Napee's Views

Selamat Hari Raya

2011-08-29T15:07:00.002+08:00

I would like to wish anybidy who's reading this Selamat Hari Raya & Maaf Zahir Batin.

A long post for my US trip is due, but I'm just too lazy to sieve through the photos hehehe I'll try my best to put up something

Kayak across Pacific?

2011-08-05T10:43:00.002+08:00

I can't help myself on this one. I was curious how far is the distance from Taiwan to Los Angeles, so I checked out direction from Google map. I tried it's best to give a workable direction and see what's the direction at number 107, kayak across the Pacific Ocean! hahaha

Over the route, I was asked to kayak twice across the Pacific hahaha

BTW I'm off to the States between 6 Aug to 18 Aug. Can't wait!

Mulu trip - 26 Mar 2011

2011-05-14T19:45:00.005+08:00

Part 7 of 7

Since our flight was quite late and we still had our rental car, we toured Miri town. Had nasi lelapan for lunch. A Miri specialty

We visited the first oil rig in Malaysia, the Grand Old Lady

Another view of the Grand Old Lady

We visited this Petroleum Museum

Nice scale model of an oil rigging platform. Wish I have one at home!

We then stopped by at the craft center. This auntie busy working with beads

Later at a Paras Malam, they sell slightly backdated magazines without the cover. At really cheap prices, like RM2 instead of the usual RM10. Have no idea why or how

Sarawak specialty, the delicious Kek Lapis.

Colourful kek lapis

Miri even have a nice beach! But it was not swimmable. Current is strong at this area

Another view of the beach

Mulu trip - 25 Mar 2011

2011-05-14T19:38:00.003+08:00

Part 6 of 7

Time to leave. At Mulu Park airport. Simple. Check out the weighing machine. The conveyer belt for luggage at the background

Although small, the airport still have baggage scanner

Our ride back. The impressive ATR72 aircraft

Upon reaching Miri, we rented a car and drove to Niah Cave, about 100km away. What a difference after Mulu! The place was very basic and nowhere near as posh & nice as Mulu

The main cave. Very large area and lots of steps to climb!

We walked all the way to Painting Cave to see pre-historic paintings. But they were so faint & very difficult to appreciate. Looks better in photos though

Wanted to spend the night at Niah Park, but the chalet was full(!). So we returned to Miri and spent the night there. Had some proper food at Miri, but the chicken tastes different that in Peninsular. Serious

Mulu trip - 24 Mar 2011

2011-05-14T19:29:00.004+08:00

Part 5 of 7. Our 4th day at Mulu Park. Jungle trekking to Garden of Eden

We had to pass through this cave first, Deer Cave. A very big cave. My camera flash can barely light the interior, hence very few shots of this place

Us, enjoying ourselves at the Garden of Eden waterfall. The walk to here was full of leeches! Yucks!

A view of the waterfall and the clear pool

View downstream

On the way back. Re-entering Deer Cave. Garden of Eden was part of the cave. But it has collapsed and became a valley

Peeking out to the Garden of Eden. The stream runs through the cave. We swam along the stream to this spot actually

Small cavity we had to pass through

A view inside the massive cave

Nice limestone formation

This is in Lang Cave. Small cave, but full of nice limestone formation

In the Lang Cave, formation called jellyfish

Mulu trip - 23 Mar 2011

2011-05-14T19:18:00.004+08:00

Continuation. Part 4 of 7 of our trip to Mulu Park

Since we didn't get to do the Pinnacles, we spent the spare day to do this. An intermediate level caving experience to Racer Cave. Kind of challenging, but really fun!

Us, enjoying ourselves during the expedition

Wifey

Big limestone formation. Nice eh?

The cave is named Racer due to this Racer snake. There was quite a lot of them inside. And they survive in pitch black condition in the cave!

The cave is small, but at places it opens up like this

Water dripping, opportunity to clean ourselves

That formation is hollow and when knocked on makes drum like sound

A squeeze. I barely made through it. Dramatised, of course

Our Kenot after the caving expedition. All dirty!

Back to the dormitory. We surprisingly prefer this place rather than the posh chalet we stayed the night before

At night, Kenot getting ready for night walk

Pretty lizard. I think some people call this cicak tokek?

A frog, posing for us

Mulu Trip - 22 Mar 2011

2011-05-12T20:49:00.000+08:00

Looooonnnnnnggggg overdue. Continuation of previous 2 posts

Parting shot before leaving Camp 5. With dissapointment of not having climbed the Pinnacles

View of Camp 5

I did not make it!

Bye bye Camp 5

No! No Pinnacles

Another view of Camp 5

On the way back, big tree isn't it?

Hello!

Very clear water!

Kuala Litut sign

8.8km to Kuala Litut. 2 hours? Yeah right

Hello again!

Visiting Royal Mulu Resort later in the day

Scary looking building... one of the chalets at Royal Mulu Resort

Check out the guy collecting driftwood

Our room for the night

Big chalet, but was told can only accommodate 6 people? The resort trying to milk more money maybe

Mulu trip - 21 Mar 2011

2011-04-23T11:43:00.006+08:00

2nd day at Mulu Park HQ. Forgot to give some background of Mulu Park It is located in Mulu, Sarawak (duh) and it is identified as a Unesco World Heritage Area. The attraction here are the complex and extensive limestone cave systems and the pinnacles, a type of limestone formation.

Getting ready for our boat ride to Kuala Litut, the start of the trail to Camp 5

Enjoying the boat ride

We stopped at a Penan village for a while. Even here there are information boards being erected. This is a tourist place

A Penan lady working on a handicraft

Check out the ears

They sell a lot of these beads handicraft. Expensive though

The men are busy making boat, out of driftwood!

A few minutes later, we arrived at Wind Cave. This is near the entrance

You can feel wind breeze through this opening

The path connecting to Clearwater Cave

Real view without flash

On the way out

Next stop, Clearwater Cave

Nice rock formation on the cave ceiling

Inside Clearwater Cave

The notch in Clearwater Cave. The notch is created by the river

The part I enjoyed the most, pushing the boat at a shallow part

Suspension bridge on the way to Camp5

Too tired. Carried heavy bag. Rested a bit

This is the hostel at Camp5. Basic but comfortable. Camp5 is the starting point before the climb to the Pinnacles

Mulu trip - 20 Mar 2011

2011-04-23T11:25:00.010+08:00

This is looonnnnggg overdue. But people say, better late than never ;) so here's my usual photo blog of the trip

Our first night upon arriving at Miri. Dinner at a near by restaurant

Early next morning, went to Pasar Tamu for some groceries shopping

View inside the Pasar Tamu

They also sell Cencalok Melaka!

View from the flight to Mulu. Snaky river

At the airport. Our group. Anas, Farra, my wife Anis & our guide Abg Sham

It's my turn!

Our ride to Mulu. An ATR72 air plane

This is the arrival hall. Simple

And this is baggage collection

Nice canopy at the entrace to Mulu Park HQ, where we will be staying for the next 4 days

Mulu Park HQ office. Nice huh!?

Inside the office, surprisingly posh

Inside the very well maintained information center

We stayed at the hostel. But it was fun staying here

The cafe is even posher!

Fried rice, expensive though

My menu for the entire stay there. Rice with sweet sour fish

Nice canopy

On the way to the suspended canopy walk. Proper wooden walkway all the way!

Big tree!

Going up the canopy walk

On th canopy walk. It's quite a long way down really. And it swerves!

There's information board located along the canopy walk

To give some idea of the height. But difficult to capture the feeling in photo

On the way back, decided to detour to the nearby Paku Waterfall

This is the waterfall. Small one, but unique. Water flows out from a cave

Wider view of the waterfall

Anis for a parting shot of the waterfall

Trip to Gunung Besar Hantu, Jelebu

2011-03-17T21:17:00.013+08:00

After the diving trip, next was mountain climbing & camping trip. It was the usual over the weekend trip with only one night camping out in the jungle.

Jelebu was about 1 1/2 to 2 hours away driving from Ampang, via Bukit Hantu/Genting Peres road, that I once cycled up both of these big climbs! Just don't ask me to do that in current form hehehe

Again, I'll just tell the story with pictures ;)

Having breakfast at the nearby gerai before starting the climb. Check out the roof! Cool

Kids on a quad bike. Cool huh?

Off road vehicles are popular here. This is in front of the Kenaboi team house

Preparing our stuff for the climb

4WD ride to the start of the climbing trail. Fun!

Me & our guide, Abg Sham. Enjoying the ride

Signboard to the mountain. Check out the road number. It was not really a road really!

Part of the road had caved-in. But our skillful driver managed to steer the vehicle past this

Resting on the 4WD before starting the climb

The climb to our campsite. This is a 4WD trail actually. Met a few stuck 4WD vehicles on the trail

Our bags under the makeshift tent. It then rained so we decided to camp at this spot

Anis, making star-shaped carrot for dinner

Anis, enjoying good warmth from the campsite fire

We all enjoying dinner under the starlight. Very nice!

Starting the climb on the next morning. It was drizzling, which explains the bag cover

At Kem Orkid. Supposed to camp here if not because our climb was stopped due to the rain the day before

Check out the size of the tree trunk

It was very slippery!

At the summit! It was so cloudy can't see anything beyond the summit

Anis & her 13 year old nephew, Amirul

Happy to reach the summit

Warrior at the summit

Part of the team

The bottle at the summit. Left to collect rain water in case someone's in dire need of water

Abg Sham, concentrating to the ham radio

Scene at the hot summit

The boundary stone which marks the boundary between Pahang & N. Sembilan

It was a really hard climb. I was unable to walk properly for the next two days. I would rate this harder than Nuang & Irau. Maybe because of the slippery trail or maybe because I am now 13kg overweight! Damn

Mabul - Sipadan, 3 - 8 February 2011 (Day 5 & 6)

2011-02-19T13:29:00.010+08:00

Day 5

Diving at Sipadan! This is the climax of the trip. People all over the world come here to dive. Here's me at the island's jetty. Entrance is controlled and based strictly on issued permits. Maximum of 120 divers per day

Anis tagging on our dive guide. Before our guide pulled the shark's tail fin hehehe

Map and profile of Sipadan Island. See the profile? It's like a vertical wall around Sipadan. All the way down to a depth of 600m!

