We are at the tail end of 2005. What will it be for us next year? Let’s look into my crystal ball….Oh! my crystal ball is made in Malaysia, its still does not have a good roaming capabilities, hence most of the forecast is local contents. So here is a list of prediction as below, just for fun.
TV
As you walk into an electrical shop you could see that most of the TV that is on display is either an LCD TV or Plasma TV. I could foresee that by end of next year, LCD and plasma TV will fully replace the conventional TV in electrical shops. This is due to my anticipation that LCD TV price will drop further. Now you could get a branded 32 inch LCD TV for Rm8,000, by end of next year it will goes down to Rm 5,000 to RM6,000. I have seen a 3d version of LCD TV in Bangkok. I guess this will be introduced into our Malaysian Market soon, most likely for advertising purpose.
Mobile Phone
The just announce proposal to reduce the cost of SMS, MMS and mobile phone calls will be a driving force for mobile service provider to branch out to other services to brings in the money. 3G has been introduced for some time but it has not been fully exploited and use widely as the cost of owning a 3G phone is still high. However I anticipate that the mobile service provider will subsidize heavily and drive down the cost of owning 3G phones as their earning depends on the usage of such services. Hence they will put a carrot in front of the consumer in the form of cheap 3G phones. Once the consumer bought it and starts to use it, it will be a stable flow of profits for them. It will be the case of I fork out Rm100 once but after that you will give me back Rm100 every month. Another reason it’s the size of 3G phones. It’s big and heavy that is a disadvantage as it has alienated almost half of its potential customer, the ladies. I guess next year will be a year whereby smaller 3G phones will be introduced.
PDA phone will also going to be a hot item. As PDA phone starts to pack in the capability such as mega pixels camera, Wireless or WIFI connection, it will at least have a strong following in terms of the StarBuck patron. I foresee next year the major players might join in the fun and more new PDA phone will be introduced. This will result in a lot of Starbuck patron bringing out their PDA phone to surf instead of a 5 pounds notebook.
Petrol Price
Will most likely increase further as the government is finding ways to fund the country, be it new projects or revive whatever sensitive projects or other subsidies. I guess it will increase for another 15 to 20 percent by end of next year.
War or Major Terrorist Attack
Will there be another major war such as in Iraq now. Or will there be another 9/11, Bali Bombing, Embassy Bombing, underground station, or ??? Very hard to say, my crystal ball is not clear on this as it does not have roaming facilities but I can safely say as long as there is differences in terms of view on issues such as political, religion, distribution of wealth, feeling of discrimination and etc. There will still be unpleasant events happening in the world. The world will only achieve peace when all its occupants lives as one which is as humankind.
Is there anymore? Let me think first, in the mean time I am dreaming of an interesting metal in black...
Thursday, December 29, 2005
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Waves from Hell
A year has passed since the big waves hit the shores; kill thousand of human & animals, ruin infrastructures and etc. In what way does Tsunami affect you? When I first heard about it, I have no idea how bad is it, that is until I saw it on TV, waves swamping in dragging along all things on its path, a sense of disbelieve crowded my head. The most heart wrenching of all is the video that was captured in Sri Lanka. It was at a bus station, as waves after waves of water rushing in filling up drains, water levels inching up in unbelievable speed and gathering speed, a group of commuter were seen clinging on to a pillar, which has suddenly turns into a lifeline.
An unexpected event has brought this group of strangers together. In a normal day, they probably sat beside each other, not talking to each other, everyone putting up a “shield”. On that day they share a common goal, all of them wants to get out of it alive. As they stole glances at each other, one of them starts to struggle, her grip loosens, slipping away, the wave carries and dragging her along its path of destruction.
On this 26th, this scene and others was shown again, for some they relive the pain of losing someone close. For those like us, we wonder is all this coverage of an anniversary of a sad event necessary. I do not want to relive the moments of seeing and hearing the footsteps of the nurses and doctors rushing around trying to resurrect my father…….
An unexpected event has brought this group of strangers together. In a normal day, they probably sat beside each other, not talking to each other, everyone putting up a “shield”. On that day they share a common goal, all of them wants to get out of it alive. As they stole glances at each other, one of them starts to struggle, her grip loosens, slipping away, the wave carries and dragging her along its path of destruction.
On this 26th, this scene and others was shown again, for some they relive the pain of losing someone close. For those like us, we wonder is all this coverage of an anniversary of a sad event necessary. I do not want to relive the moments of seeing and hearing the footsteps of the nurses and doctors rushing around trying to resurrect my father…….
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
Ocean World Bangkok
A quick roundup on my trip to BKK last week, my normal routine in BKK is an escape from my daily routine in KL. I will spend most of my time in the house, lazing around, surfing the net. This trip I spend some time at my wife office as I was in BKK on working days and my wife is busy tying up loose end as her project has just been implemented. The place was quite dusty as they are in the midst of touching up and completing the construction. It’s a new building. My main purpose of this trip is to visit a new shopping venue that was opened early December. It’s called Siam Paragon.
For those who know the location of Siam Center, this new place is just situated on the right. Previously the place was occupied by a hotel. The hotel was torn down and replace by Siam Paragon, an upmarket shopping venue. The place is quite huge; if I am not wrong it could compete with 1 Utama back here in KL in terms of size. One of the key tenant or attraction is Ocean World. It was reported to be the biggest “Aquarium” in South East Asia (if not in Asia).
I was there on Sunday together with my wife, her sister, her sister husband and nephew at 9:00 am. The place opens at 9 am sharp. If you ever planned to go to such place, go there as early as possible as once the place is fill up with people, you could see human backside more than fins. The entrance is located in the front, furthest right, with glass wall (refer picture above). There is a big “Ocean World” sign pasted on top of it. Once you walk in, just keep to the left as there is an escalator going down to the main entrance of Ocean World. The entrance cost is a bit steep as compare with KLCC Aquarium, 450 baht for adult and 280 baht for child. There is only map and a booklet with a brief explanation on the various types of fish or inhabitants of the ocean, no interactive CD compare with KLCC Aquarium.
If you are those who likes to listen or watch things like shark feeding and etc, below is a schedule for you.
When I went in, my first impression is that it feels bigger; it could be due to that we are the early birds. As I moved along, the exhibits, it does seem to be more. Guess what, I am the one who spends the most time in each exhibits as I am the camera man who will capture the visit in bits and bytes as remembrance. As usual, I have taken over 100 photos; most of the good shots are taken with flash. There are some good ones taken by putting my camera on the space in front of the exhibits but it’s has limited views. Below is some clear shots for your “digestion”. Higher resolution photos will be posted on my photo blog. My verdict is that Ocean World in Bangkok looks and feel better and has more exhibits than the KLCC Aquarium....
For those who know the location of Siam Center, this new place is just situated on the right. Previously the place was occupied by a hotel. The hotel was torn down and replace by Siam Paragon, an upmarket shopping venue. The place is quite huge; if I am not wrong it could compete with 1 Utama back here in KL in terms of size. One of the key tenant or attraction is Ocean World. It was reported to be the biggest “Aquarium” in South East Asia (if not in Asia).
I was there on Sunday together with my wife, her sister, her sister husband and nephew at 9:00 am. The place opens at 9 am sharp. If you ever planned to go to such place, go there as early as possible as once the place is fill up with people, you could see human backside more than fins. The entrance is located in the front, furthest right, with glass wall (refer picture above). There is a big “Ocean World” sign pasted on top of it. Once you walk in, just keep to the left as there is an escalator going down to the main entrance of Ocean World. The entrance cost is a bit steep as compare with KLCC Aquarium, 450 baht for adult and 280 baht for child. There is only map and a booklet with a brief explanation on the various types of fish or inhabitants of the ocean, no interactive CD compare with KLCC Aquarium.
If you are those who likes to listen or watch things like shark feeding and etc, below is a schedule for you.
When I went in, my first impression is that it feels bigger; it could be due to that we are the early birds. As I moved along, the exhibits, it does seem to be more. Guess what, I am the one who spends the most time in each exhibits as I am the camera man who will capture the visit in bits and bytes as remembrance. As usual, I have taken over 100 photos; most of the good shots are taken with flash. There are some good ones taken by putting my camera on the space in front of the exhibits but it’s has limited views. Below is some clear shots for your “digestion”. Higher resolution photos will be posted on my photo blog. My verdict is that Ocean World in Bangkok looks and feel better and has more exhibits than the KLCC Aquarium....
Monday, December 26, 2005
Prelude to another fishy tale
A prelude to my next post, I just came back from Bangkok, a bit tired and I am ready to prepare my lunch for tomorrow but I thought of posting a interesting photo of an outing in Bangkok….its going to be another fishy tale…
Friday, December 23, 2005
In BKK, a cold BKK
A quick update, I am in Bangkok. I flew in yesterday. On the way back to my home, a thermometer found in a building on the side of the road displaying a value which I rarely seen. It shows 24c. A value I see frequently in Genting Highlands.
I took a hot shower when I reach home and my body starts to shake, a way to tell me that it’s cold. My wife and I decided to have natural air instead of compressed cold air. This morning when I woke up and walk around the front of the house, I could feel the cold morning breeze going into my lungs.
