Chap Goh Mei, Weather Outlook for the day, scatter shower of Oranges

After 15 days of CNY celebration, it has reaches the last day of CNY celebration which is Chap Goh Mei which literally means “15th night” in hokkien and technically the last day for the ang pow to come or to be given out. It is also a day know as Chinese Valetine Day.

History said it was a day whereby the fairer sex or the girls will throw mandarin oranges into rivers or sea hoping that it will find Mr. Right. If a boy manage to get the oranges then the boy is destine to marry the thrower of the oranges. I am not sure how, but I imagine that the girls will write something like “I am a 5 feet 6, long legged, brown eyes, beautiful girl, find me in….”. I am not sure will they put their photo on it or not, hahaha.

Maybe now with the new technology age, it will read something like ICQ me at Or MSN me at Or Email me at. The more resourceful girls will of course buy loads and loads oranges. There could be also some smart marketing guy that will actually give the oranges for free but with some advertisement stick on top and bottom. Or some businessmen will actually wait over the night and gather all the oranges and make fresh juice out of it and sell it in the market the next day. But for guys who are desperate do goes out and buy a big net.

But I guess this tradition is no longer follow. Maybe nowadays instead of throwing oranges, maybe spam is sent over the net hoping to reach its destine Mr. Right. So please do retrieve the mail more frequently today…..

News at a glance

There is an interesting site called 10 x 10. It contains 100 words and picture. Its a news at a glance for the day. It combines news from BBC world edition and New York Times International. Have Fun.

http://www.tenbyten.org/

Human Safety Against Economic Sense

This morning I woke up a bit early, I was a bit tired, I am not sure why. Maybe it’s the electric disruption that happens yesterday night. I woke up in the middle of the night, god knows what time and I feel my body was burning. It was strange, “Am I right in the middle of fire of hell or what”, after briefly adjusting to the surroundings, I realize I was not, thank god, I am in my own room still snuggling beneath the comforter. I look up to the ceiling; there it was the air cond without its green indicator which will normally lighten up if it’s on.

I quickly reach for the remote which will normally beside the bed. I use my finger to feel the button. The ON button is on the top right hand corner, I pressed it, umm the familiar cooling air was blowing again and the green indicator is shinning and lightens up again.

That is the reason why I manage to catch this shows on the National Geographic Channel early Sunday Morning. As I will normally lie on the bed until my wife awakes, flipping the normal boring National channel in my room TV, only my outside TV has Astro installed. It could have been disruption at night that causes my sleep pattern to be changed.

It was showing the Air Crash Investigation of United Airlines Flight 811 in Feb 1989. It was showing the recreation of the exact event that led to death of nine passengers that was sulk into the open cold air due to a gaping hole which was tore open due to a faulty door. There are some reports which could set the mind running wild, first is one of the mothers of the dead passengers who suddenly awoke at night and saw her son standing beside her bed. She thought she was dreaming although she felt it was very real. She was told about the crash earlier in the morning and her son classify as disappeared in the afternoon.

Actually the most disturbing news to me is that it seems there was knowledge of the faulty mechanism of the door of that particular plane model for sometime and there was a dateline of I am not sure if I remember it correctly 13 months to have it fixed. After the incidence it was cut down to days. It seems the original date line was set due to the economic factor, the millions of dollars that will be loss if all the plane of that particular model is grounded for sudden maintenance, hence the dateline in months which means there is enough time for the plane to be fixed under the yearly routine maintenance.

It was originally classified as mishandling of the plane by ground staff, until the mother (who dream or saw her son on the night of the crash) and the father independently pursues and investigates the incident. I am not sure why does businessman thinks the life of humans is less than the millions dollars. I guess they hope everything will be sweep under the carpet, overlook and nobody will care and they will get away with it. Are there any other products out there that we use daily that have defects that we do not know? Cars, trains, cooking pot, TV, washing machine, foods and etc.

Link to the Air Crash, http://www.mahk.com/sc533.htm

Earthquakes in Taiwan and parts of Sulawesi

There is a 5.9-magnitude quake which was centered under the ocean about 37 kilometers (23 miles) northeast of the town of Chengkung in Taiwan. The same area was hit with a 4.8-magnitude last week.

There is also a 6.9-magnitude quake which was centered beneath the Flores Sea, about 70 kilometers (40 miles) west of the town of Bau Bau in southeast Sulawesi.