Anis, stressing a point

But here trying to fish, sans the fishing rod

See that? The wall on the left and darkness into oblivion on the right. Scary

I just love these small fish

Army post on Sipadan Island

Some scenery shots of Sipadan Island. Taken during our surface interval

Another view

Our third dive. Straight away greeted by the view of this school of jackfish. Amazing!

Turtle. There's so many of them at Sipadan

Bumphead fish. Check out the size of the fish!

Me, trying to keep up with the turtle (and failed miserably)

That's a school of barracudas. They do have scary, sharp teeth!

The school of barracudas. Amazing!

A big jellyfish

Anis & me!

See that boatload of oyster? It just costs RM20. It's being sold by Bajau Laut people who lives in small boat around Mabul Island.

Then did sunset photoshooting. Practising my off camera flash skill

Another shot
Day 6

Last day here. No more dives as we are not allowed to dive 24 hours before flying. To avoid risk of decompression sickness. That's Yoko, my dive instructor. We call her Cikgu Yoko. She's a Malay speaking Japanese

Anis & Kenot!

We spend the day visiting this place. Kapalai Island resort, which is a high-end resort on the sandbanks of Kapalai. A really, really nice place.

See what I mean?

Another shot of the resort

Catch of the day. Big tunas!

We left later in the day on the last flight out of Tawau. I am determined to be back to Mabul - Sipadan soon!

Mabul - Sipadan, 3 - 8 February 2011 (Day 3 & 4)

2011-02-19T13:06:00.009+08:00

Day 3

Spent practially the whole day diving. Completing my open water dive course. Did 3 dives today doing some skills which I myself not sure why I have to learn e.g. removing & putting on scuba gears on water surface, removing & attaching weights, and the scariest to me, removing and putting on the scuba gear under 18m of water! But I did completed all of the skills test

But managed to capture some nice sunset shots at the end of the day

More sunset shot

View at dusk. The transition time between night & day. Nice!

Another view

Day 4

I completed my open water course! Done the tests the night before and passed! So did my first dive together with Anis around Mabul

Underwater shots using our Canon S95 + underwater casing. It's so hard to take pics underwater! You keep on moving up & down in the water. That's a giant morey eel by the way

Black spotted morey eel. Nice huh?

The ever popular 'Nemo' fish

Our guide, being surprised by a huge turtle from behind

Can't remember what's this. Just underneath our homestay actually

Underwater plant. A very pretty sight down there

A school of fish

More underwater plant

Later in the day, spent some time walking around the island and explore more of the village. These are children of Mabul. They're all seems so happy even with such comparatively poor living condition. Makes us think for a while, how lucky we are eh? BTW, they are always happy to pose for you!

See what I mean? Hehehe

In the evening, the children are all out doing physical activities. Unlike pampered children in the big cities. Busy with playstation & Facebook. And grow soft in the process

Anis & children of Mabul. Check out their pose

Fish anyone? RM2 only

We found this nice jetty with the beautiful sunset light. So, portrait time!

Anis & me. The camera placed on the floor hehehe
On the way back. Anis & chicken wing are inseperable

See this? Black one is soy sauce, yellow one is cooking oil, etc.. etc.. They repack stuff in smaller package to be sold at 20 cent. To cater for demand. Very creative

Mabul - Sipadan, 3 - 8 February 2011 (Day 1 & 2)

2011-02-19T12:44:00.009+08:00

Me and wife, Anis, went to Mabul the last CNY holidays. I promised Anis to learn open water diving after she done Powerman Lumut last year. So this was fufilling my promise to her.

Didn't start well, my car broke down when we were on the way to LCCT. At 5:00AM on 1st day of CNY! Luckily my sister & husband were with us. So we stopped at a Shell station, along Jln Tun Razak, stopped a taxi and left the car behind with my sis & her husband. No choice, we had to. But luckily we just managed to make it to LCCT on time and the car was OK. Only a snapped belting

I try not to write a lot this time and let the pics tell the story. Here goes ;)

First glimpse of Mabul Island. One of the many water villages. Most people on the island live on homes built over the water

Another view of the water village

The board listing all the diving rules. I was getting excited, mixed with anxiety at this point

The groceries shop nearby our homestay. We originally thought this was the only groceries shop on the island, but boy, we can't be any more wrong than that!

Busy watching the instructional video. It was part of the PADI open water course. I had to study too!

We then followed the homestay people to Mabul's equivalent of fish market. Anis found this. Most were sold at really, really cheap price, you wouldn't believe it

The oxygen tanks in the storage house. Will be using this soon!

Anis with her iPad in front of our homestay room. Even though there was no eletricity supply during the day since the generators were off, Celcom 3G connection however was excellent! Faster than in KL!

On the 2nd day. Still busy studying for the course. This is right before I did the 300m swimming test, just below the homestay

My first time using scuba gears! Preparing for the confined water 'dive', in waist deep water hehehe to learn the first few basic skills e.g. mask clearing, making bubbles with the 2nd stage regulator out of the mouth, etc.. etc.. Diving is a very technical activity. You need to understand & remember so many procedures before, during and going out of water. All to ensure your safety. And yes, that lady is my dive instructor

There were so many of these starfish around the area. In many different colours. Have no idea why.

Me and Anis, going out for our first dive together. Actually not really together since she's joining the dive group since she already has a diving license. I meanwhile was going for my first 'real' dive as part of my open water training

Me getting ready and feeling nervous before taking the first backwards plunge into the sea

Later that day. Walked around the Mabul Island & the village. Found out there were so many groceries shops actually. But Anis was more interested with the chicken wing

One of the groceries shops. Almost 1 of 2 houses has become a groceries shop

Cari pasal

2011-01-23T11:46:00.003+08:00

Malam semalam, pegi tengok Khurafat, cerita hantu arahan Syamsul Yusof. Bila korang tgk tajuk, cerita hantu, apa yg korang expect? Org pegi tgk then gelak ketawa? Ke ternganga sbb terkejut ke org menjerit sbb suspense?

Of course la cerita hantu melayu byk adegan suspense. Anis pulak (now my wife :)) mmg kuat jerit sikit sbb dia cepat terkejut. Tapi tak la teruk sgt. Bila dia menjeir org lain pun menjerit jugak i.e. mmg adegan tu suspense la. Tu pun dia dah tekup muka kat dada aku & aku pulak tekup mulut Anis dgn handkerchief.

Tapi tiba2 kat satu scene, minah sebelah Anis ni sound kitorang, 'Ey pegi balik la'. Eh ni ayat cari gaduh ni. Masa tu tgh sibuk tutup mulut Anis, so aku just jawab, kitorang bayar tiket la. Tapi Anis seperti biasa lepas jerit apa lagi, bagi la kat minah tu. Tak pasal2 dpt title sundal. Bodoh betul, kalau tak nak dgr org jerit jgn la tgk cerita hantu, pegi tgk Upin Ipin! Which is exactly apa yg aku cakap kat diorang lepas habis movie(minah tu + boyfriend dia yg takut girlfriend hahaha). Sengaja je aku bangun lambat2 sbb nak tgk muka minah tu. Muka tak lawa, perangai pun buruk. Otak pulak tak berguna sgt. Tak tau la nasib ko.

Sangat kurang ajar. Aku rasa maybe dia kurang didikan agama, so bila cerita tu ada byk bacaan ayat Quran dia duduk tak senang dah. Tu yg tiba2 nak sound org. Ingat kitorang ni apa? Sikit lagi nak kene simbah dgn air Season's Ice Lemon Tea yg manis tak hengat tu. Dia ingat tgk Anis tu jerit2 & pakai tudung, ingat kitorang ni couple jenis sweet2 la, kene sound terus takut. Silap besar beb, silap besar.

Kalau korang, apa yg korang buat kalau kene situasi mcm tu?

Bila pikir balik, patutnya semalam aku bangun keluar, panggil hall steward komplen je kat diorang. Mintak minah tu mengaku salah sbb suruh kitorang balik & mintak maaf. Or diorang sendiri yg patut balik rumah.

Fastest 4G mobile internet?

2010-12-21T03:22:00.002+08:00

Just subscribed to Yes 4G mobile internet recently. Was getting really fed-up with the spotty service I got from Celcom Broadband.

Granted, I was using tethering via my mobile phone, but still it was really bad. I can barely get connected, even in the wee hours e.g. 2 or 3 AM. And even then, it's not stable. It has a mind of it's own and disconnect as it wish. Not to mention, the speed most of the time was more or less at par or even slower than my archaic free, Time.net dial-up I was using from about a decade ago! So much of a broadband...

Saw the advert on TV for Yes 4G. Then one day stumbled a shop that sells it. After quick check of the price, quickly agreed. It was more or less a compulsive purchase, but what the heck. And I was pleasantly surprised! In USJ 19 area, I managed to get more than 5Mbps download speed! Back at home however, it was much lower, around 1Mbps only, due to low signal strength. I guess my house location and built is not really suitable for wireless broadband. My sister was suffering the same with Maxis broadband last time. But at least it's stable. And today at my workshop in Glenmarie, I was seeing 11Mbps download speed. Woohoo!

So I can now surf much faster. Even the occasional youtube watching is possible now. And at time, without even the need to buffer the video download.

So I am happy! If you are looking for a new ISP, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Yes 4G. Yes 4g FTW!

Visit their web: www.yes.com.my

Powerman Malaysia 2010

2010-11-28T03:35:00.002+08:00

This is a bit late. The race was on Sunday, 14 November 2010. So that was 2 weeks ago.

This year, I did the sprint race. I know, I know, I have done the full distance race for the past few years. But this year, I have a totally different target. Previously I did the race all for myself. I don't have any motivation other than proviing to myself that I can do it. It was always about myself and what I can do.

But this year, I was doing it for my dear Anis. I've trained her for a few months now. She has also agreed to buy a road bike to do the race. I was so proud of her determination and effort in completing the race. She was not really into sports all this while, so even the sprint distance race would've been quite hard for her. But as people say, there will always be the first time ;)

The day did not start quite well for us. It was drizzling when we left the hotel. Not really ideal condition, but at least hopefully it would help to cool things down a bit later in the afternoon. We had prepared our bikes the night before. Everything cleaned up, adjusted and tyres all pumped up. But while loading the bike into the car, Anis noticed her front tyre was flat! So a scramble ensued to change the tube. Lucky it was her tyre, if it was mine with the crappy Panaracer, it would take a lot more time and effort to fix it. But the tube was changed in about 5 minutes or so.
Then at the race venue, parked the car and start to unload our bikes. All ready, then another problem. Had an urgent need to use the toilet for big business! So a quick dash to the nearby Petronas station was needed. It was already very late. Transition closes at 7.15AM and it was already 7.10AM. But we managed to check in our bike into transition, just.