It feels colder than last year, it was reported that it will drop 2 to 3 more degrees during this weekend. A cold Christmas in BKK….
I took a hot shower when I reach home and my body starts to shake, a way to tell me that it’s cold. My wife and I decided to have natural air instead of compressed cold air. This morning when I woke up and walk around the front of the house, I could feel the cold morning breeze going into my lungs.
It feels colder than last year, it was reported that it will drop 2 to 3 more degrees during this weekend. A cold Christmas in BKK….
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
All they want for Christmas.
I was reading this article in Star under the Metro Section, page 4, after reading it I felt an urge to do something. Lately I have been wary of passer-by asking for donation, purportedly for certain charities or organization like Kidney Foundation, Old folks home and etc. I have actually stopped donating or buying items from this passer-by, I guess it could be due to the reports that only 10 percent of the amount going to the charities or the organization/foundation. I also felt in a way “dupe” when I do not actually see, read or heard much about the millions of $$$ that was donated by our fellow Malaysian during Tsunami.
As I read this article with the header “They Don’t Know it’s Christmas time at all” and “All they want for Christmas”, I felt here is something that we all could do. And we personally could see that the donation be it gifts, grocery, rental, beds, or etc is put into use. The first article was on a home for the mentally retarded. Most of the statement is directly taken from the article. They need donors to settle their monthly rental or take up or pay some their utility payments such as water or electricity. The rental is RM3,700 while their monthly water bill is RM360 and RM320 for electricity. The home also needs adult diapers. For bloggers or surfers from Malaysia who stays near Ampang, Selangor, you could go out and buy a few bundles of adult diapers, drop by at this place and donate to the home. If you are willing to spend some $$$ and time, below is name of the home, place and contact number to call.
Pusat Penjagaan Kanak-Kanak Terencat Akal Selangor,
118, Jalan Wira Due, Taman Perwira Dua,
68000, Ampang, Selangor.
To help the home call 03-42513955 or 019-7304779 (Rajamanikam), 012-3560155 (Susilah).
Under the article header “All they want for Christmas..” they are more homes, shelters and etc that you could help. I picked 3 of them. For the rest you could click on the picture for details (from The Star).
Phillys Caring Home
(Home for the old folks).
19 Jalan 12/12, 46200 Petaling Jaya.
Needs: Mosquito netting for its room, cushion covers, curtains, stove, adult diapers and daily provisions like rice, sugar and foodstuff.
Contact person: Home founder and manager Phyllis Nathan, 03-79560799.
Shepherd’s Centre Foundation
(home for orphans and the terminally ill)
23 Jln Besar, Tmn Hiew Piew,
Semenyih (main foster home)
Needs:120 sets of bed sheets, blankets, pillow cases; cutlery, crockery, refrigerator, washing machine (10kg).
Contact person: Founders Pastor Jacop and Pastor Bridget, 03-87231213/6770.
Rumah Sayangan
(Home for underprivileged, abused and orphaned children)
14 & 16 Jalan Siput 3, Taman Billion, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur.
Needs: A small car or van to send the children to school, fruit blender, water filter, food freezer, wall or table fans, schoolbags, writing materials and exercise books, sandals and slippers as well as milk and canned food.
Contact Person: Susan Looi, 03-91314339 or 019-2583747.
I suggest calling the contact person first.
So lets wear a red suit and become Santa Claus this year instead of just hanging our big “socks” and wait for our gifts.
As I read this article with the header “They Don’t Know it’s Christmas time at all” and “All they want for Christmas”, I felt here is something that we all could do. And we personally could see that the donation be it gifts, grocery, rental, beds, or etc is put into use. The first article was on a home for the mentally retarded. Most of the statement is directly taken from the article. They need donors to settle their monthly rental or take up or pay some their utility payments such as water or electricity. The rental is RM3,700 while their monthly water bill is RM360 and RM320 for electricity. The home also needs adult diapers. For bloggers or surfers from Malaysia who stays near Ampang, Selangor, you could go out and buy a few bundles of adult diapers, drop by at this place and donate to the home. If you are willing to spend some $$$ and time, below is name of the home, place and contact number to call.
Pusat Penjagaan Kanak-Kanak Terencat Akal Selangor,
118, Jalan Wira Due, Taman Perwira Dua,
68000, Ampang, Selangor.
To help the home call 03-42513955 or 019-7304779 (Rajamanikam), 012-3560155 (Susilah).
Under the article header “All they want for Christmas..” they are more homes, shelters and etc that you could help. I picked 3 of them. For the rest you could click on the picture for details (from The Star).
Phillys Caring Home
(Home for the old folks).
19 Jalan 12/12, 46200 Petaling Jaya.
Needs: Mosquito netting for its room, cushion covers, curtains, stove, adult diapers and daily provisions like rice, sugar and foodstuff.
Contact person: Home founder and manager Phyllis Nathan, 03-79560799.
Shepherd’s Centre Foundation
(home for orphans and the terminally ill)
23 Jln Besar, Tmn Hiew Piew,
Semenyih (main foster home)
Needs:120 sets of bed sheets, blankets, pillow cases; cutlery, crockery, refrigerator, washing machine (10kg).
Contact person: Founders Pastor Jacop and Pastor Bridget, 03-87231213/6770.
Rumah Sayangan
(Home for underprivileged, abused and orphaned children)
14 & 16 Jalan Siput 3, Taman Billion, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur.
Needs: A small car or van to send the children to school, fruit blender, water filter, food freezer, wall or table fans, schoolbags, writing materials and exercise books, sandals and slippers as well as milk and canned food.
Contact Person: Susan Looi, 03-91314339 or 019-2583747.
I suggest calling the contact person first.
So lets wear a red suit and become Santa Claus this year instead of just hanging our big “socks” and wait for our gifts.
Sunday, December 18, 2005
Jingle Bell Tag
I was flipping through the comments in my blog, when I saw this “BTW, I've tagged you, go check my blog ... Hehehee” and on the side, the profile picture of a Santa Girl wearing all red, with a V shape and low cut jacket, showing a see through laze….umm oops just dreaming, Lynne actually Tagged me with this. No there is no picture in her profile. I call this the Jingle Bell Tag.
It’s just 7 days before the Red, Big Teddy Bear comes down and gives everyone a gift for behaving well. Every department store is already broadcasting all kinds of Christmas songs. You could see that if a sad looking person walks into a department store, they will exit with a smile on their face.
Although I am a “Buddhist”, I love all kind of celebration especially those that can bring cheers and happiness to kids and adults and everyone around. That what Christmas is to me and here are the tag rules:
* State the Great Person that tagged you
* List who you want your Santa Claus to be (the bearer of the gift)
* State the Gift you wish to get
* Then invite a few Friends to join the tag, and inform them by dropping a comment in their blog.
The Great Person: Lynne, click to see a picture of her. I spend a lot of $$$ to get it. She lives so far away and she is closely watch by her bodyguards, especially the security head Mr Baker. I got this picture via Satellite. I hired a hacker to tap into the CIA and this is what I got.
The Santa Claus that will deliver the gift. I would love to have the real santa claus. As the gift that I want, I do not think anyone on this earth could deliver it except those who lives up there.
The Gift, fulfilling my wish, to have a christmas dinner with my wife, my sister, my dad and my mum in a fancy restaurant. Five of us sitting, laughing, enjoying ourselves.... just an hour will do.
An Update, it might not be a "Gift", but that is my thought at this moment. As I think a gift is normally a tangible thing.
Friends, I would just like to pass to Shiaulin. The CEO of a well run home.
If those of you guys who wants to join in the fun, copy and paste onto your blog.
M E R R Y C H R I S T M A S !
It’s just 7 days before the Red, Big Teddy Bear comes down and gives everyone a gift for behaving well. Every department store is already broadcasting all kinds of Christmas songs. You could see that if a sad looking person walks into a department store, they will exit with a smile on their face.
Although I am a “Buddhist”, I love all kind of celebration especially those that can bring cheers and happiness to kids and adults and everyone around. That what Christmas is to me and here are the tag rules:
* State the Great Person that tagged you
* List who you want your Santa Claus to be (the bearer of the gift)
* State the Gift you wish to get
* Then invite a few Friends to join the tag, and inform them by dropping a comment in their blog.
The Great Person: Lynne, click to see a picture of her. I spend a lot of $$$ to get it. She lives so far away and she is closely watch by her bodyguards, especially the security head Mr Baker. I got this picture via Satellite. I hired a hacker to tap into the CIA and this is what I got.
The Santa Claus that will deliver the gift. I would love to have the real santa claus. As the gift that I want, I do not think anyone on this earth could deliver it except those who lives up there.
The Gift, fulfilling my wish, to have a christmas dinner with my wife, my sister, my dad and my mum in a fancy restaurant. Five of us sitting, laughing, enjoying ourselves.... just an hour will do.
An Update, it might not be a "Gift", but that is my thought at this moment. As I think a gift is normally a tangible thing.
