peeps later!

I'm out like shoutouts,

DJ Ho

Private Property

What a long day today.

5.30am - drag myself out of bed, shower. Glance quickly over shirts and put on least creased one, spend 5 mins straigntening tie (that knot's gotta be right).

6am - wake up brother and convince him that its a great idea to drive me to the train station

7am - Mull over whereis.com map i've printed out. Should i get out at Museum, St James or Town Hall? Screw it, they all are pretty much the same distance

7.15am - rock up to the Sheraton on the Park hotel. Walk through doors confidently, like I belong there.

7.20am - I am like the 10th person to arrive at the Property Industry conference. See Nuggets at the registration booth and catchup.

7.40am - meet random people and make our way to my designated seat

8am - 9am: Listen to Bill Evans - Chief Economist at Westpac, Matt Whitby - Head of Reseach at FKP, Tony Cope - head of GPT.

They spoke about property market trends, rental yields, which property markets where hot (Perth, Brisbane), interest rates (rate rise, then level off, then rate cuts), strong labour market locally and in New York and London going gangbusters. Meet Mr X and Mr J, grab their business cards, say my goodbyes and go.

9.15am - Walk through Martin Place, the center of dollars and slick suits.

9.25am - stop by coffee shop, say hello to colleague who then tells me he was resigned.

9.40am - check voicemails, write down message from London.

10am - return telephone call, finish off previous day's letter

11am - sit down with a manager and discuss his 200+ page report about client's intellectual property and royalties. Forces me to think from an economic and business viewpoint. Write up filenote and skim report.

12pm - craving for Mango smoothie. Must have Mango Smoothie. mmmm yum.

12.30 pm - training is cancelled, but still get to eat training lunch. Stock up on as much free sandwiches and orange juice as humanly possible.

1pm - go on walk with two girls from work around the city.

2pm - back to work, but so sleepy. Watch Dwight Howard slam dunk highlight video from NBA.com. Marvel at this freak of nature.

3pm - Analyst comes over and asks if I know my accounting. Of course DJ Ho knows his stuff. We discuss journal entries for 20mins. DJ Ho is da man.

3.30pm - Another analyst questions me about deductibility of donations. Without hesistation DJ Ho quotes section, grabs legislation, and proves point. DJ Ho is da man x 2.

4pm - Check Fantasy NBA team. Actually i think i checked it 3 times during the day.

4.30pm - Finish that letter off. Call Brisbane office and liase with staff there.

5pm - Communicate progress and timeline for tax return

5.30pm - run through phone call

6pm - Dial London cause its 8am over there. They are not there. Leave message.
6.30pm - update Partner on conference who asks "did you get any business cards?". DJ: "Of course!". DJ Ho is da man x 3.

7.00pm - walk out the door with my mate. Explain how I've been playing telephone tag with London. Suggestion - give them my mobile.

7.05pm - turn around and go back to the office. Write email to London and make sacrifice in the name of superior client service - advise client to call my mobile.

7.30pm - Finally walk out but its raining! Chat to another person on way out.

7.35pm - bump into Fat Chris, chat, hop on train

7.40 - 8.30pm - read over client email and notes and anticipate phonecall.

9pm - have dinner, call gf, check phone again.

11pm - blogging.

12am - Check mobile one last time. No calls. Ahhh i can sleep cause i have training at 8am tomorrow.

Like I said - Long day!

I'm out like long days,

DJ Ho.

Autobots roll out! Transform

Ladies and gentlemen, may i present the new transformer shoe! Its a toy which converts into a Nike shoe. How cool! Its off the heezy. You can't wear it though.
Thanks Chuck for the heads up! Hums "More than meets the eye, defenders in the sky"

For more info click here. Perhaps your more feeling this shoe?

I'm out like transformer shoes,

DJ Ho.

Bras and things

bras and things

So the long weekend has come and gone. Ah, the joy of an extra day off! How did I spend my weekend?

Thursday night I went to Bar 333 for a work function for some free drinks (love it!). Then headed to Skygarden for Mayank's farewell drinks, then back to Bar 333. I actually ended up going to Bar 333 a total of 3 times during the long weekend, and that place ain't even that great.