7:30AM was the race start for the full distance racers. Ajo and Aidil were doing the full distance race, but didn’t see them at the start line. Lost among the hundreds of participants. 10 minutes later the delay runners were released. We only started at 7:20AM, but not before the leaders in the full distance category to reach the stadium again to complete their first lap. Already? Damn.

At exactly 7:20AM, off we went! We took it easy and slow jog all the way to complete the first run of 5.5km. Aidil caught up with us at around 2 km mark, then somewhere near the stadium Ajo also managed to overtake us. He was determined to complete the first run under 66 minutes as I advised him.

After 45 minutes, we were into transition area. Quickly grabbed our bikes and most surprisingly, Anis did not forget anything in transition. She managed to remember all the things that I told her to bring for the bike leg. Off we went. Not really at a fast pace because our target was completing the race. A lot of other riders zoomed pass us, but we just did the cycling at our own pace. 1st U-turn Anis was getting tired a bit, but still going strongly. In fact on the way back we did had riders drafting behind us. So we were doing good.

After 90+ minutes on the bike we reached transition for the final run. Again, Anis remembered all the things she was supposed to do in transition. Something that even I myself sometimes forget. In fact, again, I brought the mini pump along in the rear pocket. Oh well... The course was getting a bit hot. And Anis was having some mild cramps in the calf. So we took it easy. We still had a lot of time to complete the race. So we just walked briskly along the course stopping by occasionally to enjoy the relief at the water station. BTW, why they had Revive isotonic drink at the station but only give out plain water?

After 3 hours race time, the finish line was getting closer. And as usual, Anis still had some energy left in her for a short charge to the finish line! So we finished the race alright! To my surprise we both were given nice finisher medals for our effort. I didn’t expected that. Thanks to the organizer.

So after that race Anis managed to fullfil her promise to do the duathlon race. We didn’t set good time for the race, but what's important, we finished the race comfortably. That was more than enough for the amount of training that we have put in.

Now it’s time for me to fulfil my promise to her, to obtain open water diving license hehehe

P/S: sorry no pics for this post. Obviously I was busy running & cycling

Welcome back!

2010-11-06T23:39:00.005+08:00

It's been AGES since I last updated this. My apology for the few people who may been following and reading this blog of mine (if there's any in the first place). But just gotten myself a brand spanking new notebook, which means I can now do my computing almost anywhere, in relative comfort, so I should make an effort to update my blog as frequent as possible.

Quite a number of things had happened since the last update, so I'll just make a post to summarize all happenings.

1. I got promoted!

Finally I got the promotion to become Manager! Alhamdulillah, after my 3rd interview to become one. But better late than never. But my work is still more or less the same as the last few years, just that now I actually have staff to manage and do things for me. Along with that, moved to a bigger space at office.

From this:

To this:

2. Malakoff University Duathlon Series 2

The second in the series, in subsequent weekend. Was supposed to do this as well, but I woke up late! So only Anis did it. This time she did it witrh Aishah, another friend of her who also did the first run. The route was quite challenging and the run was actually off road, through a jungle. I changed role to become a photographer instead, which was quite interesting actually. Seeing the race from a different perspective

Anis at the finish line

Anis & Aishah

3. Malakoff University Duathlon Series 3

This time Anis did the whole race by herself! I was with her all the way. After the event she is now considered a certified duathlete! I was so happy & and proud of her. As usual, we did it slow and easy, but we did finish it

4. Camera upgrade

I sold off my Nikon D3000 and bought a pristine, used Nikon D300 (notice one less 0) and loving it to bits. It really gives me more flexibility and very, very quick. It also feels like a proper SLR camera!

From this:

To this:

5. Trip to Bangkok

It was not a holiday trip, but I was chosen to represent Bank Negara Malaysia in squash for the Inter Central Bank Games! Actually I was asked to replaced a few others who was not able to make it to the event. But I was more than happy to provide my service! The squash team won the games rather easily against the other teams from Monetary Authority Singapore, Bank of Thailand and Bank Indonesia. From then, I was also asked to play again for the recent Inter Bank Squash tournament. I guess I achieved my target to be one of the top 6 squash player in BNM then!

Before the matches

We won!

6. Genting Trailblazer

This was quite recent, just last weekend. But I was not participating, Anis did. It was a team event, consisting of two per team. She did it with Sarah, who later I found out is Dino’s a.k.a. Heidilee fiancée. So this time, again I was there as a photographer. Well it was a good opportunity for me to test the speed of the D300 anyway. Some photos from the event below

Anis, Farra & her partner, Dan

Anis, after the race and dirtier

7. Newton run

Did this with Anis and Amal. It was a 12km run. Did close to 2 hours, but I got a medal for it! Anis & Amal however did not, for some reason

8. Trip to Jerangkang Waterfall

What a nice place. Needed an hour 4WD ride to go in, but it was worth it. Also tried canyoning i.e. abseiling in the waterfall, for the first time

Malakoff Universitiy Duathlon Series 1

2010-07-25T15:24:00.003+08:00

Done. Last Saturday. Anis was participating for the first time, albeit in the team relay, but still not bad for someone's very new to running & cycling. She teamed up with Amal, who did the first run.

It was a rather short event, 3.9km run - 13km bike - 3.9km run. Done this race two years ago, so mroe or less knew what to expect. So it went rather uneventful. Just took it easy all the way. Was not really in a great form at the moment anyway.

We were lucky that the sun was rather kind to us. During bike and 2nd run, just ride and run along side Anis to give her support to go all the way. We finished the event in about 1 hour 45 minutes. And we were not last! There were two other participants behind us hehehe

Big thanks to the organisers, it was an excellently organised event and kudos to the spectators from UPNM. I know you guys were asked to spectate, but all of you were a great sport! Sorry for letting you guys stand in the sun for so long.

Some photos from the event

Amal & Anis, before the start, explains the cheerful face

Anis & Me, also before the start

Amal, Anis & Ajo, after the race ended. All smiles!

Amal & Anis, so happy to finish the race!

Parting shot before we left UPNM. One down, two to go!

PC DOS

2010-07-09T20:40:00.004+08:00

I'm sure not many people even know DOS. It has been long forgotten already. But recently, when I was doing spring cleaning at my office, found this. An unopened, box of original IBM PC DOS! Have no idea how old this is. Amazing that I still have this tucked somewhere even though there's no way I am gonna use this anymore!!

IBM PC DOS 6.1

The back of the package

A 'whopping' 0.5MB of memory & equally 'huge' 3MB of disk required. Hahaha

Cling wrap still unopened, practically brand new!

Activities... phewwww

2010-07-05T14:37:00.003+08:00

My previous few and next coming weekends activities:

27 June: KL International Marathon - done. Timing not so great, but enjoyed it

3 & 4 July: office's team building @ Berjaya Hills a.k.a. Bukit Tinggi - Last weekend. Really enjoyeable outing. Especially when it's on the company's expense

11 July: Sepang open track day

18 July: Siemens run

24 July: Malakoff University Duathlon Series 1 @ UPNM

31 July: Malakoff University Duathlon Series 2 @ UM

7 August: Malakoff University Duathlon Series 3 @ UPM

Phewww...

Random shots

2010-06-15T00:18:00.006+08:00

Some random shots from my camera. Really need to take a whole lot more photos to train my eyes & brush up my skill!

KLCC, Center Course

Stalls in line, KLCC

Twin Tower, a different perspective

Yummy!

Screaming statue, Nike exhibition MidValley

My car, miniaturized!

World Cup fever!

2010-06-14T20:24:00.003+08:00

Oh my, this blog has been neglected for so long. My last post was in May and that was the only one for the whole of May! So I have to post something.

I guess now everybody has caught the same fever, the World Cup fever. Almost everywhere you go, people will be talking about World Cup, be it girls or boys. The boys discuss about the games, the girls discuss about how the games ruined their dates with their boyfriend hehehe

I am not really a big football fan, although I occasionally watch club level football. But when it comes to WC, I will make an effort to watch! I am a German supporter, since I first watch WC back in year 1992.

It's something about the Germans that I love. Their systematic but effective style of play, really amazes me. Back then Klinsmann was the hero, supported by the likes of Lothar Mattheus, Thomas Hassler, Matthias Sammer and Jurgen Kohler.

And early this morning, again I was mesmerized by the same display of systematic & efffectiveness when they totally obliterated the Australian team. I hope they'll win this year!

Go German, go!

Miscellanous photos

2010-05-04T23:49:00.005+08:00

Some miscellanous shots captured recently

Chocolate cupcake, yummy!

Ready to rumble! (Testing off-camera TTL flash cord)

'Pickup lines'

KL skyline by night

Istana Budaya

Plain to see where this is...

I pity them, the police...

2010-04-29T17:12:00.004+08:00

It's a hot story now, the case of a 15 year old boy shot to death at Shah Alam. Condolences to the boy's family.

Now, almost every quarter is blaming the police for use of 'excessive force'. My uncle is a high ranking police officer. But he went through the ranks before he end up at his position now. He always tell us, if such case happens, people will look at the police's fault. Everybody was concern of the 'victim's' welfare.

But how about the policeman himself? Who's looking into his welfare? This boy tried to drive into the group of police. What do you expect? Just stand there, with the right hand straight up and yell 'STOP!'? Hoping the car will stop just an inch before hitting the policemen? Maybe in movies, but not in real life. Try to put yourself into their shoes.

If the boy did not ran away from police roadblock & drove past few red lights, would the officer just suddenly draw his gun and shoot? But did anybody said ANYTHING about the boy's behaviour? None. Of course, after the incident people say, the boy was shot dead just because he drove without license. The thing is, that is not the case. He was shot dead because he refused police order and then tried to cause harm to them! If the boy just stopped & failed to produce license, would he been shot? If the answer is yes, then something is very wrong. Then people can make noises.

When police use force on criminals, people say police is using excessive force. But then, when someone is killed or raped or robbed, then people say, police is not doing their work. Police will have to use force, up to some degree. It's not that criminals are all well-behaved people. If they are they won't be criminal in the first place.

So don't just simply complaint and take sides. Evaluate the situation. There must be a reason for everything. Don't just simply point fingers because that seems to be the easiest thing to do.