There are more quakes, storms, floods and other natural disaster reported in the newspaper nowadays. I am not sure is it because we are more sensitive to this kind of news after Dec 26 tsunami or it’s a signal of more things to come? I saw the movie “The day after tomorrow”, it’s our earth heading that way? After years of torture and poison fed by us, has it started to repay us back slowly and gradually by leashing quake after quakes, storms after storms and etc. The weather is hotter here in Malaysia than I remember when I was young. I think a lot of other countries are also experiencing colder winter.

Maybe Dec 26 it’s just a “Stomachache” which will then follow “diarrhea” and “farting” which is flood and storm. So finally it will become feverish (intense and accelerated global warming). If it’s a human the doctor might diagnose it as food poisoning and it can be easily cure. I hope we have a “doctor” for the earth. Click to http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/05/0518_040518_dayafter.html and of course http://www.dayaftertomorrowfacts.org/

Four important things-For Married Woman

I am not sure if it’s a coincidence but this show which is shown in ASTRO Wah Lah Toi called Driving power (starring Adam Cheng) also has four important things but it’s for married woman to trap their husband for extra marital affairs and “illegal” activities. Below is the four.

1. White Shirts, ensure that your husband wear it daily. White as a background is good to detect other foreign color. Example lipstick that was accidentally left on the collar by anxious admirer of your husband which lean too closely.
2. Smell, make sure that you and your husband wears only one type of perfume. If you could smell a different type then it means that there is third person. Whether it’s a woman or guy (if your husband is a gay, hahaha).
3. Chat, ask question and stares into his eyes. When people lies there is always a certain twitch or different eyes reaction.
4. A piece of paper in the knot of the tie, if the piece of paper is missing it means the husband has actually taken off his tie and maybe his shirt for some immoral or illegal activities.

Free SMS

My colleagues actually introduce to me this website that allows free sms. However the catch is that you can only send to phone register under maxis and the user is restricted to only registered maxis user (only in malaysia) whether pre (hot link) or post paid. I have included it in my link page. I hope some of us could save some sms money.

Four Important things-for single kidney person

Yesterday I went to see a Kidney specialist which they called nephrology (study of the function and disorders of the kidney). What prompt me to do so? I still feel discomfort and burning sensation on my back, right hand side around (my only remaining) Kidney area occasionally. And also the breathing difficulties episodes I encountered recently. As I heard in rare cases of Kidney disorder it could actually result in breathless (I have), itchy (I have) and sleeping difficulty (I have). So out of concern I went and see this Kidney Specialist which was highly recommended by my cousin and also one colleague of mine. My objective is to at least kill off another possibility and concentrate on one which is for my case possible recurring or secondary cancer, hahaha.

The appointment was schedule for 3:15 pm, I took off a bit early from my house as I anticipated at least some minor traffic along the way but it seems the road was quite clear. It’s not clear as a ghost town but it’s smooth. I reach earlier than anticipated, which is before 3 pm. I was sitting in the reception area and I could see on the other corner is the dialysis center. There is an old man probably in his 60’s waiting for his turn on the dialysis machine. I could see he look healthy although he was carrying a cane to help him walk. His tan face and his body structure still showed some muscle tone.

Oh, it looks like it’s already my turn, “Mr Soo”, I heard it loud and clear, “Yes” I reply back. Inside the room it was not what I expected as compare with my urologist. It has more “homely” feel except for the bed on the right and a fax machine at the back of the table where the doctor sits which indicate other wise. After a long chat, about my medical history and bla bla, he starts to check my blood pressure, and then request me to lie on the bed for a physical; he feels my foot, ankle, thigh and my eyes. He then said “Your right legs looks boggy, I expect it to be on the left”, huh! What the hell does boggy means, which was my immediate reaction floating in my brain. It seems boggy means watery. Ummm…. Anyway lets skip to the most four important things for a person with a single kidney.

1. Protein, to avoid bad protein from beans. It is a no no, protein from fish and poultry should be fine as this helps in the healing process like an open wound and etc. but not from bean.
2. Salt, to reduce the intake, should cut by half but do not totally stop taking it.
3. Medications, when it is prescribed, do check with the doctor concern if it will be harmful to the kidney.
4. Monitor the function kidney frequently by doing half yearly checkup for example on the protein in the urine and etc.