Next day was Australia day, and I chilled out at Maroubra Beach with Nuggets and Ian. The weather was really nice but the water was freezing. Headed to a family BBQ at Garrison point which is in my hood!

The Mayank has left the building

For those that don't know, there is one less desperate and horny male from our country. Mayank "Don't call me Tom Cruise" has left our shores. No more Denzel Washington sightings it seems. He's off to the land of bad cricket teams, rowdy soccer fans and the home of corgies. Yes, he gone to the UK. We had a farewell on Saturday night at Chintia Ria, a Malaysian restaurant @ Cockle Bay Wharf. The food was amazing. I kept eating til the dishes stopped coming. Awesome curries, chicken roti, duck, noodles and even the tofu ria wasn't too bad. Highly recommend it. The food is meant to be hawker style - the stuff you buy in the streets of Malaysia/in the markets. Bit pricey but definently worth it.

Later that night we went to Bungalow 8. We were a bit worried given that we were rolling with like 15 guys and 2 girls, and Ben Zhang brought his Chinese novel with him. Usually bouncers at King Street wharf are fooked (given my issues with them last time), but we all got in. Great atmosphere at Bungalow 8, nice crowd and we managed to get a table eventually. Saw some girls from work, started talking to them and met their friends who might be able to help me with something. I actually managed to get a stack of business cards on Thursday and Saturday night, and followed up with emails on Monday morning.

Sorry i couldn't make it to hugo's lounge on saturday night! I know you don't read my blog, but I couldn't make both parties!

So Clean So Fresh

Then Sunday, we headed to Freshie (freshwater beach). it's actually quite a long drive from my house - hour or so. You know what, I could live in Manly cause there's just so many nice beaches so close by. Curl Curl and Manly beach just down the road. Too bad their football team sucks. Weather was hot as and again, the water was colder than Mayank's rejections. After the beach, we chilled at cafe nearby. it was good to be out and about.

I must say it was one of the best weekends I've had in a while. And, I learnt the meaning of "cutting sick". Thank you Ian for providing a demonstration for us on teaching someone how to ride the boogie board (ahaha).

Trouble Trouble

My girlfriend has discovered my blog! I mentioned that i had a blog and she googled it and found it. Ahhhhhhh, 3 years worth of posts are on here. Personal stuff, reflective, stupid and a bunch of "what was I thinking when I wrote this" type posts. I can't really hide in cyberspace can I. She actually didn't tell me for a while and was dropping hints here and there, referencing certain things that I had written.

Basketball Fundamentals

Last night I suited up for Nate's mixed basketball team. Again I was consistent with my 4-6 point average! As requested by Nate, here are the Jordan fundamental videos.

How to play D like MJ



There are some interesting tips here especially with using one hand to flip the ball up as opposed to reaching in from the top to steal the ball.

How to fadeway like DJ Ho




This one's for Nate or you can just watch me fadeaway :P

How to pass to the post



For everyone on the Flavo's team (except Tim) that never gives the ball to Tim in the post. He's always complaining that no one passes the ball to him down low :)


I'm out Mayank from Australia,

DJ Ho.

Hibachi San

Sad day at work this week. Two of my best friends at work handed in their resignations during the week. It was disappointing to see them go but I'm happy for them cause they are moving on to new opportunities. I can only wish them the best of luck. I kinda knew they were going but it wasn't until they told me that it really hit me that they were leaving. One of the most disappointing days in the history of my company.

On the lighter side..........

Hibachi



From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The hibachi (Japanese: 火鉢, literally "fire bowl") is a traditional Japanese heating device. It consists of a round, cylindrical or a box-shaped open-topped container, made from or lined with a heatproof material and designed to hold burning charcoal.

In North America, the term "hibachi" is used to refer to a small cooking stove heated by charcoal (actually called shichirin in Japanese), or to an iron hot plate (teppan) used in Teppanyaki restaurants.

During the 2006 National Basketball Association season, Washington Wizards point guard Gilbert Arenas began to shout the word as he took field goal attempts in games, explaining, "You know, a hibachi grill gets real hot. That's what my shot's like, so I've been calling it that: 'Welcome to the hibachi'."[1]



He has also stated that while he is scoring on opponents, he is "cooking chicken and shrimp" in reference to his "Hibachi grill," and that if his opponent wanted to double team him, he would "cook filet mignon" as well. "The Hibachi" has quickly become Arenas' nickname.