In conclusion, I laud the IGP's stance on this issue: No police?

Bravo!

One man's junk, is another man's treasure

2010-04-22T18:23:00.003+08:00

Like my 5 years old Fuji S602 Zoom camera... I've been using it for like 5 years now, so it's kinda old and with 'just' 3.2MP resolution, it's kinda very outdated today. But nevertheless, it's still working perfectly fine.

But since I've bought a new D-SLR, don't plan to keep it anymore. So put up an advert to sell the old camera on mudah.my, with an offer price of RM150 only. Originally planned to sell for RM200, but since nowadays you can buy a good, brand new camera for just RM400, reduced my selling price.

To my surprise, in just one day, I've received like 40 emails asking to buy it. Really unexpected! There's one even offered RM250 for it. Many asked if my price is right.

Now I'm not sure to who should I sell it to.

Run for a cause: KL International Marathon

2010-04-19T18:30:00.001+08:00

Dear friends,

I guess some of you heard of the annual Standard Chartered KL International Marathon. Running a 10 km event is not something new for me, but this time around I'm not doing it for myself. I'm doing it for charity. For this event I've signed up under "Run for A Cause" category.

Here's my profile page: Hanafi Mohd. Nasir <---- Click here

I don't gain anything from this effort. I have even donated my race fee to the charity organization to start the ball rolling. Making your donation is easy. You may donate securely online via M2U, CIMB Click or credit card from the website. And if need to, a tax exemption letter will also be issued to you.

If you're interested to participate in the event, but have no idea how to get prepared for it, I am more than happy to share some training tips.

Thank you for your kindness.

Of our hot weather and protecting the stupid...

2010-04-15T10:04:00.003+08:00

1. Wake up!

Reported in The Star today: KL - a walkable city?

Read the article. The project is modelled after a similar system in the United States. Hello, don't you guys realize how much different the weather is between our country and theirs? People here tend not to walk due to the sweltering heat of our weather rather than anything else. Late last year, I was fortunate enough to spend 4 days in Sydney, right at the peak of their summer season. Even though on certain days temperatures were reported to be up to 35 degree Celcius, but it felt much, much more comfortable due to the cold winds and low humidity. Heck, I even ran almost the entire city since the weather made me feel so comfortable.

But try to do that in central KL. I'm not surprised to find someone collapsing by the roadside after just 10 minutes. Our weather is just so different. In Sydney people walk all over the place. I never even thought of taking the tram even the station is just in front of me and choose to walk instead. Cars do not need air conditioning, just enough to roll down the windows. Again, try that in KL... Even standing out under the sun doing nothing and not moving will make you sweat like mad. Especially with the exceptionally hot weather nowadays.

These people should not be looking at such facilities in a country with vastly different weather. It's just not the same. I challenge the people who suggested this to use the walkway to work on daily basis when it's ready. See if it's really that practical.

This is almost the same idea as when someone tried to make Putrajaya a cycling city. Asking people to cycle to work instead of driving. I like to cycle in Putrajaya, for my training, but definitely not for work tough as I don't want to arrive at the meeting with my shirt all drenched out and sweat dripping off from my forehead.

2. Protecting the stupid

Also in the The Star: New Lexus fishtailing

An excerpt:

"In this case, Consumer Reports said the Lexus problem occurred during tests on its track. In a standard test, the driver approached a turn unusually fast, then released the accelerator pedal to simulate the response of an alarmed driver. This caused the rear of the vehicle to slide outward.

Under normal circumstances, the electronic stability control should quickly correct the loss of control and keep the SUV on its intended path. But with the GX 460, the stability control took too long to adjust, which could cause a rollover accident if one of the sliding wheels were to strike the curb or another obstacle, said Gabriel Shenhar, Consumer Reports' senior auto test engineer, one of four testers who experienced the problem."

You drive too fast approaching a corner, then lift off, the car will fishtail. See the ACTUAL mistake here? Not the car fishtailing or the electronics reacting too slow, it's the driver approaching the corner too fast! What's next? If you drive fast straight-on into a tree, the car should be intelligent enough to save you from that?

This is what I call, trying to protect the stupid from their own stupidity. Only in the US.

Got myself a new toy!

2010-04-13T03:19:00.005+08:00

A Nikon D3000 digital SLR. After Kinabalu trip, I was yearning for a better camera to capture all the moments. And to relive my interest in photography. After some research decided on this particular model.

First outing with the camera, trip to Gunung Irau, Cameron Highlands. Some selected photos from the trip. Full report to follow.

Finally

2010-03-30T17:33:00.003+08:00

After months reading and learning on stock market investment and observing the market, finally today I made the plunge. Just bought 4,000 shares of Fajarbaru Builders Group Bhd's stocks.

Was not in my watch list, but still proceeded with the purchase. Seems like a good prospect. In fact Kenanga research also has a buy status for this counter. They are bidding for the new LCCT project and if they win the contract, I'm pretty sure it's price will soar.

But as of now, the counter has dropped by 4 cents from my purchase price. A bit unnerving, but I'll try my best not to panic, get tough and put more confidence into it.

Energizer Nite Run - 27 Mar 2010

2010-03-30T15:48:00.004+08:00

We did it! We finished it in 1 hour 23 minutes, well below the qualifying time of 1 hour 30 minutes. Even though my GPS reported less than 10km, but still it was an achievement, especially for Anis who did a 10km run for the first time. The farthest she had run during training was 7.5 km. So that was a good achievement.

As for me, it gave me a different perspective of such race. I noticed so many people did the run just for the fun of it. Taking their own sweet time & taking opportunity to socialise and meet new friends. Things that I never noticed before, since I would be so focused on my target time and gasping for breath.

For our effort, we got this

Next, KL International Marathon!

Trip to KK, Day 4: The reward

2010-03-28T11:03:00.007+08:00

The last activity of our KK trip. Original plan was to go rafting at Sg. Padas, but almost every single local we met told us that water level was low and not so good for rafting. So Anis arranged with our travel guide for island hopping instead.

The day started a bit late for all of us. We all needed extra rest after the previous days strenous activity. Only around 10:30AM that we all left from KK in a boat to our first destination. The boat ride took only about 10 minutes or so, and we were in Pulau Sapi. A very nice place indeed and a big difference from the view we had for the past 2 days. We didn't spent much time here, only some photo shoots and we were off to Pulau Manukan.

Just arrived at Pulau Sapi

Pulau Sapi entrance

Another 5 minutes boat ride and we reached Pulau Manukan already, so easy & convenient. By then, we were already very hungry. We grabbed lunch from one of the food stalls on the island. Lunch by the sea, with the sound of the waves pounding on the beach, the wind blowing into our face, it was just so nice and calming.

Welcome to Pulau Manukan!

Always ready for an emergency

After lunch, the compulsory island activity, snorkelling! This is one activity that I really enjoy. Swimming around the beautiful colourful fishes, just had to be aware of jellyfish. There were signboards reminding visitors that it was jellyfish season. But was lucky didn't enountered any. Other also enjoyed other activities, para-sailing & jet-skiing.

Beautiful scenery

More beautiful scenery

A guide to the fishes around the area

It was close to 4:00PM when we made our move to our last destination, Pulau Mamutik. Since we were all exhausted after Pulau Manukan, we only spent some time taking photos on the beach. After almost a day enjoying ourselves on the beaches, we left for KK around 5:00PM. Already quite late by then.

An interesting piece of history of Pulau Mamutik

The compulsory entrance photo

Later that night, we all went out for dinner at the famous KK pasar malam by the sea. Forgot what's the name of the place. We all had a rather OK seafood dinner. Not as fresh as we would like, but we still enjoyed it though.

Fahizam eyeing the big prawns

What a nice & relaxed day for all of us. A fitting reward for the hardship we went through the 2 days before.

Trip to KK, Day 3: We came, we saw, we conquered!

2010-03-22T19:09:00.008+08:00

*You may click on the photos for bigger version*

THE day for us.

The day started very early. We were all already awake by 1:30AM, despite going to bed at around 10:30PM the night before. We had to wake up early since we're supposed to meet our guide at the Laban Rata cafe at 2:30AM for the trek to the summit.

Again, we had to trek down the stairs to the cafe for our breakfast, which is technically a supper considering the time. All of us had a good 'breakfast' to fuel ourselves to the summit!

By then, it was already 3:00AM and Pak Jo was already complaining. But we were all very excited! Then we had to climb back up the very same stairs we went down for breakfast since the summit trail is actually just next to our hostel. We were told the climb to the summit would be 2.7km. The first 700m on wooden stairs and natural rocky terrain. Then the rest of it will be on rock surface and we will require to use ropes to climb up, that is the rope section.

The first 700m was a bit slow. The stairs was quite narrow and there were just too many people trying to climb up at the same time. There was a group of elderly Japanese tourists going up as well, slowing things down a bit for the rest of the climbers. But more on the Japs later.

We were already struggling on the first stage of the climb. The stair was rather steep. And then we reached the 'rope section'. Now things got very scary indeed. We had to hang by the rope, stepping only on a narrow ledge by the rocky mountain side. With a deep drop behind us! With the dark surrounding, depending only on our headlights, things got even scarier. Luckily the really steep and difficult section was not very long. I admit, I was quite worried at this section, since even a slight slip of the footing or slip of the rope grip would mean tumbling down to an almost certain death. Having said that, our guide was able to jump around on one foot on this particularly steep section *damn*

Then it was on rock surface all the way up. It was not very steep, but the cold condition and the sheer distance we had to cover was rather intimidating. Additionally, we barely had enough rest from yesterday's 10-hour long climb. And the thin air at such altitude exacerbates things further. By now the sun was already rising, which meant we were quite late. We started early so we could catch the sunrise at the summit, but we were barely halfway there.

The sun was already up. We were only halfway there

Despite that, still, take photo hehehe

But we were not alone. Our group of Anis, Sue and myself was constantly being accompanied by the group of the elderly Japs. Despite of their age, they certainly had a strong determination to reach the summit. And we being much younger just simply cannot ignore that and see that as a challenge to continue to the summit!

After walking for more than 3 hours, we were literally dragging our feet, but the summit was still not yet in sight. We saw the 'summit' from afar and tried our best to reach it, accompanied by encouragement words from climbers descending from the summit. Already!? *sigh*

Special shot by our guide. Never realized the South Peak photo on our RM1 note

Little did we know, the 'summit' we saw was actually the 8km mark. From there on, there's still 700m to the summit! From that point, we could clearly see people standing on the summit and they all looked no bigger than tiny little ants. It was really that far! Never remembered 700m being that far away.