Friends, I would just like to pass to Shiaulin. The CEO of a well run home.
If those of you guys who wants to join in the fun, copy and paste onto your blog.
M E R R Y C H R I S T M A S !
Saturday, December 17, 2005
Intimate Job
My sis was reading the Star today and suddenly she burst out laughing. She show me this particular Job Vacancy. It looks fine until at the bottom, “Only short-listed candidates will be intimated,”. What does this means? Umm, maybe it mean to get more acquainted…… If someone knows please let me know ya....
On the left is the whole advert and on the right its a zoom on the sentence in red rectangle, click for a bigger picture.
On the left is the whole advert and on the right its a zoom on the sentence in red rectangle, click for a bigger picture.
Friday, December 16, 2005
You know, I know.
Now is the time of the year, whereby sales sign is seen everywhere and there is a lot of company doing their evaluation process. I just evaluate 7 staffs and I feel like I was running a marathon. I could write down a few reasons why but anyway I would not like to discuss this in a blog. I was at KLCC today and as usual I bought Newsweek and Times. The big Christmas tree has also been put up at the concourse. I was reading an article found in Newsweek, there is this company, Whole Food Market which has a very unique management style.
The company practise an open book concept, whereby everybody salaries is known. As long as you are an employee of the company you will know your managers’ pay, your boss pay, your peers and your subordinate pay. As I read on, I found that the reason given its quite rationale. I believe most of us has in the past or even present speculate, gossip about a colleague pay. He/She has been buying new car, house, LCD TV and etc and you start to wonder, how much is he/she getting. “I have been putting in more effort than he/she, how come I am still stuck with my old piece of metal with 4 wheels and my 4 concrete walls with a roof.”
When you are young, have you ever kept any secret from your parents or anybody. It could be when you play truant to go and catch a new movie, catch fish or it could be that your auntie gives you more angpow money. When there is a secret it means there is something you wish to hide because its unfair, not right or ???. If our salary or our colleagues is fair or justifiable why is there a need to keep it as a “secret”? Does that means that it’s “a secret because there are significant injustices and the company prefer people not know about them” (this statement is taken from Newsweek).
If salary is an open book items in the company, when a salary adjustment is made to a staff the boss will really need to have a good and valid reason for it. As he/she will need to justify to everybody the reason why hence this will prevent the toss a coin or I like your face or you have been patting my behind type of adjustment. By being open about it, will it create a better working environment or will it become worse or is it better to keep it as a secret.........
The company practise an open book concept, whereby everybody salaries is known. As long as you are an employee of the company you will know your managers’ pay, your boss pay, your peers and your subordinate pay. As I read on, I found that the reason given its quite rationale. I believe most of us has in the past or even present speculate, gossip about a colleague pay. He/She has been buying new car, house, LCD TV and etc and you start to wonder, how much is he/she getting. “I have been putting in more effort than he/she, how come I am still stuck with my old piece of metal with 4 wheels and my 4 concrete walls with a roof.”
When you are young, have you ever kept any secret from your parents or anybody. It could be when you play truant to go and catch a new movie, catch fish or it could be that your auntie gives you more angpow money. When there is a secret it means there is something you wish to hide because its unfair, not right or ???. If our salary or our colleagues is fair or justifiable why is there a need to keep it as a “secret”? Does that means that it’s “a secret because there are significant injustices and the company prefer people not know about them” (this statement is taken from Newsweek).
If salary is an open book items in the company, when a salary adjustment is made to a staff the boss will really need to have a good and valid reason for it. As he/she will need to justify to everybody the reason why hence this will prevent the toss a coin or I like your face or you have been patting my behind type of adjustment. By being open about it, will it create a better working environment or will it become worse or is it better to keep it as a secret.........
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Big Boy Toys
When I am in my early teens, my favourite past time is to visit the arcade shop with my dad to play pin ball. The shop is less than half a kilometre away from my flat. We would normally be there during weekends for our round of pin ball. I am not sure why I am hooked to it. It could be the challenge, the challenge of keeping a single metallic ball on a enclose board tilted 45 degrees. The longer you can prevent the ball from falling into the hole and the more targets you hit along the way, the more points you will get. Or it could be the fun of playing an hour plus of pinball with just 20 cents. Every 20 cents will buy you 3 chances. The reason is I am quite good at it, hence I will always get “free” balls every now and then by hitting the 100k points mark.
Actually what joy does one gets from playing pin ball? It beats me but when I played my body will sometimes sway excitedly from left to right when the flipper hits the ball. Flipper is the 2 “little things” that is control by the players. It is the only thing that is standing in the way between the ball and the hole. There are a lot of games and toys that I played during my teens, example Atari or those interesting electronic games like Popeye, Octopus and etc. I bought myself a PS one during my working days but it was stolen by someone when my house was broken into.
And for this Christmas and New Year, I have bought myself a toy. A slick and a small black wonder with an incredible screen and of course the capability of surfing the net wirelessly. I got myself a PSP. I am not sure if it’s a spur of the moment of purchase but I was attracted by its look and its display and what portable game console could allow you to surf the net, compete and play the games with a group of people wirelessly, listen to music, view pictures and see video. Why a “going to be 40 years old man” goes out and buy a PSP? Ummm, I guess I am still a small little boy trap in a man body. I guess nothing beats the feeling of becoming the champion racer, great kung fu fighter that can knock out a big guy with a single punch, treasure hunter and etc. Although all this is done and simulated in a little black rectangle but the feeling of achieving and accomplishing something is one thing us human loves. Oh someone is calling me, “Ok Michael, I am coming, rev up your engine and wait for me”…..
PSP with all the items in the value pack and seen with the screen visor from logica.
And I got a free leather organizer for slotting a certain amount using my mastercard....
Actually what joy does one gets from playing pin ball? It beats me but when I played my body will sometimes sway excitedly from left to right when the flipper hits the ball. Flipper is the 2 “little things” that is control by the players. It is the only thing that is standing in the way between the ball and the hole. There are a lot of games and toys that I played during my teens, example Atari or those interesting electronic games like Popeye, Octopus and etc. I bought myself a PS one during my working days but it was stolen by someone when my house was broken into.
And for this Christmas and New Year, I have bought myself a toy. A slick and a small black wonder with an incredible screen and of course the capability of surfing the net wirelessly. I got myself a PSP. I am not sure if it’s a spur of the moment of purchase but I was attracted by its look and its display and what portable game console could allow you to surf the net, compete and play the games with a group of people wirelessly, listen to music, view pictures and see video. Why a “going to be 40 years old man” goes out and buy a PSP? Ummm, I guess I am still a small little boy trap in a man body. I guess nothing beats the feeling of becoming the champion racer, great kung fu fighter that can knock out a big guy with a single punch, treasure hunter and etc. Although all this is done and simulated in a little black rectangle but the feeling of achieving and accomplishing something is one thing us human loves. Oh someone is calling me, “Ok Michael, I am coming, rev up your engine and wait for me”…..
PSP with all the items in the value pack and seen with the screen visor from logica.
And I got a free leather organizer for slotting a certain amount using my mastercard....
Sunday, December 11, 2005
All that Jazz
I am actually a music lover who loves all kinds of music. Some may say I am a bit odd or some may say I am just plain music collector. Just open my entertainment cabinet in my living room, there are rows and rows of CDs. It ranges from rock, pop, punk rock, heavy metal, new age, jazz, blues, rap and etc. There are CDs that I bought it, listen to it once and then it will be in the cabinet, filling up the empty rows slowly. Most of my CDs are all “Tulen” (genuine in English) and it’s not from night markets that sell in MP3 format. I do have 15 odds one that is “cloned” in which I bought from bazaar in Jakarta.
Once in a while I will have a sudden urge in buying CDs and for the past 2 weeks whereby I was on a hiatus from blogging and cyber space, that urge came and out comes my credit card. My first conquest is Emi Fujita, Camomile Blend, this is my first Emi CDs. I bought it with high expectation as a lot of colleague especially Lee Cheen Siong loves it and I came to believe that Emi voice is rated as one of the best. After listening to it, I shall say that it’s not what I expected. It could be that the songs are not original, it is originally sung by artiste like Police or Cyndi Lauper or it could be the pronunciation of certain English words. It actually reminds me of a Japanese Singer by the name of Seiko Matsuda. She has a beautiful voice, I love her Japanese Songs but her English version is just average.
Or it could be due to another CD which I have bought almost at the same time. It’s by Janet Seidel, its called comme ci, comme ca (French). When I first listen to it, I have the same feeling as when I listen to Norah Jones first CD. Her voice has that kind of “pull”, that will drag you in. I felt as though as I was standing there singing with her, feeling the emotion and each words drift across the air and lingers in my head. Try it guys. Oh before I forgot, the music genre is Jazz.
I have also other conquest, like Depeche Mode, Stefanie Sun nd Ronan Keating. Depeche Mode still belongs to the “Dark Side” of electronic music, their latest called playing the angel. I could feel Dave's emotion on this one. His road from hell and back. Stefanie and Ronan is more commercial pop songs……… I have another surprise in my next post. I have just bought myself a gift for Christmas and New Year. Its black in colour and its fun, my wife is sitting beside me now and enjoying herself.