There was even a banner made for him "Arenas 'hibachied' Kobe". As Kobe is the place where the world famous Kobe steak orginated. This was referring to the game when Arenas outscored Kobe Bryant 60 to 45.The term "Hibachi" is now catching on to describe players who are "hot".

If you don't believe the above, check this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hibachi.

I'm out like Hibachi,

DJ Ho.

Nas v Jay Z

It's sunday morning, and i've been up since 8am. What have I been doing on this productive morning?

Well I've been checking out hip hop music videos and come across some more gems which I thought i'd share with y'all. I don't want to put all of them on here (i.e. youtube you out). Lately I've been incorporating a lot of youtube videos in my posts because I've recently discovered how to post them, i like sharing them plus I've been a bit lazy.

It actually takes a bit of effort to write a coherent post and I've been busy lately. Hoi's comment in my last post was kinda on point. The last post is the best I've done in a while and I did put a bit of thought into it. I don't feel like I've had a major hit (a brilliant post) for like a couple of months. All I do these days is post random ish.

Over the past month or so I have been slightly preoccupied. I had my 25th birthday party, work was getting busy, I was going out a fair bit, and I've been sick.

Oh and did I mention that I have a new girlfriend? :P

New York's Finest

I wanted to share these old videos I've come across lately. First up on the mic is a young fresh 17 year old rapper sharing the mic with Jaz. This song is called "The Orginators" and was released in 1990 (back in the day when rap was at its peak).



Watch Jay-Z use the fast rhyming triplet style to full effect. It was popularized in the 1990's and groups like Das Fx started using that "riggidity diggity" style. Big ups to Humanity Critic for the video. If you notice now, Jay-Z has actually slowed down his rapping style. Listen to songs like Twenty 22's from Reasonable Doubt and you can see that he can pull off that faster style.

I've also been watching the Jay-Z Video Vault series from MTV.com. It breaks down each era when a Jay-Z album was released such as the Reasonable doubt era - 1996 , In My Lifetime Era - 1997, Blueprint era - 2001, etc..... For some stupid reason it won't let you watch the actual music videos but you can see all the interviews, which is still pretty cool.

Switching it up, check out this Nas Remix video of "Made You Look". its a live concert video featuring Ludacris and Jadakiss. Luda & Jada rip their verses, while Nas sounds like he's screaming.



For more Nas classic video's check out Street Dreams, If I Ruled the World, Nas is Like (best track ever!).

If your feeling Mr Lupe Fiasco who's playing at the Metro on Tuesday, watch the MTV "My Block: Chicago Video". Pretty sick.

Made you look,

DJ Ho.

We reminisce.......Chris Webber

Freestyler: Rap City

From watching the Aries Spears videos on You tube I have come across another hidden hip hop gem. In America, on BET known as Black Entertainment Television, there is a show called Rap City. It's quite popular in the States but I actually had never heard of this show before.

There is a mad segment in the show called "Freestyle Booth". Its a segment where a rapper will come into the basement studio and freestyle over a popular beat. I've seen videos of Snoop, Nas, Ludacris, Mr Cheeks, Busta Rhymes, LL Cool J, Kanye West, DMX, Lil Wayne, and more. It's just awesome. You actually get to see how some guys just suck at freestyling while others just do pre-written material and the real rappers just spit fire. It's actually not that difficult to pick when someone is rhyming off the top of their head versus stuff they have already prepared.

Some guys stuff up and sound absolutely horrible e.g. LLoyd Banks and Nas. While others like Snoop and Common just rip it up. Check it.

Snoop



This is the best one I've seen. Snoop's got the swagger, the continuous flow, matching the rhymes and beat, lyrics are good and its funny as well. It's the longest freestyle I've come across on rap city. Crippin!


Common



Common's voice is just magnetizing. I just really dig Common's voice plus his lyrics are always deep (i.e. no gangstas, hoes, or drug references). The way that Big Tig and Common interact, feeding off each other energy is awesome.

LL Cool J



LL just goes nuts on this beat. I recognised this is as pre-written material from the G.O.A.T album. I've never seen LL perform like this, so much fire. Never knew he had it in him these days.