His diagnosis is that my remaining kidney looks ok to him at least at this moment. His only concern is on the burning sensation which could possibly meant a secondary or recurrence however the checkup or scan so far shown negative 2 months ago. I was advice to visit him in 3 months time to have my “urine” tested for protein.

Tian Gong - The God of Heaven

Today is the eighth day of Chinese New Year (CNY), if I remember it correctly the Hokkien community performs a ritual where offerings are made to Tian Gong, the God of Heaven. To most of them the actual Chinese New Year begins on the 9th day. The history stated that there are an ethnic group was fighting with the Hokkien-chinese and so they have fled to a sugarcane plantation. As the sugar cane was tall it helps them to hide. They actually stayed there until the 8th day of CNY when their enemies are gone.

On the 9th day of CNY, the hokkien only starts to celebrate their CNY. My mother side was hokkien, so today my cousin has bought a lot food to be offer as thank you to the Tian Gong God of heaven. The more food you offer, the better is it for the coming year. Some actually will put sugarcanes in front of their house. It is some sort like another reunion dinner whereby all family members will actually be around before 12 o’clock and eat all the foods together. Some of the foods will be roast pork, cakes (Red color cakes with red beans or Ang Ko in hokkien). I do not actually celebrate it, maybe my generation is not that particular anymore, my cousin will celebrate it every year and their will pray for wealth and health during the offering of foods.

Salary Review

My company has just done a salary review exercise. They have just reevaluated the staff position and their salary accordance to the “New” job description. This exercise is done for a certain group of employees in the company i.e below X amount salary. I am not in this range. Below is my thought on the matter and not in a way to stir a calm lake or dig up a can of worms.

I think the first question that will come to most of our head is huh! job description isn’t it fixed when we joined the company. I am thinking that this exercise is to makes right what is wrong. I think the idea was to have a set of criteria to evaluate the staff. For example if you were a programmer, there should be a pre-set of expectation of what task should a programmer does. For example from programming to unit testing it, if we did not perform up to the expectation, the salary review will reflect that. If the programmer perform exceptionally good, then its time for him to move up the rank and get promoted.

This should give the staff a sense of securities in terms of their career path. But this should be done properly and systematically and not when the staff performance was reviewed and decision has been made. Then we tell the staff oh! your salary review was not so good as you did not match this set of criteria. I think the set of criteria should be publicize and broadcast to all staff concern first. However as I said earlier this is to set right what is wrong hence this could be a painful start but all great ideas should have a starting point.

Based on some of the complaints I think the majority of the unhappiness was on what the employee think they are doing against what the company thinks they are. Some of the staff is performing an “A” role but was classify as doing another which was lower, that’s where the problem arises, as the staff is expecting a different category of “reward” against the company’s. I guess salary review is very subjective, I guess I do not expect anything when its my turn unless there is "Dead Word" category, hahaha.

Da Vinci Code

Yesterday I was awake until 12:00 am, no I am not staying up to wish my wife Happy Valentine Day, not that I do not want to but my wife is flying back early to Thailand today hence I do not want to disturb her. I was up reading the Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. It is an interesting book, in the book you could read why Mona Lisa is smiling. This is the website. http://www.danbrown.com/novels/davinci_code/reviews.html

This is one of the few books that actually entice me to read and find out the ending within 3 days. Just do not take it so seriously if you are a christians. You could look at the web site FAQ and you will understand what I mean.

Lost and found

Nowadays there are a lot of foreign objects in the things we ate and drink. In Malaysia we need to filter the water as there are still a lot of chlorine and metallic items found in it. In today paper there is this news that report that there is this not so foreign object found in a ketchup bottle.

This interesting news is from Stockholm, the ketchup was manufactured in turkey, to the surprise of the lady there is a severed penis in it. Just imagine when you are ready to put some ketchup into your favorite Fankster or hot dog you could see an object with similar shape floating around ready to pop out from the opening of the bottle. I hope there is a follow up to this interesting news, as I could not imagine how this not so foreign object was inserted. So guys do not anger your loved ones else you might need to advertise in the lost and found section for your missing beloved body parts. Happy Valentine Day to my wife, my sister and everybody!