Once in a while I will have a sudden urge in buying CDs and for the past 2 weeks whereby I was on a hiatus from blogging and cyber space, that urge came and out comes my credit card. My first conquest is Emi Fujita, Camomile Blend, this is my first Emi CDs. I bought it with high expectation as a lot of colleague especially Lee Cheen Siong loves it and I came to believe that Emi voice is rated as one of the best. After listening to it, I shall say that it’s not what I expected. It could be that the songs are not original, it is originally sung by artiste like Police or Cyndi Lauper or it could be the pronunciation of certain English words. It actually reminds me of a Japanese Singer by the name of Seiko Matsuda. She has a beautiful voice, I love her Japanese Songs but her English version is just average.
Or it could be due to another CD which I have bought almost at the same time. It’s by Janet Seidel, its called comme ci, comme ca (French). When I first listen to it, I have the same feeling as when I listen to Norah Jones first CD. Her voice has that kind of “pull”, that will drag you in. I felt as though as I was standing there singing with her, feeling the emotion and each words drift across the air and lingers in my head. Try it guys. Oh before I forgot, the music genre is Jazz.
I have also other conquest, like Depeche Mode, Stefanie Sun nd Ronan Keating. Depeche Mode still belongs to the “Dark Side” of electronic music, their latest called playing the angel. I could feel Dave's emotion on this one. His road from hell and back. Stefanie and Ronan is more commercial pop songs……… I have another surprise in my next post. I have just bought myself a gift for Christmas and New Year. Its black in colour and its fun, my wife is sitting beside me now and enjoying herself.
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
A quick update
A quick update, I understand some of my colleague and friends are quite worry about me. It looks like I have been missing for almost 2 weeks from cyber space. There is no blog update or whatsoever. I did log on the net though but somehow most of us did not see each other online on MSN or Yahoo Messenger. I have also changed my MSN id as it seems I could not use my old ID to chat with my wife.
Since 19th November, I have been quite busy, work wise as most of the resources have been “discharged” from the project. I do not want to delve further, all I could say is that its have been a hell of busy and busy time. I also do not feel as well as I wish to although my wife might disagree but my body told me I am not my old self.
I went to Genting on 20th November. It was quite cold up there. It hovers around 22 degrees in the afternoon and at night it dips below 15 degrees. The first photo below was taken on the way down from the escalator from first world hotel. The second is taken just outside of resort hotel near the mini Japanese Garden. Again the mist almost swallow up the surrounding area, I could feel the moist on my face.
In fact it was so cold, that I ended up buying a jacket at one of the many stores available up there in Genting. Why did I buy it? I did not realise that it was so cold until I was shivering. It was all due to a gulp of water. I was outside enjoying the cold and clean air and I was a bit thirsty. Hence I decide to take a zip of water. Thats when my mouth starts to crackle, noise from my teeth knocking each other, shaking. The photo below shows my “new” and cheap jacket that cost around Rm39.
My sister was also away in Shanghai for 8 days hence I was preparing my own lunch and breakfast by myself. Hence I am bit tired also. Below is some of the things my sister bought. On the left is a pair of dolls and on the right is some lucky charm according to chinese zodiac.
On the left is a silk pillow is famous in Suzhou and on the right is "Wan Pin Kuo" a type of cake, very famous in Shanghai.
I was in Bangkok last week and I was sick most of the time, having a bad cold. However I still manage to get some christmas tree photo and some fireworks photo as on monday they celebrate the king birthday. I am still having problem with air pressure in my ears due to my cold, creating imbalance to my brain, wook wook.....
This firework display was taken from my bedroom.
Since 19th November, I have been quite busy, work wise as most of the resources have been “discharged” from the project. I do not want to delve further, all I could say is that its have been a hell of busy and busy time. I also do not feel as well as I wish to although my wife might disagree but my body told me I am not my old self.
I went to Genting on 20th November. It was quite cold up there. It hovers around 22 degrees in the afternoon and at night it dips below 15 degrees. The first photo below was taken on the way down from the escalator from first world hotel. The second is taken just outside of resort hotel near the mini Japanese Garden. Again the mist almost swallow up the surrounding area, I could feel the moist on my face.
In fact it was so cold, that I ended up buying a jacket at one of the many stores available up there in Genting. Why did I buy it? I did not realise that it was so cold until I was shivering. It was all due to a gulp of water. I was outside enjoying the cold and clean air and I was a bit thirsty. Hence I decide to take a zip of water. Thats when my mouth starts to crackle, noise from my teeth knocking each other, shaking. The photo below shows my “new” and cheap jacket that cost around Rm39.
My sister was also away in Shanghai for 8 days hence I was preparing my own lunch and breakfast by myself. Hence I am bit tired also. Below is some of the things my sister bought. On the left is a pair of dolls and on the right is some lucky charm according to chinese zodiac.
On the left is a silk pillow is famous in Suzhou and on the right is "Wan Pin Kuo" a type of cake, very famous in Shanghai.
I was in Bangkok last week and I was sick most of the time, having a bad cold. However I still manage to get some christmas tree photo and some fireworks photo as on monday they celebrate the king birthday. I am still having problem with air pressure in my ears due to my cold, creating imbalance to my brain, wook wook.....
This firework display was taken from my bedroom.
Saturday, November 19, 2005
PutraJaya Details part 1
A belated post on my trip to PutraJaya. I am still tired after spending a night in CyberJaya last sunday implementing my company solution for a customer. I guess I think it might be a right time for me to retire my "late nights" activities. Hence this is part one of a belated post on my trip to PutraJaya. To be honest I do not know the way to PutraJaya. All I know is that it is located in the middle of KLIA and KL. So the journey will be a test of our sense of direction and the usability and friendliness of the road signs. The rains that were pouring down like there is no tomorrow dampens our spirit a bit as our main objective is not to test drive our 450 KM car but to get some good photos of us posing with the scenery as the background. With the sky as dark as black hole, the only way the photo to look great is to have “plastic surgery” with the help of Photo Shop. So along the way we were doing our dance to shoo away the rains and black clouds.
Along the way there are numerous road sign pointing to KLIA and PutraJaya. In fact too many until we got confuse. As the rain pours down heavily, it has actually crippled the road sign to be purely a piece of metal standing on the side. We actually missed a turning due to this. However our fear turns to confuse as immediately after that a sign pointing to PutraJaya was visible upfront. It’s either that there are numerous roads leading to PutraJaya or there is something wrong with our car wiper. Along the way we face the same problem, PutraJaya is on the left, right and straight ahead. It’s all over the place. So now it all depends on the invisible compass in our head. As we are clouded and overwhelm with all the signs, the rain slows to a drizzle. We finally reached a sign that says PutraJaya Convention Center. So we follow that sign closely.
After the turning, we saw some great and high tech looking street lights. This is a sign that we are in the right place, as a matter of fact we are on PutraJaya road as we saw road sign with the word Precinct, where else you could find such words adorn on a road side but PutraJaya itself. Sprinkle of water still drops on our windscreen. We reached a bridge and we saw a lake. We are like some newly appointed paparazzi hunting for their first expose. We stopped by the road side and outcome my camera, click, click. Aiyah we can still feel a drop of rain or two but the black cloud still hover above us. I guess the book that we bought in pasar malam on the way to shoo away the rain and black clouds might have left out some pages at the back. Aiyah this copy cat not professional at all, never mind, a few drops of rains could never kill us, we continue to click and click. The outcome of the photo is not that good.
After that we drove around aimlessly hunting for some good backdrop for some serious photo. That’s when the few droplets of rains become few hundreds. We decided to drop by at the Alamanda shopping complex. The place looks like a nice place to be in. For starter, it has fewer crowds, I am not sure if it’s because of the holidays or what. It’s quite big and there is a lot of eatery. However one thing that really makes me what to burst out laughing is the ceiling after we walk into the place from the parking lot, the place after the sliding door. You could look up and your nose might be touching the ceiling hahaha. I advised the management of the complex to put a sign warning those above 6 feets to shrink down or walk with their head down. I guess the builders have only the typical Asian in mind when they draw up their plans. We walk around and then finally we sat at Deli France to wait for the rain to stops.
Decoration inside Alamanda.
Pond at the back and the Tuna Sandwich that my wife and sis enjoy in Deli France. To be continue..
Along the way there are numerous road sign pointing to KLIA and PutraJaya. In fact too many until we got confuse. As the rain pours down heavily, it has actually crippled the road sign to be purely a piece of metal standing on the side. We actually missed a turning due to this. However our fear turns to confuse as immediately after that a sign pointing to PutraJaya was visible upfront. It’s either that there are numerous roads leading to PutraJaya or there is something wrong with our car wiper. Along the way we face the same problem, PutraJaya is on the left, right and straight ahead. It’s all over the place. So now it all depends on the invisible compass in our head. As we are clouded and overwhelm with all the signs, the rain slows to a drizzle. We finally reached a sign that says PutraJaya Convention Center. So we follow that sign closely.