Bone Thugs



Nate will be happy with this one! The first guy sucks, but Bizzy Bone is possessed. He goes crazy and shows his got mad lyrical skills. I think he must be high.

Lloyd Banks



This is wack. Pathetic. Worst freestyle I've ever heard. G-unit crew suck. It shows the difference between wannabe rappers to living legends like Snoop and Common.

Mr Escobar aka Nas



I thought this was good until I realised it was pre-written material plus he stuffs up at the end. I was expecting, the king of lyrics to tear it up. I mean he's the King of New York. C'mon Nas, you can do better than that. You shook!

There's heaps of other ones available. Just jump onto youtube and search for "rap city" and you'll find stacks of videos. Wait, I've even done for you. Click here.


I'm out like Rap City,

DJ Ho.

Truly Inspirational - World's Strongest Dad

Can World's Strongest Dad

[From Sports Illustrated, By Rick Reilly]

I try to be a good father. Give my kids mulligans. Work nights to pay For their text messaging. Take them to swimsuit shoots.

But compared with Dick Hoyt, I suck.

Eighty-five times he's pushed his disabled son, Rick, 26.2 miles in Marathons. Eight times he's not only pushed him 26.2 miles in a Wheelchair but also towed him 2.4 miles in a dinghy while swimming and Pedaled him 112 miles in a seat on the handlebars--all in the same day.

Dick's also pulled him cross-country skiing, taken him on his back Mountain climbing and once hauled him across the U.S. On a bike. Makes Taking your son bowling look a little lame, right?

And what has Rick done for his father? Not much--except save his life.
This love story began in Winchester , Mass. , 43 years ago, when Rick Was strangled by the umbilical cord during birth, leaving him Brain-damaged and unable to control his limbs.

"He'll be a vegetable the rest of his life;'' Dick says doctors told him And his wife, Judy, when Rick was nine months old. ``Put him in an Institution.''

But the Hoyts weren't buying it. They noticed the way Rick's eyes Followed them around the room. When Rick was 11 they took him to the Engineering department at Tufts University and asked if there was Anything to help the boy communicate. ``No way,'' Dick says he was told. ``There's nothing going on in his brain.''

"Tell him a joke,'' Dick countered. They did. Rick laughed. Turns out a Lot was going on in his brain. Rigged up with a computer that allowed Him to control the cursor by touching a switch with the side of his Head, Rick was finally able to communicate. First words? ``Go Bruins!'' And after a high school classmate was paralyzed in an accident and the School organized a charity run for him, Rick pecked out, ``Dad, I want To do that.''

Yeah, right. How was Dick, a self-described ``porker'' who never ran More than a mile at a time, going to push his son five miles? Still, he Tried. ``Then it was me who was handicapped,'' Dick says. ``I was sore For two weeks.''

That day changed Rick's life. ``Dad,'' he typed, ``when we were running, It felt like I wasn't disabled anymore!''

And that sentence changed Dick's life. He became obsessed with giving Rick that feeling as often as he could. He got into such hard-belly Shape that he and Rick were ready to try the 1979 Boston Marathon.

``No way,'' Dick was told by a race official. The Hoyts weren't quite a Single runner, and they weren't quite a wheelchair competitor. For a few Years Dick and Rick just joined the massive field and ran anyway, then They found a way to get into the race Officially: In 1983 they ran another marathon so fast they made the Qualifying time for Boston the following year.

Then somebody said, ``Hey, Dick, why not a triathlon?''

How's a guy who never learned to swim and hadn't ridden a bike since he Was six going to haul his 110-pound kid through a triathlon? Still, Dick Tried.

Now they've done 212 triathlons, including four grueling 15-hour Ironmans in Hawaii . It must be a buzzkill to be a 25-year-old stud Getting passed by an old guy towing a grown man in a dinghy, don't you Think?

Hey, Dick, why not see how you'd do on your own? ``No way,'' he says. Dick does it purely for ``the awesome feeling'' he gets seeing Rick with A cantaloupe smile as they run, swim and ride together.

This year, at ages 65 and 43, Dick and Rick finished their 24th Boston Marathon, in 5,083rd place out of more than 20,000 starters. Their best Time? Two hours, 40 minutes in 1992--only 35 minutes off the world Record, which, in case you don't keep track of these things, happens to Be held by a guy who was not pushing another man in a wheelchair at the Time.

