I'm not an avid coffee connoisseur, nor do I love drinking coffee, but I do enjoy hanging out at the coffee shop occasionally with friends. If it weren't for my 'hyper' brain reaction to coffee I would probably end up a coffee afficionado like most people. What happens is after a cuppa I get quite alert, and this comes in handy if I need to drive long distances or focus on work etc. The problem comes in if I don't have any particular activity to focus on, a headache ensues and insomnia kicks in. Insomnia leads to a 'zombi-fied' me, which then leads to an unproductive day at work the next day.

Local coffee, however, is a different story. I enjoy having a cup of local coffee at the local kopitiams. Recently I was in Kemaman, Terengganu and had my favorite type of breakfast - packed nasi lemak, (several) local roti bakar with generous spread of kaya and butter, and a cup of local 'kopi'. Hai Peng coffee shop in Kemaman was obviously a popular place among the locals, and probably outsiders too. The place was packed and we had to wait a while for a table.

Theres a different 'kick' to the local coffee, and it doesn't give me the headache I get from Starbucks' concoction. Makes me wonder what it is they put in there! I also like just being able to go and sit down straight away, have my order taken and just say 'kopi', and be done with it, as opposed to lining up at the counter, studying the menu of 20 different ways to have your coffee, paying 10 times more for it, and having a headache later! Perhaps the headache comes from ordering from names like Caramel Macchiato Frappucino Espresso Tazo Americano Latte Mocha Cappucino, with whipped cream please!

'Kopi satu!'

Finally after almost a year of wanting to check out the outdoor cinema which is just 5 minutes from home, we got FREE tickets to go see Kill Bill vol.2! My wife and I have been waiting for this movie since Kill Bill came out so we got to kill 2 birds with 1 stone - great movie and great outdoor cinema!

The Nokia presents - Starlight Cinema is a relatively new concept here in Malaysia. They have it once a year, for about a month - during the 'supposedly' dry season. It was a nice and cooling night when we were there, the sound system was LOUD, a tad bit too loud if you ask me, but perhaps it was because we were right in the middle and got a really good spot.

They had an Aikido demonstration before the movie, probably took a chance to promo their club since the movie is full of (illogical but fun) martial arts.

The good stuff : movie, sound system, ambience, fresh air, company.

The not too bad stuff : annoying insects, bad posture.

The best part : since it was a promo movie, we got four free tickets for any other movie!

Looking forward to catching Shrek 2 there..