After the turning, we saw some great and high tech looking street lights. This is a sign that we are in the right place, as a matter of fact we are on PutraJaya road as we saw road sign with the word Precinct, where else you could find such words adorn on a road side but PutraJaya itself. Sprinkle of water still drops on our windscreen. We reached a bridge and we saw a lake. We are like some newly appointed paparazzi hunting for their first expose. We stopped by the road side and outcome my camera, click, click. Aiyah we can still feel a drop of rain or two but the black cloud still hover above us. I guess the book that we bought in pasar malam on the way to shoo away the rain and black clouds might have left out some pages at the back. Aiyah this copy cat not professional at all, never mind, a few drops of rains could never kill us, we continue to click and click. The outcome of the photo is not that good.
After that we drove around aimlessly hunting for some good backdrop for some serious photo. That’s when the few droplets of rains become few hundreds. We decided to drop by at the Alamanda shopping complex. The place looks like a nice place to be in. For starter, it has fewer crowds, I am not sure if it’s because of the holidays or what. It’s quite big and there is a lot of eatery. However one thing that really makes me what to burst out laughing is the ceiling after we walk into the place from the parking lot, the place after the sliding door. You could look up and your nose might be touching the ceiling hahaha. I advised the management of the complex to put a sign warning those above 6 feets to shrink down or walk with their head down. I guess the builders have only the typical Asian in mind when they draw up their plans. We walk around and then finally we sat at Deli France to wait for the rain to stops.
Decoration inside Alamanda.
Pond at the back and the Tuna Sandwich that my wife and sis enjoy in Deli France. To be continue..
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
My 5 Childhood Memories that relate to food.
I was tagged by Shiaulin again. This time its regarding food. However I do not really remember much about my childhood. There are memories but it looks like my hard disk is a bit corrupted. So I treat this as purely memories from any part of my life. I have a lot but I limit it to 5.
Fried Chicken, holds a special meaning. When I was young, my family was not well off. We stayed in our Grandparents home until certain age before moving out to a flat. I was quite young during those struggling years, I always remembers that when we have fried chicken it mean that day it’s someone birthday or celebration of some kind, like getting good grades in school or etc. I was once told by my mom the food that is often serve on our dining table is Bean Sprouts with salted fish. Hence I always remember that Fried Chicken is considered as a “food” for rich people. I remember when KFC first open its stores in Malaysia, I remember that year, my parents took me to a KFC stores near Pudu to celebrate my birthday. Now the place is called Shaw parade. I have a particular habit in eating KFC is that I do not eat it with any sauce. I love my food to be in its original and intended state and flavour.
Shark Fin, My mom was quite an entrepreneur hence when I was in primary school, my family financial standings improved. Fried Chicken replaces bean sprouts. Big chicken drumstick either fried or steam is the frequent “stars” on the dinning table. During this stage, a lot of my cousins start to get married. This opens me to a wider variety of foods. That’s where my love for shark fin begins. In my mind it has replaced chicken as the “food” for the rich people. I look forward to weddings dinner whereby I could savour the taste of having shark fin soup slowly zip through my teeth, hovering above my tongue and slowly glides down my throat. As I grow older, I do not wait for wedding dinners, we will eat it in our monthly buffet brunch. Again I rarely take it with vinegar. I normally take it as it is.
Cockle Fried Mee Or See Hum Chow Fun, I could not remember how and when I get hooked with this food. I think it’s also around my primary time. I remember that my breakfast on weekends will likely be Fried See Hum Chow Fun which is normally bought from the market. My friend’s mother is the seller. At that time, the normal colour of the mee is normally black or dark in colour due to the dark sauce being used. She will usually fry it with cockle. I do not like taking cockles. As the normal style is to have the cockles added during the last stage of the frying hence it will be quite raw. Hence normally when I eat it I will pass the cockle to my sister. Normally I would eat it with eggs added together to complete and enhance its taste.
I remember clearly that my love for this food increase by leap and bounds when a new coffee shop opens beside the market. There is this seller that fries it with prawns. I am not sure why but I remember the colour of the mee it’s a bit orangey as compare those that fries with cockles. This shops also packs it with pandan leafs and it added a new dimension to it, pork fats. Its one food that I love very much, the crunchiness and the taste is hard to explain. Once the outer layer of the fat munches away, you could then taste the oil from the fat itself. A very unhealthy food but its one that ignite my taste bud. If you guys still remember, there is a period somewhere in the 80’s whereby everybody was afraid of hepatitis. That’s where this food gets some face lifts. Instead of cockle, there are shops that fry it with fish paste, or char siew.
Butter Prawn, I get to taste this when I started to work in my current company. It’s when I spend most of my time in overseas. So once I was back in KL I will go out with my family and eat in a restaurant. The first time I eat this particular dish was in a restaurant in a place along Jalan Cheras. I love the crunchiness of the flour and the prawns. It’s a dish that needs to eat with rice as it’s a bit salty. Even now although I could not eat it but in those rare moments when my family goes out to eat, my sister will still order it. My wife also loves it. I have thought of cooking it before but I do not really know how. As the key thing in this particular dish is the flour. I heard it also cooked with milk.
Hokkien Mee, Every relatives that knows me, will definitely knows that my favourite food is hokkien mee. I am not sure what attracts me to it. The taste, the color, the oil, the pork fats? When I was in my teens I took every opportunity to eat it. I take it as dinner, as supper, as breakfast. Of course not everyday but to me I alternate it with rice. When I took it for dinner, I would normally be the first one in the shop. I would wait for the seller to prepare his ingredient for the whole night. He normally will fry loads of pork fat until he gets a big pot of oil. When he starts to fry the mee, he will use that oil. He will normally start frying the vegetables and the pork, then he progress with putting the big yellow mee in it. Once it’s ready, he will pour some bone soup onto it and he will close the wok with a cover and let it boil until it’s cooked and dry. He will then pour the crunchy pork fat onto it and stir it a few times before it’s ready to be served.
This particular food itself changes its taste when there is a pork scare. When there is an outbreak of disease related to pork, most shops stops using pork as the ingredient, they substitute it with chicken. The taste change, its not as nice as frying it with pork. I have eaten a lot of different variety of it. I have eaten it in HongKong, Singapore and Indonesia which I think is cook differently and it looks different also. None of it beats the Malaysia Version and the most unforgettable version I have ever eaten is the one in Petaling Street. After it was served on the plate, a raw egg is put on top of it. It smoothen the textures of the mee, it taste different and it’s quite unique.
I remember one incidence that happens when I was eating hokkien mee long long time ago, which was quite scary and dangerous. My favourite store is at the bottom of my flat. During my secondary school days, I will always “lepak” (loiter around) at the bottom of my flat and on Friday I will normally eat supper after hours of chit chatting with friends. I will normally order hokkien mee. There is this one night, a full moon, while me and my school buddies were enjoying our hokkien mee, I could see that suddenly there are numerous people walking past our table, one, two, dozen and 20 plus of them. I was quite curious. Although it was dark but because of the full moon I could see that this people were having a handkerchief covering their nose and mouth. Their attire increases my curiosity that is until I saw that each of them was carrying a parang or hatchet. This actually put an answer to my question that was running around in my head. I realise that this group of people is looking for their “enemy”, to have them killed or chopped. Luckily they did not manage to find anyone if not I will be caught in the middle of a parang fight.
I will passed this tag to Shiaulin husband Lee Cheen Siong only.
Fried Chicken, holds a special meaning. When I was young, my family was not well off. We stayed in our Grandparents home until certain age before moving out to a flat. I was quite young during those struggling years, I always remembers that when we have fried chicken it mean that day it’s someone birthday or celebration of some kind, like getting good grades in school or etc. I was once told by my mom the food that is often serve on our dining table is Bean Sprouts with salted fish. Hence I always remember that Fried Chicken is considered as a “food” for rich people. I remember when KFC first open its stores in Malaysia, I remember that year, my parents took me to a KFC stores near Pudu to celebrate my birthday. Now the place is called Shaw parade. I have a particular habit in eating KFC is that I do not eat it with any sauce. I love my food to be in its original and intended state and flavour.
Shark Fin, My mom was quite an entrepreneur hence when I was in primary school, my family financial standings improved. Fried Chicken replaces bean sprouts. Big chicken drumstick either fried or steam is the frequent “stars” on the dinning table. During this stage, a lot of my cousins start to get married. This opens me to a wider variety of foods. That’s where my love for shark fin begins. In my mind it has replaced chicken as the “food” for the rich people. I look forward to weddings dinner whereby I could savour the taste of having shark fin soup slowly zip through my teeth, hovering above my tongue and slowly glides down my throat. As I grow older, I do not wait for wedding dinners, we will eat it in our monthly buffet brunch. Again I rarely take it with vinegar. I normally take it as it is.
Cockle Fried Mee Or See Hum Chow Fun, I could not remember how and when I get hooked with this food. I think it’s also around my primary time. I remember that my breakfast on weekends will likely be Fried See Hum Chow Fun which is normally bought from the market. My friend’s mother is the seller. At that time, the normal colour of the mee is normally black or dark in colour due to the dark sauce being used. She will usually fry it with cockle. I do not like taking cockles. As the normal style is to have the cockles added during the last stage of the frying hence it will be quite raw. Hence normally when I eat it I will pass the cockle to my sister. Normally I would eat it with eggs added together to complete and enhance its taste.