But we summoned all the energy left in our body and made our best attempt to reach the summit. We were already that near, no way we're gonna give up! Not when the elderly Japs were carrying on! I had to literally push Anis to help her move. Until the Sayang Kinabalu song played on the MP3 player. That gave us a sudden burst of energy and encouragement for our last 100m climb to the peak! It's all about the mentality really.

The last section was rather difficult and we had to be very, very careful. We were surrounded by big rock boulders and nothing else. Nothing at all to cushion a fall. Nevertheless, we made it to the summit! Yay!

We made it to the peak!! That metal signboard actually is damn cold

Spent almost 30 minutes on the summit, for pictures and enjoying the breathtaking view around us. We were lucky the weather was very kind to us and the view was clear, even though it was already about 9:00AM by then.

View of the South Peak from Low's Peak (4095.2m)

Then it was the dreaded walk down. On the way down to the Sayat-Sayat checkpoint, we were more or less on our own over the mountain top. Only the four of us, Anis, Sue, Pak Jo and myself. And with the sun shining gloriously onto the mountain face, it was now that I realized the scale of the place. The mountain top area was really a vast, wide open rocky terrain. Doesn't look like it from afar.

Last view of Low's Peak, with a nice blue sky

To give you an idea of the sheer scale of the place

The 8 km mark. The summit seemed so far away. Not a very encouraging sight while on the way up

In the background, that's the fake summit we saw from afar, which actually is the 8 km mark

We were the last climbers past the Sayat-Sayat checkpoint and the ranger manning the place locked the gates behind us and accompanied us for the descent to Laban Rata. He shared with us his experience working on the mountain. Going up from Laban Rata to Sayat-Sayat checkpoint on daily basis, for the past 9 years. On the way down, bumped into several climbers going to the top on their day-trek. And again met Mohd. Nor, he was also on the way up.

At the Sayat-Sayat checkpoint

We were so relieved when finally we safely reached Laban Rata cafe. We missed the breakfast by a long shot. It was already 1:00PM. But they were kind enough to accept our meal vouchers in exchange for fried rice. Special mention, the RM10.35 canned F&N soft drinks tasted soooooo nice compared back in KL. Dunno why hahaha!

Only at around 3:00PM we started our descent to the bottom. We chose the shorter Timpohon trail this time around. Everything was going fine, until after about 2 km when Erwan complaining of knee pain, which is rather common when going down such steep stairs. Another kilometer passed by and Anis started complaining of fatigue. No amount of chocolate and energy drinks helped. But we pushed on. Stopping for rests regularly. Later I found out she skipped the fried rice lunch at Laban Rata. That explained it. She was just too exhausted.

At Layang-Layang hut, just after the T-junction, again we met Mohd Nor, on his way down. Fahizam then took off with the group for the descent while the rest of us stayed together in our group.

Another kilometer passed-by and Anis started vomitting. She already called it quits, but that's simply not an option in the middle of the mountain jungle! We have to make our way down by any means. With assistance from Pak Jo, we pushed on. By then, we had another casualty, Irma was having wobbly feet as well and would at any time just simply fall to the ground. She was also suffering from total exhaustion, also because of skipping lunch at Laban Rata. It was not a pretty sight. 3 out of 5 were injured or severely fatigued. The rest of us just tried to encourage the group to push on as it was already getting dark, which reminded us of Nuang experience.

But pushed we did and we managed to reach Timpohon gate at 8:45PM. In total, we trekked for 16 hours in one day! 10 hours from Laban Rata to the summit and back, then 6 hours going down to Timpohon gate. That's 26 hours in two freaking days! No wonder we were so fatigued by then.

After the long-ish journey in the van to KK, we all retreated back to our next stay, Kinabalu Backpackers lodge. Relieved and proud that the climb was already behind us. We all reached the highest peak in South East Asia! 6 of us attempted and all 6 made it to the top! Bravo!

Trip to KK, Day 2: Kinabalu, here we come!

2010-03-22T11:29:00.019+08:00

*You may click on the photos for bigger version*

Our day started quite late, for Kinabalu climbing that is. We were all awake before 6:30AM to get ready. The guys had to forego our morning shower since the water heater was broken and the tap water was bone-chillingly cold, as Erwan said, "Boleh bela penguin dalam bilik air".

After a quick breakfast, we were off to the climb starting point, with mixed feelings, joy and anxiety. Our only thought was, "Will we be able to make it to the summit, safely?". After about 15 minutes or so, we were at the Mesilau trail head. Our guide, Pak Jo, gave us a short briefing. What to expect, where to stop, what's the target. Since we chose the slightly longer Mesilau trail, there's 8 km of climbing to our next stop, Laban Rata. And we targeted to reach there before the sun sets. The trail via Timpohon gate is about 2 km shorter.

Listening to the briefing by Pak Jo

Me at the Mesilau trail head signboard

After weighing our bags (mine was 8kg), in case we need the guide to bring our bag (which later proved needed), and a short prayer, we were off. Together with another rather large group of climbers. But we started quite late, at 9:00AM.

After just 10 minutes or so climbing, Anis complained of severe chest pain again and started vomitting. She tried to push but was clearly struggling and suffering. There were only the two of us, while the rest were already way ahead, eager for the climb. And our guide was behind. Seeing her suffering, I even suggested to abort the climb and turn back since chest pain is something very, very serious and not to be taken lightly. But she was determined to reach the summit, so we pushed on.

Before the guide caught up with us, helped to carry Anis' bag. Not easy

But not as bad as that porter in the background. Check our the load he's carrying

After our body has warmed up and Anis' bag passed to our guide, her condition improved and her pain subsided. Phew!

Hours flew by walking in the forest. We caught up with Sue by the 2nd hut. There were rest huts at every km of the trail, each is uniquely named with water supply available. But there were reminders that due to the dry season, water supply may not be adequate and climbers were advised to carry enough water for the climb.

Each hut has a unique name. This one named Bambu

The no-water sign

We took our time for the climb. At times we were going down instead of going up, until we reached the 3 km mark. By then we had already been trekking for about 3 hours or so. So far so good. By my calculation, if we managed to keep up the pace, we would reach Laban Rata before the sun sets.

Little did we know, after that the trail became more challenging. No more going downhill, the only way forward is way up! But we were relieved that the trail was not as steep or challenging as Nuang. So the training paid off for us,at least mentally. The dry and caked mud trail floor also made climbing rather easy.

But the view was really amazing! We passed by a small waterfall, became even smaller due to the dry season. But still, a photo opportunity for us. There was also a suspension bridge along the way. At many places there were wooden stairs, which made the trail even more interesting and easier to traverse. Additionally, by that time the mountain area was engulfed in thick cloud giving a cottony white backdrop throughout our climb. At certain places, with the scenic trees, nice backdrop and the slight mist in the air provided a perfect photo opportunity for us. Needless to say, we took lots and lots of photos.

The Kimpuyut suspension bridge

Anis and Sue on the suspension bridge

The wooden stairs. They helped

We then reached the place dubbed as Lord of The Ring place. I have never watched LoTR, so I can't compare. But the view at this area was just breathtaking! With the rolling hills in the distance and deep ravine overlooking the surrounding towns, way down below. The trees were beautiful with some of them draped with old man's beard leaf. I found out about that old man beard thingy later when I watched Surviroman on Discovery. We spent quite a lot of time taking photos. By then, we were the last group for the climb.

The mountain side covered in clouds

The town of Kundasang, way down there

More clouds. Notice the sole tree covered with old man beard leaf

This is why we chose the longer trail, nicer view

Nice trees

Then we reached the T-junction, the meeting point between Mesilau and Timpohon trails. But right before that, our guide pointed to us a cluster of monkey pot plants, slightly hidden by the trailside. Of course, more photos.

Sue and Anis love it when the trail heads down ;)

Nice background for portrait

Monkey pots!

At the T-junction, it was already quite late. We risk of not being able to make it before dark. So we pushed a bit. We met Mohd. Nor, the climber on a quest to climb Kinabalu 111-times. We stopped him for a quick photo and wished him luck. Anis and myself left Sue behind, accompanied by our guide. After hours of climbing and even more photos, we were nearer to our target. The view was simply breahtaking. With the great Mount Kinabalu standing proud in front of us and the cottony white clouds below us. By then, it was already getting dark. Luckily we had our headlights ready. Some were not and had to share our light or walk in the near dark to reach Laban Rata.

Anis and Sue with Pak Jo, our guide

The T-junction signboard

That's Mohd Nor on his way down

A picture perfect view of Kinabalu

Above the clouds!

Me above the clouds! I was wearing two layers of T-shirt by then

Superb view

I have never been so relieved to see a lighted small hut up ahead. We knew our pain for the day was almost over, or so we thought. The first hut was not the Laban Rata chalet. The chalet itself was about another 100-200m away. We summoned the last drop of energy we had and dragged our feet to reach Laban Rata at 7:00PM, where Fahizam, Erwan & Irma were already waiting in the cosy cafe, with another 100 climbers or so. It was already dark outside and very cold too. So we had our jackets on already. Sue joined us barely 15 minutes later, accompanied by tears of sheer relief and joy. We had good dinner at the cafe, even though it was just a simple buffet.

Getting dark on the way up, but nice view of the sunset

Finally, we reached Laban Rata!

But little did we know, our sleeping quarters, Gunting Lagadan hut is actually another 10-15 minutes trek up *sigh* And more bad news, there was an electrical problem and the heater (both air and water) was not working! We had to sleep in the cold, with our warm clothing on and again for us guys, without shower. We were too tired to smell ourselves anyway.

Tomorrow will be D-day for us, so we need all the rest we can get.

Trip to KK, Day 1: Hello Kundasang

2010-03-22T11:02:00.006+08:00

*You may click on the photos for bigger version*

Drama right from the start. We barely made on time it to LCCT for our 9:25AM flight to KK. But we waited for another friend and that almost caused all of us to miss the flight. At the last minute, we (Anis, Irma, Sue, Erwan & myself) decided to make our move and left Zefry behind.