``No question about it,'' Rick types. ``My dad is the Father of the Century.''

And Dick got something else out of all this too. Two years ago he had a Mild heart attack during a race. Doctors found that one of his arteries Was 95% clogged. ``If you hadn't been in such great shape,'' One doctor told him, ``you probably would've died 15 years ago.'' So, in a way, Dick and Rick saved each other's life.

Rick, who has his own apartment (he gets home care) and works in Boston, and Dick, retired from the military and living in Holland, Mass. , always find ways to be together. They give speeches around the country and compete in some backbreaking race every weekend, including this Father's Day.

That night, Rick will buy his dad dinner, but the thing he really wants to give him is a gift he can never buy.

``The thing I'd most like,'' Rick types, ``is that my dad sit in the chair and I push him once.''

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Credits: Daniel Chelliah's myspace.

I'm out like the world's strongest dad,

DJ Ho.

Stat is back

It's good to see that Amare is back. He's one of my favourite players and I was really worried when he went down with the first knee injury and then the second one. The problem was that his game is based on athleticism and explosion. He just jumps over people (straight out the building). I was concerned that he'd turned into a Penny Hardaway/Chris Webber or a McDyess because of his knees. Not many players regain their status as an elite player when they are cut down like that in their prime. Most of them come back as a former shadow of themselves.

Stat is just awesome to watch. I had this conversation with Chuck and we were like back in the day like 2 seasons ago he was just an unstoppable force. He was ripping Tim Duncan in half in the playoffs (Tim you know it!). Putting up numbers like 30 points and 20 rebounds on the regular.

Taking it to the Kandi Shop


The criticism that many people have of Stat is he doesn't have the footwork of the great postmen like Hakeem, Malone or Tim Duncan. That's because Amare never went to college and came straight from high school. Never got that technical training. He came in really raw. I'm sure he'll develop it and he has to now because he wont have the same explosivness he used to get by other people. Guys like Hakeem and Malone beat you with the superior footwork and smarts. Could hit that jumper, take you inside and outside, gave you different looks. Amare's gotta learn that especially when his body starts declining. You can't always dunk on everybody. Even Shaq Daddy is finding that out.

And Amare you gotta pass more dude! Your averaging half an assist per game! What's up with that. Don't be the next Yinka Dare cause that ain't pretty.

Sidenote

I was invited to join NBA Bloggers and "the dj ho diaries" is now listed on their blogroll. NBA-Bloggers is an source for blogs about basketball, sorta like an index. I don't write all the time about basketball just occassionally when I'm in the mood but you can find every post I have written on there.

Maybe soon you'll find me on nba.com or slamonline.com!

I'm out like the Stat attack,

DJ Ho.

HOW SICK ARE THESE SHOES?

It's 6am in the morning on my day off and I'm online looking at shoes?!!


Well these shoes are gangsta! I'm getting a pair! Adidas NBA superstars $99 US. If you didn't get me a b'day present/xmas present, now you know.

"A Superstar like no other. The adidas Men's NBA Superstar is inspired by the greatness of the NBA courts. This high-caliber court shoe features a smooth leather upper with a classic rubber shell toe "

And to think I was at the Nike factory yesterday @ Auburn looking for new shoes! For the whole NBA collection, click here.



THE QUESTION NOW IS - WHICH ONE?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm also digging the Nike Cortez with the major capital cities. If your a sneaker fiend you know what I am talking about. They've got sneakers for major cities with pic of landmark like London's Big Ben, The Jesus statute in Rio De Janiero, the Tokyo shoe and Brooklyn. Ohhh I love sneakers!

New School: The M3 Carmelo Anthony shoes

I saw these at Footlocker the other day for $225. These are the new Melo shoes. Check out the new ad!

MELO ELEVATE YOUR GAME


Old School: The history of Nike Air Force

The Nike Website has the history of Nike Air Force 25 with bios on Moses Malone, Sir Charles, Jamaal Wilkes, Michael Cooper. This is crazy plus they got all the new players as well. And upping the ante is the commentary by none other than Rakim Allah. I reckonise that voice from anywhere.

I'm out like Adidias NBA Superstars,

DJ Ho