I remember clearly that my love for this food increase by leap and bounds when a new coffee shop opens beside the market. There is this seller that fries it with prawns. I am not sure why but I remember the colour of the mee it’s a bit orangey as compare those that fries with cockles. This shops also packs it with pandan leafs and it added a new dimension to it, pork fats. Its one food that I love very much, the crunchiness and the taste is hard to explain. Once the outer layer of the fat munches away, you could then taste the oil from the fat itself. A very unhealthy food but its one that ignite my taste bud. If you guys still remember, there is a period somewhere in the 80’s whereby everybody was afraid of hepatitis. That’s where this food gets some face lifts. Instead of cockle, there are shops that fry it with fish paste, or char siew.
Butter Prawn, I get to taste this when I started to work in my current company. It’s when I spend most of my time in overseas. So once I was back in KL I will go out with my family and eat in a restaurant. The first time I eat this particular dish was in a restaurant in a place along Jalan Cheras. I love the crunchiness of the flour and the prawns. It’s a dish that needs to eat with rice as it’s a bit salty. Even now although I could not eat it but in those rare moments when my family goes out to eat, my sister will still order it. My wife also loves it. I have thought of cooking it before but I do not really know how. As the key thing in this particular dish is the flour. I heard it also cooked with milk.
Hokkien Mee, Every relatives that knows me, will definitely knows that my favourite food is hokkien mee. I am not sure what attracts me to it. The taste, the color, the oil, the pork fats? When I was in my teens I took every opportunity to eat it. I take it as dinner, as supper, as breakfast. Of course not everyday but to me I alternate it with rice. When I took it for dinner, I would normally be the first one in the shop. I would wait for the seller to prepare his ingredient for the whole night. He normally will fry loads of pork fat until he gets a big pot of oil. When he starts to fry the mee, he will use that oil. He will normally start frying the vegetables and the pork, then he progress with putting the big yellow mee in it. Once it’s ready, he will pour some bone soup onto it and he will close the wok with a cover and let it boil until it’s cooked and dry. He will then pour the crunchy pork fat onto it and stir it a few times before it’s ready to be served.
This particular food itself changes its taste when there is a pork scare. When there is an outbreak of disease related to pork, most shops stops using pork as the ingredient, they substitute it with chicken. The taste change, its not as nice as frying it with pork. I have eaten a lot of different variety of it. I have eaten it in HongKong, Singapore and Indonesia which I think is cook differently and it looks different also. None of it beats the Malaysia Version and the most unforgettable version I have ever eaten is the one in Petaling Street. After it was served on the plate, a raw egg is put on top of it. It smoothen the textures of the mee, it taste different and it’s quite unique.
I remember one incidence that happens when I was eating hokkien mee long long time ago, which was quite scary and dangerous. My favourite store is at the bottom of my flat. During my secondary school days, I will always “lepak” (loiter around) at the bottom of my flat and on Friday I will normally eat supper after hours of chit chatting with friends. I will normally order hokkien mee. There is this one night, a full moon, while me and my school buddies were enjoying our hokkien mee, I could see that suddenly there are numerous people walking past our table, one, two, dozen and 20 plus of them. I was quite curious. Although it was dark but because of the full moon I could see that this people were having a handkerchief covering their nose and mouth. Their attire increases my curiosity that is until I saw that each of them was carrying a parang or hatchet. This actually put an answer to my question that was running around in my head. I realise that this group of people is looking for their “enemy”, to have them killed or chopped. Luckily they did not manage to find anyone if not I will be caught in the middle of a parang fight.
I will passed this tag to Shiaulin husband Lee Cheen Siong only.
Saturday, November 12, 2005
Ranking
In technocrat, there is a ranking system on blogs. I am not sure how they calculate or derive the ranks. Based on the number of hits? Number of Links? I am very proud as I am on the top 80K list (out of millions of bloggers), hahaha actually I do not really care, as long as Blogger continues to provide it for free and seeing my friends and fellow blogger comments, letting me know that they are still out there, its fine with me. You know recently Universiti of Malaysia was ranked number 169th down from position 89th by The Times of London.
Now that is one sudden “turbulence”. You know when you sit in a plane there are times without warning, the plane hit some air pocket and your heart is over your head and your body still down there with the seat belt tightly wrap around your waist. I guess that is the kinda of feeling that the Ministry of Education is feeling, “Pening” (headache in English). Anyway they are smart enough to change the sign near the campus from Top 100 to Top 200 universiti in the world as published by The Sun newspaper in Citizen Nade column this Wednesday. Since there are thousands of universities in the world, we are top 200, not bad, not bad, continue, continue whatever we are doing as there are few hundred or thousand more ranks to go but I guess the Ministry of Education do really need to have a “good seat belt”.
Now that is one sudden “turbulence”. You know when you sit in a plane there are times without warning, the plane hit some air pocket and your heart is over your head and your body still down there with the seat belt tightly wrap around your waist. I guess that is the kinda of feeling that the Ministry of Education is feeling, “Pening” (headache in English). Anyway they are smart enough to change the sign near the campus from Top 100 to Top 200 universiti in the world as published by The Sun newspaper in Citizen Nade column this Wednesday. Since there are thousands of universities in the world, we are top 200, not bad, not bad, continue, continue whatever we are doing as there are few hundred or thousand more ranks to go but I guess the Ministry of Education do really need to have a “good seat belt”.
Friday, November 11, 2005
Result of Durex global survey
Every year there is this interesting survey about the sexual preference and behaviour of everyone in the world. I saw the result of the survey on the Star paper a few days back. The surprising thing is that it looks like 40 percent of Malaysian who took the survey has sex without protection. I did not think that Malaysians are that daring and brave. At first I thought it could be that it was due to the fact that there is a lot of older generation who is not so educated and do not care about protection as maybe they think all they need to do is drop their pants and go, who will in their mind remembers they need to wear something that is elastic and rubber when it could be their once a year “celebration”. And most likely their partners/spouse is no longer fear of getting pregnant as biologically their clock stops and there is no risk of their spouse wanders around “experimenting” as wrinkles already replace their smooth skin.
Another amazing thing is that majority of the Malaysian prefers to do it in the toilet where the rest of the world is in the car. I do not think Malaysian is that creative. I just came back from the toilet; I look at the place left and right, top and down. If a couple can transfer body fluid in such a place and enjoy it they must be very small in size as the place its just 3 feet plus, hell yeah the most its 4 feet. And to top it off they should be discrete enough to not create any noise to raise any “suspicion”. Just imagine, kissing, panting and exchanging fluid without any noise, where is all the fun. Or maybe their “neighbour” who is sitting down in the next cubicle was also enjoying themselves. Or maybe the neighbour thinks that this fellow loves his big business so much that when each drops, he lets out a moan. Or maybe they are doing it outside the cubicle, using the wash basin as support and they put a “Toilet is being washed” sign outside. Aiyah so next time when you wash your hand and saw some sticky stuff in the wash basin, be careful hor.
Or maybe it’s my imagination that runs wild; maybe what they mean is the toilet in their home and not public toilet. Umm most likely so, as maybe the couple has a children sleeping with them. Hence the only way to be discrete is the toilet. So maybe when it’s “Time”, they will tell their children, “Mommy and Daddy is practising the “Buddha Stance” in the toilet”. So do not be surprise when you overheard a child asking their parents in a temple, “Daddy! Daddy! How come the monk looks so compose and relax? Unlike Daddy when coming out from the toilet after practising the Buddha stance looks so tired and haggard and sweating and mommy face looks so red?”. Maybe the father will answer in such way, “Dear, the monk practise alone mah, daddy practise with mummy, I need to carry mummy up and down mah”……
Result page at Durex
Another amazing thing is that majority of the Malaysian prefers to do it in the toilet where the rest of the world is in the car. I do not think Malaysian is that creative. I just came back from the toilet; I look at the place left and right, top and down. If a couple can transfer body fluid in such a place and enjoy it they must be very small in size as the place its just 3 feet plus, hell yeah the most its 4 feet. And to top it off they should be discrete enough to not create any noise to raise any “suspicion”. Just imagine, kissing, panting and exchanging fluid without any noise, where is all the fun. Or maybe their “neighbour” who is sitting down in the next cubicle was also enjoying themselves. Or maybe the neighbour thinks that this fellow loves his big business so much that when each drops, he lets out a moan. Or maybe they are doing it outside the cubicle, using the wash basin as support and they put a “Toilet is being washed” sign outside. Aiyah so next time when you wash your hand and saw some sticky stuff in the wash basin, be careful hor.