At LCCT. From left: Sue, Irma, Anis

The moment we arrived at KK, Fahizam who took a separate flight from JB was already there. So in the end, 8 planned for the climb, only 6 actually made it to KK. Not really a good start. Our tour guide, Pak Mail, was already waiting for us at the airport, with the ubiquitous white tourist van. After about 2 hours journey, with a bried stop for lunch and some quick shopping, we reached our accomodation for the night, Rose Cabin, Kundasang.

Rose Cabin, Kundasang

Later in the evening, we all took a leisurely walk around the sleepy town of Kundasang, with it's abundance of cabbage. Cabbage was almost everywhere! After dinner, we all retreated back to our hotel for early rest.

Mt. Kinabalu in our background. From left: Fahizam, Anis, Irma, Sue, Erwan

Sleepy town of Kundasang

The mountain we have to conquer!

But later that night, Anis experienced a worrying chest pain which required a quick trip to the nearest hospital, Hospital Ranau, about 18km away. The doctor and hospital staff were very friendly. After check-ups, the doctor advised it was just due to cold weather. And she was given the green light to climb Mt. Kinabalu, with proper warm clothing. Was so relieved. Afraid the group will be reduced even further to 4 people and the climb have not even started!

Switch to energy saving bulbs

2010-03-19T09:33:00.003+08:00

In thestar.com today: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/3/19/nation/5889920&sec=nation

I really applause this move. It's a good move in the right direction. An energy saving bulb is more expensive than the normal bulb, but they're much more efficient. There's a lot of resources readily available for reading on the net if you're into technical and empirical comparison between normal vs energy savings bulbs.

But just to give you some idea, a 15W energy saving bulb is meant to replace a 60W normal. Which means the energy savings bulb is using just 1/4 of the electrical power, but producing more or less the same amount of light.

Some may say, how would that be possible? It cannot be. The answer is efficiency. The normal bulb can only convert small portion of the electrical power into light, the rest are dissipated as heat. Have you ever tried to change a 60W light bulb after being turned on for more than a minute or so? It's really, really hot indeed. But an energy savings bulb is much cooler.

So make the switch now!

It doesn't matter ;)

2010-03-10T20:51:00.003+08:00

Bowling is another sport that I'm into. Used to be playing like at least once a week, but have slowed down tremendously lately. For yearsn been trying to represent our team in BNM's internal tournament. 3 years ago, I did not make the cut. Missed to be in the team by a few pinfall during the selection match. Last year, woke up late for the selection. Dang!

This year, I comfortably qualified to be in the team. Performed well during the selection match and some good players were absent from the selection. The original tournament date was 7 March, no issue there. Then it was re-scheduled to 27 March, 8:00PM. Which clashed with Energizer Night Run. Dang again!

I can just forgo the run and do this bowling tournament, but not this time though. Why, you may ask. I have a different perspective now I guess. I have been training for the run with my close friend, Anis. In fact I was the one who convinced her to do the race. We have been training together at Tasik Titiwangsa for few weeks now.

She has a 9-6 office job, just like me. But she also runs an online bakery shop doing handmade cakes and wedding gifts, hantaran in Malay (that explains the favourite link on top there!). On every other weekends she teaches baking class. But still she made time to train for the night run. Normally we had to train at night since there's just no other time for us.

She's not a runner, so this is going to be her first time and she's determined to finish it within the cut-off time. It will be too cruel and selfish to waste all her effort for the event just because I want to represent my team for the bowling tournament. Moreover, nowadays I think it's no longer about what I can achieve, it's more satisfying to think of what we can achieve. I really wish we can do and finish the run together. I will not break my personal best whatsoever (not in my current form anyway), but it doesn't matter at the moment.

In fact, if we managed to successfully to complete this night run, I'm thinking of convincing her to do Powerman Malaysia. I may need to downgrade to do the sprints with her instead of doing the full distance race, but again, it doesn't matter. ;)

Wish us luck for the Energizer night run. For my friends doing the race, good luck to you all too. See you at the starting line. And please proceed first OK. I'll take it easy this time around.

I'm off to climb Mt. Kinabalu!

2010-03-10T20:48:00.003+08:00

I'm flying to Kota Kinabalu early tomorrow. On Friday I will be on a quest to climb Mt Kinabalu, the highest mountain in South East Asia. Hope I'll be able to reach the summit and not torture myself too much on the journey. Barely enough physical training for this really.

Look forward for the report when I come back. Wish me luck! ;)

Le Tour de Langkawi - S6 - A different perspective

2010-03-09T01:20:00.000+08:00

Firstly, congratulations to Anuar Manan for being the first Malaysian rider to win a stage at LTdL, ahead of an international field. What an effort. This is the story of watching the peloton from the roadside.

Saturday morning, was at a petrol station nearby my house. Along the way, noticed so many traffic police personnel stationed by the roadside. Was thinking, maybe some politician coming to visit the area or something. Then suddenly it crossed my mind, LtDL! Was not rushing for anything, so decided to wait by the roadside to watch the peloton ride by. The peloton had being passing through my housing area a few times previously, on their way up to the enormous climb up Genting, but never actually had the chance to see them live since it always happened on weekdays.

It was really quite an effort to make things go smoothly, especially from the traffic police personnel. They had to manage traffic at every single junction amidst protests and complaints from the stopped motorists. It’s very easy for arguments to break over the frustration.I can understand that.

Half an hour passed, still no sight of the peloton. Only the motorcade provided some entertainment for the patiently waiting onlookers. Talking about onlookers, it was surprising to see quite a large group actually standingd by the roadside for the peloton. Even though some of them looked like they had no idea at all about a cycling race. I believe the support due to Anuar Manan's win the day before.

After about an hour, the peloton passed by. Only one rider broke away from the peloton, the rest were in the big group. It took all of maybe 30 seconds or so for them to pass by. For all the effort and time waiting *sigh* A lot of effort required for the organization of the race. I would say hundreds of traffic police were involved. Maybe possibly 40-50 police outriders on high-powered motorcycles plus around 7-8 more police vehicles. A support car each for all the participating teams. Three neutral support cars with spare bikes on the roof. Two neutral service cars. Three proton service cars to provide maintainenance service & spare parts for the cars involved in the entourage. Three spare cars for replacement of the team cars. Two ambulances, an accident support vehicle, two police command vehicles, plus even a mobile radio communication repeater! Just can’t imagine the cost (and carbon sourced energy) involved for that.

And my list above is not even exhaustive. Those are the ones that I noticed and remembered. It’s quite ironic really considering cycling is one of the most environmental friendly forms of transport, but the race itself would have quite a big impact to the environment.I don't think the event can become a 'carbon-neutral' event soon. They'll need to plant lots and lots of trees just to compensate for fuel usage alone.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a cyclist myself and fully support for the event to continue. But I just think better ways must be thought of in terms of the organization of the race.

My new running companion!

2010-02-25T09:47:00.005+08:00

That would be my phone!

Recently bought a new Symbian S60 based Nokia phone. One of the reason is this software: Nokia Sports Tracker

The main screen

The software uses the phone's built-in GPS receiver to track my run. It can track my running route, time and distance. At the end of it, it can show vital information about the run, average pace, total distance, lap times, steps taken, calories burned etc.. etc.. even the route taken for the run. Suitable for those who are into the sciences of these.

Workout summary screen

Workout details by laps

You can see how your speed progressed through the run

Even a map of your running route!

It takes guessing and manual tracking of runs out of the question. So there's one less thing to worry. All info logged then can be reviewed from the workout diary which tracks all the run completed. The info can then be uploaded to a web service by Nokia for us to share with the world, although I've yet to try that. Even better, tt can also be used for other activities as well e.g. skiing and cycling. Yet to test it for cycling. But I'm sure it'll work like a charm.

The only thing I wish for is ability to monitor heart rate, then that'll be perfect!

For those who have a Symbian S60 based Nokia phone and love to run, this is not to be missed! Search for it on Nokia's ovi store. And the best thing of all, last time I checked, it's free!

All hacked

2010-01-18T11:29:00.005+08:00

My car as of Saturday:

An ass-less Impreza

The repair involved replacement of the rear panel, right three quarter panel, rear bumper & tail light. Apprently the damage was more below the skin. The boot floor panel was also a bit crumpled, but not bad enough until requiring a replacement. The rear sub frame took quite a beating as well. Need a bit of straightening work.

It explains why the estimated repair cost is RM8k. Unlike normal repair job involving knocking here and there, this job performs full replacement of the damaged panels. So the repairs will be undetectable virtually as-new condition. In fact this is the proper way of doing panel repairs as per safety guideline overseas. But of course, because of the high price, most people do not opt for this type of repair.

Can't wait to see the results.

Sepang - 10 Jan 2009

2010-01-12T00:08:00.004+08:00

After the session:

Ripping off the bumper

Torn bumper, broken right rear light, dented fender and slightly dented boot

That's my car! It really rained in the last one hour of the session. During which I did probably a dozen or so laps, non-stop. But I lost it going down to T9 due to aquaplaning, slid along the short downhill straight, backwards, and ended up clipping the right rear to the steel barrier. But it could've been worse if I hit the barrier sideways. That would've spelt full car repainting. The only regret is, it happened on the out lap, when the red stop lights were already on and I've already slowed down! *sigh*

It's in the workshop now. Hopefully it'll recover soon. Still was not satisfied with my dry time. A lot more grip and much more stable with the new suspension. But did not managed to get a good clean unobstructed run.

Love this song!

2010-01-05T17:29:00.004+08:00

The show, by Lenka. First heard it on TM advert on TV. And it immediately caught my attention. Finally downloaded it yesterday and it's been playing on repeats on my PC and my phone. Just love the simplicity of the song. The rhythm is so simple, yet catchy, with nice swingy feel at the chorus. Just can't help but to tap my feet along with the tempo everytime I listen to it. The singer also presented the song nicely with a cute & innocent feel to it. It proves a good song does not need complex arrangement.

Try to search the net for it. Sorry I won't put a download link here. It's illegal ;) BTW, I know all of you know how to get it anyway.

This makes me wonder, despite the number of so-called singers we have in Malaysia, why there's really rarely any song that's able to catch attention like the song above? A song that can attract attention at the first encounter. In my opinion, most Malay songs sound 'nice' because it's been forced onto the listener. The same song being repeatedly played on radio or advert on the TV, as time goes by, it becomes 'bearable'. Even if you just play the sound of a herd of cows mooing, with time that'll also sound bearable.