Valentine Day and just do it

Tomorrow will be one of the most commercialize day in human history, it is valentine day. I guess it’s the day lovers exchange gifts or secret admirer declaring their love or family members showing appreciation to each other. I once read that valentine day is an event and idea “hype” up and created by businessmen who would like to finish off their unwanted stocks that have been pilling up in their warehouse.

I am not sure do we really need to wait until a day to do things that we suppose to do every now and then. I remember during the teens it is a day that most of us waited. I do not remember sending any valentine gifts during school days as my school consists of majority of boys. My school is Methodist Boys School of Kuala Lumpur. The still fresh view of the wooden chairs and tables and also the marking that was done by some of the “ex-owner” that declare their love to a Miss X or Y by craving it on top of the table.

However we do have girls in form six, so just imagine the situation in a school that consists of a bunch of hormone imbalance teenage school boys and only a handful of pretty young things. Although there are some that is not so physically attractive but as the saying goes, all flowers will have certain type of bees or insects that are attracted to it; it’s the law of the nature. So on valentine day you could actually feel the girls is unlike their normal self, I guess they might have spend some extra minutes in the early valentine morning to make themselves more beautiful with the anticipation of some pimple face school boys declaring their love. They smell differently, their face glows more or maybe it’s the sunlight that is playing tricks on my eyes. During recess its where all the fun starts, you could hear giggling from the girls after receiving the gifts and you could also hear the cry of rejection from some of the boys.

How best to show one loves? Buying a bunch of rose or teddy bear for her to compare and remind her of you. I got a close friend that actually bought roses a week ahead. He will keep it in the fridge to prolong its life. Some will take this opportunity to propose to their lovers, girlfriend and boyfriends. I remember I bought some flowers for my girlfriend (now my wife) at the shop opposite of the bank we used to work; it was quite an experience as actually certain flower has certain meanings, so we do not want to buy something that means for funeral, hahaha. As I walk into the shop I remember my mind was filled with question like, it means the relationship has move to another level, am I ready for it? As I treat buying flowers as declaration of love and not some daily routine like having lunch. What if she feed it to dustbin and what if she gives to some else, does that means she is not ready to move to another level or she just treats me as just another human with a dick that chase after everything that wears skirt.

Well I have passed that stage; we have been married for 7 years. I guess today there are a lot of young gentlemen still has the same feeling, shall or shall I not declare my love? Well I have 3 words for you, Just Do It!

Alien Body

Yesterday I came back from Thailand using Air Asia. When I was sitting on the plane before it take off, I felt that I could not breathe properly, I glance at the stewardess who has her hair tied up nicely with her short red skirt, black shining pantyhose and her red gloss lips helplessly. I almost told her that I need to go to the hospital as I am having problem with breathing. I felt like somebody is squeezing the air out of me. I am not sure what happen, I have been feeling breathless quite often recently. My memory is going from bad to worst; it might be due to these recurrent breathless episodes that cause the brain to lack of oxygen.

At first I thought it might be due to the surgery but yesterday was quite bad. I did not do anything or exercise except I was reading the Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. Maybe I was too excited; the book was quite a thriller and full of surprises. The first thing that flashes through my mind is that if I die this way, it’s much better than with pain. Dying breathless like in a heart attack is a temporary surge of pain as compare with dying with continuous pain until you need morphine as pain killer will be one of the worst scenarios of cancer. Well most likely I will go for an early checkup.

After I was diagnose with cancer and after the operation I often felt that my body is taken over by some aliens. It no longer follow my instructions, it has its own agenda. I felt almost like the owner now is someone else. Actually I think my cancer could have started since I am 30 years old, I have once told my friend that is the time I felt that my body is no longer young. I used to be quite a workaholic and my memory is quite good. My memory is good until that I could remember how many piece of 50, 10, 5 dollar notes and etc. in my wallet at any time. I could flip through few screens of codes and still remember the computer codes that I have saw in the first screens. That was past tense after 30, I feel tired easily, difficulty to sleep and difficult to breathe before I sleep. I am not expecting my body to be 100 percent after all the stress and the misguided cells building up in my kidney but I hope one day it will once again follow my instructions and needs.