Or maybe it’s my imagination that runs wild; maybe what they mean is the toilet in their home and not public toilet. Umm most likely so, as maybe the couple has a children sleeping with them. Hence the only way to be discrete is the toilet. So maybe when it’s “Time”, they will tell their children, “Mommy and Daddy is practising the “Buddha Stance” in the toilet”. So do not be surprise when you overheard a child asking their parents in a temple, “Daddy! Daddy! How come the monk looks so compose and relax? Unlike Daddy when coming out from the toilet after practising the Buddha stance looks so tired and haggard and sweating and mommy face looks so red?”. Maybe the father will answer in such way, “Dear, the monk practise alone mah, daddy practise with mummy, I need to carry mummy up and down mah”……
Result page at Durex
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Pole Dancer and LollyPop Licker
I am a frequent user of LRT and I have encountered some strange and weird characters while on them. Normally I will take the train during peak hours and hence I will normally use the pole that was strategically located in the train to stabilise myself. There is this morning when I walked into the train I saw a nicely dressed lady. I say nicely dressed because she has a black coat on and a big brief case. I guess she is a lawyer as the route that I used, stops at Masjid Jamek, that is where the high court is. She was already “holding” the pole. Her whole body was actually touching it, her arms is like curling around it as though it was her boyfriend arm and with such force that it looks to me she is afraid that the pole is going somewhere else. From far, it looks like she is caressing the pole and her legs seems to be curling around the pole, anchoring it. Wah Sei Man, the only thing I can do is to put my hand towards the door to stabilise myself. I guess she might be a pole dancer in her last life.
There is another incidence which I saw in one of my trip to KLCC during lunch time. As I walked into the train it was quite empty and the pole is free from the usual pole dancer. So I put my right hand on it, grabbing it with enough strength to ensure that I will have a steady ride and I position my body 2 feet away from it to give way for other user who wants to share my pole. “Ting”, the door opens up and more user walks in. There is this lady, quite plump and a gentleman, I guess is her boy boy who walks in and have those looks that say, we cannot wait to go somewhere quiet and ahem ahem….
She looks around and saw that the pole which I was holding was quite “free”. She leans her back on it just below my hand. Her boyfriend stands opposite her. They continue to chit chat, whispering and giggling as though the whole train belongs to them. It’s fine to me but when she starts to move up and down the pole using it as a back massager or a way to scratch her back or it’s like a tongue licking a lollypop, that ignores me. And that’s where her back “crunch” my hand, I immediately let out a scream “Aiyo, Excuse Me!”. The girl looked at me and looks at her boy boy as though I am the one who “molest her”. I looked back at them with my Steve Austin look that says "Do you want some 3:16?". That seems to work as she stops her lollypop licking act. When I walked out from the train, I think they are the happiest couple in the train as finally they have the “Sweet Lollypop” all by themselves.
There is another incidence which I saw in one of my trip to KLCC during lunch time. As I walked into the train it was quite empty and the pole is free from the usual pole dancer. So I put my right hand on it, grabbing it with enough strength to ensure that I will have a steady ride and I position my body 2 feet away from it to give way for other user who wants to share my pole. “Ting”, the door opens up and more user walks in. There is this lady, quite plump and a gentleman, I guess is her boy boy who walks in and have those looks that say, we cannot wait to go somewhere quiet and ahem ahem….
She looks around and saw that the pole which I was holding was quite “free”. She leans her back on it just below my hand. Her boyfriend stands opposite her. They continue to chit chat, whispering and giggling as though the whole train belongs to them. It’s fine to me but when she starts to move up and down the pole using it as a back massager or a way to scratch her back or it’s like a tongue licking a lollypop, that ignores me. And that’s where her back “crunch” my hand, I immediately let out a scream “Aiyo, Excuse Me!”. The girl looked at me and looks at her boy boy as though I am the one who “molest her”. I looked back at them with my Steve Austin look that says "Do you want some 3:16?". That seems to work as she stops her lollypop licking act. When I walked out from the train, I think they are the happiest couple in the train as finally they have the “Sweet Lollypop” all by themselves.
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
My Dad First Year Death Anniversary.
My dad passed away a year ago on this same day and month last year. I was at the temple where his ashes lies bottled up in an urn on 28th October, his anniversary according to Chinese calendar. He has been away “vacationing” for a year already. I hope he enjoys his vacation as a man with no illness and no worries. When he is on this part of the world, his left leg used to be very weak, suspected of a minor stroke, hence he walks with a limp. Although we still think of him once in a while especially during a day like this and there are times that we wished he is still around to share with us, our “life achievement” like sitting on our new car but we gotta to do what ever we gotta to do. This is not a permanent separation.
I do remember one sentence my dad told me 2-3 weeks before he passed away suddenly is that he wishes to sit on his own Mercedes Benz one day. We could not buy a Mercedes Benz now but we will buy one when we could. We will then drive around with his picture sitting beside us, wouldn’t it be fun. As we grows older and move along in our life’s without him by our side, I realise there are a lot characters we shared. The way we talked, our expression, the way I walk around after waking up holding my pants. At least we know we have some part of his character living in us.
For those who lose their loved one, who still feels the pain in which I truly understand, I wish to share my thoughts of the matter. Life here is just a facade, a prelude to a much better world in which we will all be in one day. What better way for us to do is to enjoy every minute of our life here as there is no better way for us to remember our love one then to enjoyed ourselves. No love ones of us be it living or “vacationing” would like to see us unhappy or unwell. Do not hold grudges on yourself or others for not doing enough for your love ones. Last year when I was pushed into the operating room and when the anaesthesia hits my system I was totally unconscious, totally black out. I guess this will be the same feeling someone will get when they are on their way to “vacation”, the tunnel in which we travel before reaching the other world. As we crossed that tunnel all things will be left behind, the sadness, the hatred, the grudges, the happiness and etc. All physical objects will no longer exist and we no longer could feel or hold it. It likes a piece of art drawn on a canvas, its colour and contents being slowly wash away, transforming it back to a plain canvas again. Hence there is always no pass but just present.
I do remember one sentence my dad told me 2-3 weeks before he passed away suddenly is that he wishes to sit on his own Mercedes Benz one day. We could not buy a Mercedes Benz now but we will buy one when we could. We will then drive around with his picture sitting beside us, wouldn’t it be fun. As we grows older and move along in our life’s without him by our side, I realise there are a lot characters we shared. The way we talked, our expression, the way I walk around after waking up holding my pants. At least we know we have some part of his character living in us.
For those who lose their loved one, who still feels the pain in which I truly understand, I wish to share my thoughts of the matter. Life here is just a facade, a prelude to a much better world in which we will all be in one day. What better way for us to do is to enjoy every minute of our life here as there is no better way for us to remember our love one then to enjoyed ourselves. No love ones of us be it living or “vacationing” would like to see us unhappy or unwell. Do not hold grudges on yourself or others for not doing enough for your love ones. Last year when I was pushed into the operating room and when the anaesthesia hits my system I was totally unconscious, totally black out. I guess this will be the same feeling someone will get when they are on their way to “vacation”, the tunnel in which we travel before reaching the other world. As we crossed that tunnel all things will be left behind, the sadness, the hatred, the grudges, the happiness and etc. All physical objects will no longer exist and we no longer could feel or hold it. It likes a piece of art drawn on a canvas, its colour and contents being slowly wash away, transforming it back to a plain canvas again. Hence there is always no pass but just present.
Monday, November 07, 2005
Routine Check
I got this tag from Shiaulin called Routine Check, umm in general most of our life is quite routine, wake up, dress, went to work, lunch, work again, return back, dinner and sleep. On a bigger note, we were born, growing up, study, then work, courting, flirting, married, our children is born, work harder, then retire, then sick and then we pack and go for a “vacation” in another world. After "vacationing", for the lucky lot they will get born again, grows up and continue the same old cycle. Of course there are some who actually faces different situation daily but this falls under the minority in the world population. For the majority of us we will make do with what ever that is interesting out there.
I would not separate as what Shiaulin did by before & after marriage and her son is born but I would separate and highlight routines that have changes as I guess the original purpose of this meme is to do that (trying to be smart here and avoid writing a long post as its time for me to prepare my next day lunch, hahaha). I will not include my post illness routine as its actually a 360 degree change. In terms of my routine nothing much has changed. The difference is the way that it is being done. Its also could be due to the fact that our thinking and action has matured and also due to the physical changes to our body as we grew older. In most activities we try to do it together as the main ingredient of a good marriage is partnership, balance of power and act of compromise. I think it’s a matter of blending both of our likes and dislikes together and in our case culture also. After a while you realise whatever that you used to dislike or like will be changed according to the results of the blending. This means that after a while my routine will becomes my wife routine or her routine will becomes mine.
Waking up, I still woke up early in regardless if its weekday or weekends. Now I might laze around a bit turning around in the bed instead of heading immediately for my shower on weekdays. On weekends my morning routine still remains the same, opens up the TV catching some cartoons; follow by downloading my mails and brisk net surfing. I will finish all this before I will actually brush my teeth. My wife will by then wakes up.