The last Malay song that caught my attention was Gemuruh by Faizal Tahir. And that's really some time ago. But in general the songs that attract my attention on first encounter are TM everyone connects advert song and the Kementerian Belia song played on ntv7, sang by a number of popular artists. But both are not recording songs.

And then I found this on youtube: Lenka? Not!

Just can't tell how much it sucks. For starters he wasn't even singing in tempo. As someone who plays musical instruments, it's really irritating to hear such a basic flaw. The voice is so flat I know of some LCD TVs more undulating than that. He doesn't complete full bars. In under 2 minutes and a half, the boy managed to ruin the whole song! But look at the comments. Some are really raving about him. They don't know any better. No wonder we then can have good entertainment with Simon Cowell demolishing these kind of singers on American Idol. Stupid Americans. But I do envy the recording facility the boy at his disposal. It's good, but it deserves better use, much better.

Foreign exchange trading

2010-01-04T18:14:00.003+08:00

To all friends, I'm posting this as a reminder to all who're into this forex trading or thinking of doing it. I know, it has promised very good returns. In fact training and seminars are being advertised openly in newspapers.

But it remain an illegal activity to do in Malaysia, to trade foreign currency, no matter how, no matter what. And in the news today: Bank Negara warns against illegal foreign currency trading

Knowing BNM, when they issued that kind of statement, it means, get ready. We're going to get you NOW! Same like all those quick rich schemes. There were so many raids done by BNM last year. Many were caught andcharged in court. And also knowing BNM, we're very efficient at doing this. We just needed time to carefully study before we start our move since we do not want to be on the losing side.

So please friends, stay away from such activity.

Happy New Year to all!

2010-01-02T15:50:00.002+08:00

A day late, but nevertheless, Happy New Year to all reading this.

Some news highlight:

1. No Plastic Day

I think it's a good move. I feel environmental preservation awareness among Malaysian are quite low. This despite the many programmes shown on Discovery Channel on Astro. I guess, most are more interested in the lame reality shows on Asto Ria...

BTW, I have been avoiding plastic bags for some while. If I'm at 7-11 or even Carrefour and buy things that I can hold with my two hands, I refused the plastic bag. I noticed some people even buyingj ust two items, maybe a can of drink and a cigarette also insist for the plastic bag. Then they went out of the door and step into their car which is just like 3-4 meters away. Why?

Let us all work to make this happen!

2. Who's there first?

The story of condominium & apartment owners 'shutting down' live music along Jalan P. Ramlee. It's not that I would want to stand for the musicians, but it raised the question, didn't the apartment owners think about it BEFORE buying their units?

So what if the apartment is located next to a busy highway and it gets noisy for them, will the authorities close down the highway then? Or if the apartment was built next to a shipping port and it gets noisy, will the port get closed then?

If you ask me, this is more of the issue of influence. Those buying the condo units along this particular road most probably are influential people. Maybe business people or even polictical links. To me, this is a blatant abuse of power. If the night spots are operating within the set rules and guidelines, especially on performing hours, the apartment residents should not, or have the rights to complaint about it. Old Malay proverbs, 'kalau takut dilambung ombak, jangan berumah di tepi pantai' applies here.

Almost a month to buy a notebook?

2009-12-31T12:53:00.002+08:00

Recently placed an order for a Dell notebook. Ordered on 23 Dec, paid using credit card. Maybank only called to verify the purchase on 25 Dec.

Yesterday checked the order status, the order is only confirmed on 29 Dec! Today checked again, the notebook has been built, but estimated shipping date is 15 Jan 2010! That's almost a month from the point of placing the order!

I don't know about you, but for me, when I already decided to purchase something, I want to get the item as soon as possible. The fact that I decide to buy at that time, means I need it already. Reminds me why the old fashioned, non-virtual, face-to-face business dealing is always better.

Proton vs Suzuki

2009-12-28T11:41:00.002+08:00

The story of my sister's Suzuki Swift.

She bought the Suzuki Swift as a replacement for her previous Gen2. Fed up with the small problems she had with it. That car had creaks and rattles at a few places. Something that I think is unavoidable in anything that moves over KL's roads. She had the driver's seat adjuster broken. I still wonder how that happened, but my sis had a reputation of breaking things. Then some other minor problems which I've forgotten the details.

But this morning, the Swift simply refused to start, again. Had a quick look and nothing that I can do about it. The battery was fine, it was cranking OK, just that the engine did not catch fire. Actually this is the second time it happened in about 3 years. The mileage on the car is just around 30,000km. Push start is not an option since it's an auto. I don't think using jumpers would help as well since there's nothing wrong with the battery.

But the Gen2 with all it's problem, never, I mean never once, did the car refused to start in the morning. It just reliably start with a crank or two.

I don't know about you, but for me, I would rather live with a car that rattles rather than having a 'solid' car, but I have to pray and hope that it starts when I crank the engine in the morning. Imagine if the engine refused to start in the midnight, some way from home. It would not be something nice to happen. Especially to a lady driver.

Since it is a Suzuki, I'm sure a lot of people would just say, something is wrong with the car only. Just send it back etc.. etc.. But if it's a Proton, suddenly everybody becomes an industry expert and say Proton QC is bad lah, engineering not good lah, old technology lah, etc... etc...

So please people, not just Protons break down. Other cars can too. Just that people tend to listen more stories of Protons breaking down simply due to the fact that there's a lot more Protons on the road. Widen your perspective before condemning the work of others.

Kids nowadays...

2009-12-24T11:06:00.002+08:00

Today results for PMR is out. PMR is for 15 year olds. Of course I don't yet have a 12 year old child, nor a close relative this year. But this is what I overheard from my colleagues at the office.

One colleague her child got 8As in the PMR, the reward is going to London. Another colleague also chipped in and mentioned her daughter requested for trip to Disneyland if she got good results for UPSR, that's a 12 year old, my friend. Another then came and mentioned her child also got good results and the reward is iPod touch...

Kids nowadays are very 'carrot driven', overly pampered. Obviously they'll get a harsh wake-up when they eventually get to the real world when they grow up. No wonder even adults nowadays whine of not enough 'reward' for what they 'feel is a good job from their bosses. They're used to that.

Hopefully I can teach my future children well.

Looking forward to F1 2010 season!!!

2009-12-23T10:15:00.006+08:00

In 2009, for some reason I lost interest in F1. Even though it was a year littered with many scandals and controversies, right from the start, double diffusers, McLaren's lie-gate, Renault's crash-gate, Massa's horrific accident, etc.. etc.. but I didn't find myself rushing back home to watch F1 race live on TV. Probably partly due to Ferrari was not doing particularly well last season.

But I'm already looking forward to next season's F1. For 3 reasons

1. Lotus F1 Team 1Malaysia
Naturally, a new team backed by Malaysian magnate, Tony Fernandes. I know some quarters are saying it's a waste of 'people' money, but I still think this is a good effort for Malaysia. Malaysians will get the chance to be an F1 driver and engineers can have a chance to get trained in the highly competitive F1 world.

It has also been said many times, the government has no investment in the team other than moral support. It's Mr. Fernandes' money and effort to have the team on the grid. And knowing F1, they're so particular about everything, especially related to funding, I doubt anybody can dodge the system. So way to go Lotus!

2. Petronas backing current championship winning team, Brawn GP
It was in the news yesterday, Petronas will become title sponsor for Mercedes GP, previously known as Brawn GP. The team will now be officially known as Mercedes GP Petronas Formula One Team. Petronas has been well-known in the motorsport arena and have previusly backed Team Sauber and later BMW. This will just lift their reputation even further. May even consider of personally switching to use Petronas if they manage to win the championship next season. Considering Brawn won the championship this season with limited time and budget, hopefully with such good backing they can repeat their success.

News: Formula 1.com news

3. Schumacher to return to F1!!
And the biggest news, the great Michael Schumacher is returning next season! He tried to this year, which at that time got me excited, but an injury stopped him. But now he's returning, and he's going to drive for the Mercedes team mentioned above!

News: The Star sports news

I'm way excited! Can't wait for March 2010

What's up with us?

2009-12-11T10:34:00.003+08:00

Nowadays you can get sued by cancelling an engagement...

http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/12/11/nation/5283378&sec=nation

We're becoming more and more like in the US where you can get sued just by sneezing in the elevator. A blatant misuse of the legal system. I would say, the legal system has other more important issues to deal with rather than petty issues like this. During courtship time, everything is nice and happy, then when things turn ugly, go to court, for something as personal as a marriage *sigh*

Trip to Sydney - 19 Nov 09

2009-12-03T12:24:00.005+08:00

My 4th day in Sydney. As the day before, went out running again late afternoon, on the same 10km route. This time with a camera. All pics in previous post and this post were actually taken on this date.

Weird looking cruise ferry, Starship Sydney docked at Kings Street wharf

My run took me underneath the Harbour Bridge

The water looks clean, but does not mean it's safe!

Right in front of Opera House. Tired already by now

Funny eh? Normally we're asked to keep away from the grass, but at Sydney's Royal Botanic Garden we're asked to walk on the grass

On the pedestrian bridge back to the hotel, overseeing the Darling Harbour. All spent and tired

Later that night, spent a bomb on souvenirs. *sigh*

Trip to Sydney - 18 Nov 09

2009-11-29T12:00:00.006+08:00

My 3rd day at Sydney, which would turn out to be a great day! The symposium went on as usual. Nothing interesing to report there. I'll try to post a separate summary of the symposium itself, for those interested.

After the symposium ended, which was already around 5:45PM, I was determined to go out running! The weather was so nice, it's a waste if I don't go out at least once. Anyway, I already brought my running shoes with me.

So I laced up and with a sketchy mental map of Sydney, I just went out. Starting from the Darling Harbour, take a detour to Tombaloong Park and decided to turn the other way to the north. So turned back to Darling Harbour, went around it. Ran past the nightspots on the right and the marina on my left. Past the, already-closing-at-6:30PM Sydney Aquarium & Wildlife Park. Then on to the King Street Wharf with a few more nightspots on my right. Darling Harbour is like Jalan Bukit Bintang in KL, a happening place, if you like that kind of happening.