Prince Charles to wed Camilla

After almost 8 years Princess Diana has left us, Prince Charles has finally going to remarried again, to Camilla, its going to be in April this year. I remember I was in Pattaya vacationing when Princess Diana was involved in the accident. I was in disbelief. How does a person so kind (in my view) die so young? It was the most interesting piece of news in 1997. It was follow with a lot far flung conspiracy theory. Who can forget the song candle in the wind, the live telecast of the funeral, the casket moving slowly accompany by her sons.

Everybody thoughts are mainly on what does prince charles sees in Camilla. Princess Diana was so beautiful compare with Camilla. This is the first thoughts that come across most of us. Actually I always like to said, each family has each own story. There could be a lot of things that we do not know; I guess only Princess Diana and Prince Charles will know. There are a lot of books on the life of Princess Diana, the affairs and the sad story. I guess Prince Charles has just closed the Princess Diana Chapter in his diary and open a new one with Camilla.

BKK World trade Snapshots

My wife took a day off yesterday as it was CNY first day. We went to World trade Center. We stop at the Siam BTS (train) station and walk there. Along the way there is a new office building called Central World. Outside there is a pond which is filled with water and looks like no edge, so photo opportunity.


We walk inside the world trade and looks at some camera, shirts, books and etc. I am interested in the Sony T33, it cost only 16999 baht which is arount 200 rm cheaper. Its a 5 megapixel camera. I am now researching and comparing the picture against DigitalI XUS 430 . Outside of Zen department, there is a floating dragon.

There is a new "Teen park" open inside world trade. It’s like a library whereby there are a lot of free magazine and if you are a member you are allowed to access the net for free. There is also a snack bar and of course it’s not free. There is an interesting “shelf” like structure that allows the kid to climb up and read the books. Outside the park also there is an “AV” bed, on top of its TV.

I think the thai is more creative and up to date than Malaysia, they adopt to new technology faster. Those who has been in Bangkok, you could have seen some good shops like propaganda. Its a shop that sells gifts and home decorative items. It has been opened since 1996 and just recently I have seen such shops in Malaysia. http://www.propagandaonline.com/

I was also at the MK restaurant in silom complex eating lunch with 2 friends. The restaurant only serves steamboat and it has been certify by the health ministry that the food does not consists any MSG and the vegetable is safe to consume. Inside I realize that the order is taken using a PDA and is transmitted wirelessly to the kitchen. I first saw these 5 years ago in Switzerland pizza hut and it has an output that print out your orders. I have not seen this in Malaysia yet, I am not sure about other Asian countries.

Chinese New Year (CNY), card and firework war

GongXi, GongXi, Happy CNY to all, this year is Rooster year, to be exact Wood Rooster. I hope this year will bring all the happiness, joy, wealth and the best of health to all and also the earth. I am actually still in centre point apartment (Bangkok), I might just go out and window shop a bit. Initially I might plan to go to china town but I think they will be a sea of people although today is not a public holiday in Thailand.

Normally what interest the Chinese during the start of the year is to look at their horoscope to check what is in store for them in the year. I am actually a fire goat, refer to this site for some details, do find out first which "animal" you are before you click http://www.chineseastrology.com/wu/roosteryear.php .

Normally what we did or forbid in the first day, is that there should be no sweeping of the floor, no quarrelling, no killings of animal and etc. We will normally goes to the temple to pray to the ancestor and normally we do not visit relatives on the first day, we will go on subsequent days. Of course we will gamble a bit among the immediate family. My sister will normally wear a yellow or red or bright colour shirts as Chinese believe this will bring luck and hopefully will win all the money. We will normally play black jack, ummm this reminds me of my father again as he normally will be the banker. Sigh!

When I am in my early teens I will look forward to night time, as we will have our fireworks war. We used to stay in a flat and there is a playground below. The playground got a lot of apparatus like the swing, slides and other block of concrete. We used this as a divider, like dividing ourselves into territory and countries. So normally we will buy a lot of fireworks as once the firework is finished we will be at the mercy of our enemies and it will be the end of the war and thats where the fun stops. The fireworks that shoot like cannon will be most sought after artillery as it’s able to penetrate deep into enemy compound. Back then the government has yet to ban fireworks, I think it might be our “war” stories that spread to the ear of the government that prompt them to ban it, hahaha. Just joking………..