Breakfast, I used to skip breakfast on weekdays and on weekends I will take brunch instead of breakfast in the market and it mainly consist of my favourite food like nasi lemak, Lum Yee Mee, Hokkien Mee, See Hum Chow Fun, and etc all in XL quantity. After married we took breakfast together on weekdays at food stores near my home or office and on weekends I still take my usual XL brunch plus my wife portion if she could not finish it. After that I will still enjoy my weekend newspaper with a cup of coffee at the stall waiting for my sister while she shops for raw material to cook for our dinner. My wife could not really eat a lot in the morning hence we will take some snack or her lunch in the afternoon during our weekend window shopping.
Shopping, I loves to burn time at shopping complex during weekends and I do not mind going to the same shopping complex every week. After married we still window shops together but we will have more “varieties” alternate between KLCC, Mid Valley, Low Yat & Sungai Wang and Bandar Utama. So if you are around these areas, do watch out for me. As for my yearly shopping, I will normally do it during Sales as I love to dig at bargain corner “fighting and racing” with other shoppers during sales, as for my wife, she prefers when there are no sales as she dislikes crowds. So after married we will normally go on odd hours during sales or we will go during pre-sale for members. After years of married, my wife seems to quite enjoy the bargain and the “competition” during sales.
Brushing my teeth, I do brush my teeth every morning but I do not brush my teeth at night I will just rinse it with water. After married, on most nights I will brush my teeth unless I felt lazy or tired.
Reading, I am not the type of guys who read books often or routinely. After married my wife loves for books actually convert me from a book hater to an occasional or social reader. There are times we will buy hundreds dollars worth of books during MPH warehouse sales. Now I enjoyed my weekly read of Newsweek or Times Magazine.
I am one of those boring people who do the same thing all over again. I do not have any special routines hence there is nothing much to writes about. I was once told that the only road I know is between the office and the house. There are some routines that remains the same for example I still changed my clothes in the room, walk around nude when drying myself after shower. I still spend time reading magazine in the bathroom while doing my big business. Well thats all I could think of, wow this meme is really difficult to do as need to remember the before and after, hahaha I always only remember the after. I do not think I will pass this to anyone so do not worry......hahaha.
I would not separate as what Shiaulin did by before & after marriage and her son is born but I would separate and highlight routines that have changes as I guess the original purpose of this meme is to do that (trying to be smart here and avoid writing a long post as its time for me to prepare my next day lunch, hahaha). I will not include my post illness routine as its actually a 360 degree change. In terms of my routine nothing much has changed. The difference is the way that it is being done. Its also could be due to the fact that our thinking and action has matured and also due to the physical changes to our body as we grew older. In most activities we try to do it together as the main ingredient of a good marriage is partnership, balance of power and act of compromise. I think it’s a matter of blending both of our likes and dislikes together and in our case culture also. After a while you realise whatever that you used to dislike or like will be changed according to the results of the blending. This means that after a while my routine will becomes my wife routine or her routine will becomes mine.
Waking up, I still woke up early in regardless if its weekday or weekends. Now I might laze around a bit turning around in the bed instead of heading immediately for my shower on weekdays. On weekends my morning routine still remains the same, opens up the TV catching some cartoons; follow by downloading my mails and brisk net surfing. I will finish all this before I will actually brush my teeth. My wife will by then wakes up.
Breakfast, I used to skip breakfast on weekdays and on weekends I will take brunch instead of breakfast in the market and it mainly consist of my favourite food like nasi lemak, Lum Yee Mee, Hokkien Mee, See Hum Chow Fun, and etc all in XL quantity. After married we took breakfast together on weekdays at food stores near my home or office and on weekends I still take my usual XL brunch plus my wife portion if she could not finish it. After that I will still enjoy my weekend newspaper with a cup of coffee at the stall waiting for my sister while she shops for raw material to cook for our dinner. My wife could not really eat a lot in the morning hence we will take some snack or her lunch in the afternoon during our weekend window shopping.
Shopping, I loves to burn time at shopping complex during weekends and I do not mind going to the same shopping complex every week. After married we still window shops together but we will have more “varieties” alternate between KLCC, Mid Valley, Low Yat & Sungai Wang and Bandar Utama. So if you are around these areas, do watch out for me. As for my yearly shopping, I will normally do it during Sales as I love to dig at bargain corner “fighting and racing” with other shoppers during sales, as for my wife, she prefers when there are no sales as she dislikes crowds. So after married we will normally go on odd hours during sales or we will go during pre-sale for members. After years of married, my wife seems to quite enjoy the bargain and the “competition” during sales.
Brushing my teeth, I do brush my teeth every morning but I do not brush my teeth at night I will just rinse it with water. After married, on most nights I will brush my teeth unless I felt lazy or tired.
Reading, I am not the type of guys who read books often or routinely. After married my wife loves for books actually convert me from a book hater to an occasional or social reader. There are times we will buy hundreds dollars worth of books during MPH warehouse sales. Now I enjoyed my weekly read of Newsweek or Times Magazine.
I am one of those boring people who do the same thing all over again. I do not have any special routines hence there is nothing much to writes about. I was once told that the only road I know is between the office and the house. There are some routines that remains the same for example I still changed my clothes in the room, walk around nude when drying myself after shower. I still spend time reading magazine in the bathroom while doing my big business. Well thats all I could think of, wow this meme is really difficult to do as need to remember the before and after, hahaha I always only remember the after. I do not think I will pass this to anyone so do not worry......hahaha.
Sunday, November 06, 2005
PutraJaya
A quick update, today my sister, my wife and I went to PutraJaya. At 1:30 pm we make our way out of KL, the weather was pretty good, nice, sunny and good for outdoor photography. As we make our way into the highway the sky turns dark and gloomy. Once we were near Puchong area, the rain starts and it’s practically raining cats and dogs. All the cars on the highway slow down to a slow 50 km/h. We almost decided to turn around and head back to our cocoon but I guess the anticipation of visiting this proud city of Malaysia push us forward.
Below are 2 photos, most of the photos have a gloomy background to it. I will follow up by a detail post later.
The Administrative building.
The new millennium tower.
Below are 2 photos, most of the photos have a gloomy background to it. I will follow up by a detail post later.
The Administrative building.
The new millennium tower.
Friday, November 04, 2005
Butterfly Park KL
I was at the Butterfly Park KL today. I am not sure why we decided to go there. Maybe I wanted to take some photos of graceful and intriguing butterflies. All the while the only butterfly I frequently see is those that we Chinese think or treat as transformed from our dead ancestor, which is dark and greyish in colour.
I have heard that there are hundreds of species out there. I have been to one such park in Hong Kong but I could not find any photos which is good enough to be posted on my photo blog. So I felt the urge to see something different, something colourful that I hope could be capture nicely on film.
So after lunch, my sister, my wife and I head out to find the place. I have tried searching the internet for its location but I could not find any that is informative enough. However I do remember that it is supposed to be near Bird Park KL which is situated near Lake Garden. As we are near the entrance of the Lake Garden, there were signages which is clear enough directing us to the location. It is somewhere near Bukit Aman police station.
Below are some photos that I managed to take. I will be posting a much higher resolution and of course more photos in my photoblog.
The entrance fees are Rm5 per adult and it seems there is a different pricing structure for foreigners. If I am not mistaken its Rm15. And do remember to keep your camera in your pocket or hidden as they charge Rm1 for it and if you are bringing in a video camera, they will charge you Rm4. I am not sure why and who is the idiot that think of such charges. Maybe the idiot have been colouring and applying make up to the butterflies hence the additional charges.
The above is one of many interesting and colouful butterflies in the park. Just look at the blue and orange colours that decorated its wings.
One of the friendly ones. I could feel that its sucking my hands. I guess my hand is too sweet to resists...hahaha
There is also a fish pond, the fish is quite big.
There is also a turtle pond. I used to have a turtle as a pet.
And of course there are a lot of beautiful flowers around to feed the butterflies.
I have heard that there are hundreds of species out there. I have been to one such park in Hong Kong but I could not find any photos which is good enough to be posted on my photo blog. So I felt the urge to see something different, something colourful that I hope could be capture nicely on film.
So after lunch, my sister, my wife and I head out to find the place. I have tried searching the internet for its location but I could not find any that is informative enough. However I do remember that it is supposed to be near Bird Park KL which is situated near Lake Garden. As we are near the entrance of the Lake Garden, there were signages which is clear enough directing us to the location. It is somewhere near Bukit Aman police station.
Below are some photos that I managed to take. I will be posting a much higher resolution and of course more photos in my photoblog.
The entrance fees are Rm5 per adult and it seems there is a different pricing structure for foreigners. If I am not mistaken its Rm15. And do remember to keep your camera in your pocket or hidden as they charge Rm1 for it and if you are bringing in a video camera, they will charge you Rm4. I am not sure why and who is the idiot that think of such charges. Maybe the idiot have been colouring and applying make up to the butterflies hence the additional charges.
The above is one of many interesting and colouful butterflies in the park. Just look at the blue and orange colours that decorated its wings.
One of the friendly ones. I could feel that its sucking my hands. I guess my hand is too sweet to resists...hahaha
There is also a fish pond, the fish is quite big.
There is also a turtle pond. I used to have a turtle as a pet.
And of course there are a lot of beautiful flowers around to feed the butterflies.
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