Itchy back

I have been having quite an itch on my back. I went to see the skin specialist and I was recommended to use this lotion (as below). The specialist said that my skin have yet to "recover" or dehydrate from my operation 5 months + ago. Ummm after 5 days using it, my skin looks ok and less itch. I am not sure how much does the lotion cost but the cost of seeing the specialist, includes consultation, the lotion and a cream set me back Rm 120.

CNY eve and all the fun

I think most of us will be on leave and ready for Chinese New Year (CNY). Almost half of the KL people are from other states. They will actually travel back to their hometown to join their relatives for dinner on CNY eve which called “Twin Lian Fund” or reunion dinner. Normally this meant their grandparents or parents home. This is the period we called the “Balik Kampung” period in Malaysia. The fortunate one will travel back on their own car and the unfortunate one will travel by public transport. As this exodus takes place Kuala Lumpur (KL) will be quite deserted. Actually not only the Chinese who celebrates CNY that goes back to the hometown but the other races also take this opportunity to goes back. They take this chance to meet up with their hometown Chinese friends.

Actually what interests me, are the changes in how we celebrate CNY eve. In my days I will travel to my grandparent’s home back in Kajang which is not far away from KL. Over there we will have our “Twin Lian Fund” or reunion dinner. Normally all the uncles and aunties will be back for the dinner. The aunties will be the “chef” that is going to cook the dishes as usual there is a lot of dishes that is connected with prosperity like the “Fatt Choy” which is suppose to bring wealth to those who ate it. My grandfather is a former teacher and he is very strict so we will behave politely, hahaha. We will always call the elders first before we start to eat; of course the first person to call is the grandparents.

After dinner, all the adults will start to prepare for mahjung, when I was younger I will have no choice as I could not drive yet and there is no excuse for me to leave early, hence normally I will stay back and watch the CNY eve programs on the TV, which at that time has only 2 channels, hahaha. So normally after the mahjung session, my family will goes for midnight movies together. When I reach my teens, well that where the great things happen, my mum will drive me back to the house first. I will then get ready for my own midnight movies with the gang. In the old days I have group of “Sei Thong”, we are a group of 4.

I will choose the best looking new clothes, the pant of course is tailor made in Sungai Wang or my friend’s father tailor shop. The shirt is the most “Wei” of the CNY clothes. I will normally take a longer time to bath. As tonight is the night to parade the new clothes to outsider or in other words the girls, hahaha. We normally go for midnight movies also; the place is Sungai Wang cinema. As the eldest said all things should be new, so normally from head to toe including the underwear will be brand new. The only things old will be only the watch, hahaha.

Normally we have booked the movies a week ahead as I think it’s a tradition to a lot of teens to see movies on CNY eve. And normally the blockbuster will show on this day, of course it will normally be a Jackie Chan, Sam Hui or Raymond Wong movies. As we live quite near to Sungai Wang we will normally walk there. When we reach there you could see Cinderella, sleeping beauty, farah fawcet, fennie Yuen, Charine Chan, May Lo (now is Jackie Cheung Wife) already parading around the area of the cinema. Of course we the james dean, Leslie Cheung, Danny Chan and alan tam will be also parading our new clothes. I am not sure why we get a kick out of this, maybe this is the time whereby all the “flowers” gather. Of course there are those “flowers” that has already some “Cow Dung” standing beside them but majority of them is still “single” and “fresh”, hahaha. There is only 2 opportunity to parade ourselves that is before and after the show. Those are the days.

After the show we will normally walks back to our house and in my case my mother has already cooked supper for us as she will normally cooked and prepare dish to invite the god of fortune into the house. All the family members will normally stay awake until midnight to eat. Umm outside you could already hear the fireworks firing non-stops since 6 pm. Now with the electronic and the dog eat dog age, things has changed, I am not sure how is the teens celebrate CNY eve now, I am not sure if its the same, it could be they will stayed home and watch DVD or are in some badly lit shoplot playing video games or surfing the net and ICQ/messenging or sms with friends in other states, even now the fireworks is only sporadic as the government has actually banned it. I guess even the reunion dinner could be at some restaurants as the mums or aunties wanted to rest as they are no longer the housewifes as the old days, they are the working class.

My colleague post shows the hectic time on CNY, its tiring but its fun, http://leecheensiong.blogspot.com

Leuk Tang

Leuk Tang means voting in Thailand. Yesterday is Thailand Election Day; I was back at my wife hometown. In Thailand the parties are represented by number. The thai rak thai party who is favorite to win is number 9 which is an auspicious number to thai like 8 to Chinese.

On the way to my wife hometown I could see polling station was almost in every corners of the street, it’s a temporary setup with clothes to cover the voting place. I followed my wife to the polling station. The law stated that all voters or supporters are not allowed to show any sign or numbers of the parties during Election Day, even shirt with numbers, for example number 9. My wife polling station is in a school. It was less than five minutes drive from my in-laws house. We need to walk across a bridge over a canal. An interesting bridge which also serves as a drive way for motorcycle.

Once reached the polling station you will need to check your name in a list posted on the bulletin board. In the bulletin board was also pasted with the canditate of the area.

As of this morning it looks like Thai Rak Thai is going to swept at least 350 Parliamentary seats out of 500. Its going down in the thai history as it is the first time that "a single party rules" which it’s surprising to some as with all the havoc, problem in the southern thai, Thai Rak Thai still manage a very “Big” win. I guess it’s the decisiveness of Thaksin that won the day.

After prayers you do not need the monk anymore

I have just touched down and have reached the apartment in Thailand safely. Before lifting off from Malaysian soil it seems there is a changed of gates. I did not really hear any announcement but I could see the passengers around the gates start to move further up to another gate. As usual I was sitting slightly further as I do not want to stand among the eager crowd which I think consists a lot of first time and excited visitor to Bangkok.

I took Air Asia to save some money. I have the feeling the way Air Asia is treated in KLIA prompt the recent move by Air Asia to request to operate in subang Airport (the old airport before KLIA). As there is no announcement on the sudden change of gates which cause confusion to the passenger. Luckily I am a bit season traveler if not sure miss the flight.

The new gates also shares with another Air Asia flight which is quite confusing as you could see a lot of passengers line up but it might not be your flight. I ended up being the last passengers; I guess this is the first for me. Most of the time I will not be the last, I will always in the middle. The reason that I am the last is that even inside the gates just before going into the plane, it was shared with another flight. There are a lot of passengers sitting around but it’s for another flight. Confusing?!! Ya! As I thought I could not be the last as there are around 40 more passengers sitting around.

I saw an interview yesterday with the ex MAS president. Most of us remember that there are some issues a few years back whereby certain airlines actually pull out from KLIA, airlines like British Airways and etc. The reason is that normally for airlines to fly into an airport there is always an indicator to show that the airport is good and it’s viable and feasible for the airlines to do so. One of the indicators is the number of passengers per year that landed in the airport. It seems KLIA does not have the numbers hence the offers of free parking and other freebies to attract airlines to use it. Air Asia actually helps KLIA to boost up the figure but it seems KLIA is like in Chinese saying “After prayers you do not need the monk anymore”.

Off Thailand again

I will be off to Thailand again tomorrow lunch. Why? Thailand has been like a second home to me. My sister will be still in Malaysia. I have asked her to follow me but she shrugs her shoulder and said no. I guess after a while if you do not have a target or purpose, Thailand will be the same old Thailand, especially in Bangkok. As Bangkok is more like a shopping haven.

Malaysian ladies will swear to that as their favorite items is the underwear. The brand Wacoal is the brand they chase after as the price here in Malaysia is almost double. However recently I do notice that the prices have catch up to Malaysia prices. Well another items that they do look for is the leather goods especially Guy Laroche handbag, again it’s almost double the price. In my last trip my sister asked me to buy one for her. The price is around Malaysia ringgit 200 differences. As for me my interest is the lollypop. I think only 1 or 2 people will know what I mean, hahaha.

Tentatively I will be back to Malaysia next Friday which is 11th February 2005. The week before the “Day” for lovers that is Valentine days. I think I will continue to post some things in Thailand as my wife will not be taking leave. In Thailand they do not celebrate Chinese New Year (CNY). As Chinese is a minority, hence there is no holidays. Normally the Chinese there is of teochew clan. They will normally take leave on CNY eve as they will offer food to the Buddha and pray.

Cancer Blog and Forum

I have come across an interesting site on cancer and also a forum. Of course this should not be a subsitute for actual medical advice from qualify doctors. I have put this as a link on the right hand side of my blog. So do explore on the archive.

Grease Lightning and 70's shows

Yesterday I saw the TV showing “Grease”, well this is a classic show to me. It depicts what is “Cool” about, of course without forgetting the “Curry Puff” hair styles, the leather jacket, the thunder bird and etc. I did not finish the show; I close the TV after John Travolta or “Danny Zuko” in the movie sang the song Sandy. That brings back some memories. I was in my early teens when I saw it in the cinema and of course after that I always dream of being “Danny Zuko”, the cool one or at least the cool fat one. The one with the eyes that can melt an iceberg and can make a bird fly down from a tree, hahaha. That is the reason my eyes is small now as the birds like to hammer at my eyes. Ouch!

I remember there is also a TV show called Happy Days (http://www.sitcomsonline.com/happydays.html). The Famous Fonzie starred by Henry Winkler, I guess I pass my teens by seeing this kinda of show. That is the reason I am “cool” as got a lot of role model that I can follow.

Another unforgettable group or TV series is of course “Sha Na Na” (http://www.shanana.com/). Umm maybe tonight I can dream back those happy moments of the 70’s, those incredible hair style and let’s bring out the comb from the back pocket and salute to Danny Zuko and Fonzies. I think I will cover my eyes with the pillow for protection........

Sunlight may help fight cancer

I read with interest an article in Star NewsPaper, say that exposure to sunlight may help fight cancer. This is the link

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2005/2/3/world/10074972&sec=world

At lasts a possible natural way of fighting the most dreaded disease. I hope its turns out to be scientifically proven although we should avoid overexpose ourselves which could finally lead to skin cancer.

Live Radio and TV search

This web site provide list of live radio and TV. Most request you to visit the website instead of direct click and play. This means you cannot experience as you need to understand the language in order for you to click and play.

You could search using "the search by"

Radio
http://www.comfm.com/live/radio/

TV
http://www.comfm.com/live/tv/

In the mean time enjoy taiwan radio "Kiss".
http://radio.media.hinet.net/player/cat.asp?radio_id={BFA0A25F-3184-4DC9-9772-5BB70C4E13BB}

Miror mirror on the wall

I just read an article on Star newspaper yesterday; it said that a Malaysian admitted and dies in Singapore Gleneagles Hospital after he has a Liver transplant done in a Malaysia Hospital. So there is this minister said this person should have done this operation in so and so hospital. He says that this hospital has done a few successful liver operation but they do not actually publicize it.

However I am looking at the other angle. Actually all doctor or surgeon or specialist, when they are in practice they should have the sufficient knowledge or experience to perform whatever task needed. They should have done their practical during their studies or residency in a hospital. How does a patient knows who is the best doctor to goes to? Do they need to find out by giving their life to them first? It sounds ridiculous isn’t it?

By right they should have sufficient skills to deliver what is required. I think the minister that spoke out does not really think first. I compare to driving, in general circumstances, a “just passed” driver and an experience driver, if they are going from point A to B, the “just passed driver” might reach point B slower than experience driver. Now we are saying this “just passed” driver crash and the car is a total wreck.

I personally do not have much faith in doctors, I have experience certain incident that left my mouth wide open in disbelief. I hope I do not need to gives my life first to find out. Mirror mirror on the wall who is the best of all ...

Mouse Trail Clock and sell fish

My colleague posts a comment and asks how to get the cute clock that follows the cursor. It is a Java Script that is free and available over the net. That is one of the things that is good in the net is that some good people loves to share their work with others. I think that is a good point in some of us as there are people who just love to keep everything only to themselves.

During my early years in work, we have a phrase that I love to call for this kinda of people, I always said they like to “Sell Fish”, it’s actually meant to be selfish. So when I think that’s someone is doing it I will tell them, wow you like to “Sell Fish” but I do not buy it.

Well maybe one of these days I will post something on the act of “Sell Fish”, in the mean time, I will recharge "my battery" as today is a holiday. It is Federal Territory day, it is only enjoy in 3 places in Malaysia i.e. Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and putrajaya.

I salute to those ladies and gentlemen that actually share their codes with the general public and allows some of us to feel happy in seeing it running in their blog sites. So here is the link. http://javascript.internet.com/clocks/mouse-trail-clock.html

You could also look at the other interesting codes that was post there, you could just goes back to the "home" in the site which is as below.
http://javascript.internet.com/