The Tombaloong Park. Actually a roughly 50m diameter grassy area only hehehe

Darling Harbour marina at dusk

The nightspots by Darling Harbour

Then left the seaside and went on to the road where I get to see the more relaxed part of Sydney. Past some residential areas all the way to the tip of Sydney. That's where Harbour Bridge is. From afar, on foot, the bridge look magnificent. With the massive steel structure with the two towers on either side. Then I found out the route I was taking take me right underneath the bridge! I was so excited! There across the bay, the Opera House sits proudly as the landmark of Sydney. Too bad I did not bring a camera with me. Not even a phone. All pics in this post was actually taken the day after.

Don't know what this is about. It's a roundabout

The sight of the majestic Harbour Bridge from afar, on foot

To give you a sense of scale of the bridge structure

I proceed with the run past The Rocks, which is the oldest part of Sydney, facing the international passenger terminal, with a huge 7-8 storeys passenger ferry berthed there. Less than a 100m away. It's not everyday I can see such huge ferry from such a short distance.

The Rocks

Continued to run around the bay to the Circular Quay ferry terminal, my first option to return back to Darling Harbour. But I decided to carry on all the way to the Opera House. There saw quite a number of other joggers, so decided to follow them. That brought me right up the steps of the Opera House (great!) and over to the other side. Which took me to the entrance of the Royal Botanic Garden, surrounding another bigger bay.

A different perspective of the Opera House. Taken right from in front on the entrance

Just jogged by the seaside going round the bay all the way to MacQuaries Point. By now, I was already so far away from my hotel, no option to turn back. Worse case have to take a cab back hehehe Then ran past the naval dock yard on my way back to the city center. Had a detour to the Sydney Hospital and Parliament House before I finally found my way to St. Mary's cathedral. Remembering where it is on the map, I made my way to Hyde Park to get to Kings Street which should take me back straight to Darling Harbour.

I ran from this side of the bay to the other side (left hand side of the pic). About 2.5km

Sydney city skyline, at dusk

The naval dock yard

Pics of St Mary's cathedral

Then I was pratically running through the city center, together with all the people leaving home from work, but nobody seems to be bothered. Try doing that in center of KL, I guarantee you stern look from other passers-by. I was right and the road took me all the way back to Darling Harbour. When I reached my room, it was still quite bright outside. My guess would be latest 7:15PM, but I was shocked to see it was already 8:00PM! Summer time...

View of Darling Harbour at late dusk

I was so satisfied with the run. But determined to do it again tomorrow, with a camera!

Trip to Sydney - 17 Nov 09

2009-11-26T19:44:00.004+08:00

First day for the seminar. Woke up late, after being embarassingly woken up by Razman when he called my room's phone. Luckily the event venue is just a 5 minute walk away.

Sydney Convention Center in the background. The symposium venue

These a few things I noticed at the event:
1. Attended mostly by middle age guys with balding grey hairs. It was an event attended by industry leaders, CIOs and the like. Felt a bit 'small' in such company

2. Almost EVERYBODY was using iPhone or Blackberry. If you just landed from Mars, you may think Apple and Blackberry were the inventors of mobile phone. Very few people seen using normal phones like Nokia, SonyEricsson and the likes

3. Coffee, cold drinks and light food served free flow. But I had to survie on Pepsi and juice only for the whole duration of the seminar

4. Airconditioning at venue was so cold, had to run out during lunch break, but it was even colder outside! Had to run right back in. The cool surroundings was very comfortable for me. I hardly broke sweat, even with jacket on. Back home, I would've been drenched in like 2 minutes.

5. During the interview of an industry leader, the guy simply took sips of mineral water from the bottle itself. No need for glasses. And he's CEO of Telstra, one of the major telecommunications company in Australia. It's like having Tan Sri Ananda Krishnan, being interviewed on stage, drinking right from the bottle. Not gonna happen here. We're a bit more polite I guess, while they're more open.

Sydney 2000 sculpture in front of the convention center

Another funny thing, just realized I still had the tag inside my jacket which I bought the day before I left KL. Lucky nobody noticed hehehe

Later after the seminar, went out, alone. Discovered the first downside, the shops close early! They all close at 8PM or earlier. So just spent the rest of the day relaxing on the platform around the harbour. It was really cold back in the hotel room, even with the heater at full blast.

Trip to Sydney - 16 Nov 09

2009-11-26T17:55:00.006+08:00

This is kind of late. Just don't have time to update my blog. I was at Sydney from 16 - 20 November. Paid trip by the company hehehe I was sent to attend Gartner Symposium there, together with my boss, Mr Razman. This is my travelblog.

Arrived at Sydney airport around 10AM, after an 8 hours flight. Was so excited!

Boring view out of the plane window for most of the flight

The moment I get there, the first thing I was eager to know, how cold is it? It's now summer in Australia, but it's still around mid 20 degrees, which to my delight felt really nice, cool and comfortable. Especially when the wind blows. Stayed at Novotel on Darling Harbour, which has a very nice harbourside view. Expensive as hell, it costs AUD$259 per night which at current rate is more than RM800 per night! Lucky for me, the company pays hehehe To give some idea how expensive it is, later that day, bought a loaf of white bread and a bottle of Gatorade at a convenice shop. That costed me more than AUD$10! Even without translating back to ringgit, it IS expensive.

The hotel room, Novotel on Darling Harbour

Darling Harbour behind me

Right after we checked in, went out to the city, on foot. Since Razman have been to Sydney before, so he led the way. We went from one shopping complex to another. From one shop to another. Due to the price, nothing caught my interest. Spent like 3-4 hours walking almost across the length of Sydney, from Paddy's Market in the south, all the way to the Circular Quay ferry terminal at the north tip! On the way stopped at Starbucks Coffee for drinks, which tasted exactly the same as in Malaysia. But note that there's no free wi-fi at Starbucks in Oz-land, unlike here.

Chinatown behind me

The long walk ended with a very nice ferry ride back to Darling Harbour, departing from Circular Quay terminal, in between the two famous Sydney landmarks, Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. The ferry ride then took us right underneath Harbour Bridge where we can have a magnificent view of the steel underside structure of the bridge. It's much more grander than it is in photos! Marvelous!

Harbour Bridge!

At the famous Opera House!

Getting onto the ferry

Great view of the bridge underside

Great view of the bridge and the Opera House

Sydney city is nice. The atmosphere is relaxed. Not so crowded, nor is it rushing. People are quite laid back and things go calmly. Not much vehicles on the road and there was hardly any traffic jams. The city is also very 'touristy' with lots of interesting places to see. Since the city is not so crowded, we have people running right in the city center itself on the walkway. And quite a lot of cyclist sharing the road with other vehicle. I would say, with the weather and traffic condition there, I wouldn't mind cycling as well.

Also I noted most of Sydney people (they call themselves Sydneysiders) are Asian. Mostly Chinese. I would say, only half of the population are caucasian.

Picked up an Australian Optus mobile phone pre-paid package for AUD$30, but got a total value of AUD$300 usage actually. Great! Later at night, had another frappucino at the Starbucks nearby our hotel.

My AUD$10 dinner

Nice view of Darling Harbour at night

Another angle

Expenditures (AUD$)
$14 - van from airport to hotel
$30 - Optus 'yes' pre-paid
$6 x 2 - Starbucks frappucino
$10 - souvenirs
$5 - ferry fare
$20 - travel adapter & bandage (yikes!)
$10 - bread & gatorade (yikes! again)

Powerman Malaysia 09

2009-11-10T19:24:00.003+08:00

As per my previous post, Powerman Malaysia 09 was last Sunday. Again, held at Manjung.

The day started early, 5:00AM since the race starts at 7:30AM and I stayed more than 20km away from the start line. The result of late booking and undecided of doing the event.

All smiles before the sufferings...

11km run
Was very nervous right from the start. But met a few familiar faces although most of them are now much leaner, with their consistent training. Out of a sudden, the race was gunned off. Some were still chit-chatting at the back of the pack.

Right in the first few hundred meters, I was drifting towards the back of the pack. In my head, I just wanted to keep to a comfortable pace and complete the race. I wasn't racing anybody else, except myself.

A few of the elite athletes even overtook me before I started my 2nd lap, which was a clear indication of being slower than last year. Nevertheless, managed to sustain the run till the end without stopping or walking. Consumed only a pack of Powergel albeit a bit late into the run.

Time - 1:09:13

T1 Transition run-bike
Just took it easy. Not rushing. No incident during transition. Out of the area in 2 minutes 22 seconds.

On the way out to the bike course

64km bike
As usual, my favourite discipline. Right away was overtaking a few competitors. Was doing a steady and easy 30+km/h, with no intention to push. Planned to save my legs for the last run. Even the various climbs over the bridges was surprisingly easier than I thought! Overtook many others on the climb. But was also overtaken by an elite athlete no. 002 on the bridge.

My cyclometer actually read 33+km for the 1st lap. But I was off for the 2nd lap. Still maintaining good pace at easy effort most of the way. It was only on the way back in that I felt slight cramping in both quad muscles, especially on the climb. But managed to keep it in check.

Ater a long 66+ indicated km, entered transition.

Time - 2:06:41

T2 Transition bike-run
Again, took it easy. Very tired too by then. Took 2 minutes 14 to get out of transition.

10km run
Tried to jog the first few hundred meters, but cramped both quads. So had to resort to walking. Still had about 100 minutes to finish the last run. So targeted for 10min/km pace to ensure of qualifying.

Both legs felt really hot under the scorching sun which doesn't help with the cramping. The route was almost open with only tall trees lining up on the sides giving the slightest form of shade from the sun.

Virtually walked all the way to the first water station, 2km away. At the station, totally drenched my body with mineral water. Also on my thigs to try to soothe the cramps. That did help! Immediately afterwards, felt a bit more comfortable and started to jog-walk a bit. So I devised a plan. Walk through the shady area and jog through the hot patch. At least, I wouldn't get baked for too long!

After the 1st lap, I was 8 minutes inside my target time! The plan worked! That gave a me a renewed motiviation. Continued with the bathe-at-water-station, jog-at-hot-patch & walk-through-shady-patch routine all the way.

Suffering!

Nearing the finish line, still can barely walk. Anis was waiting at the finish, with the finisher's medal, passed to her by the man in charge.

Run time - 1:24:10

Total time - 4:44:43

Completing the race!

I was 15 minutes off my last year's time, but I was not worried. Considering the amount of training I had this year to last year, I was satisfied. Yay! ;)

All smiles and relieved after the race

Powerman Malaysia 09 - the summary

2009-11-10T18:14:00.007+08:00

The burden is off my shoulder! Powerman Malaysia was last Sunday. In short I managed to finish within the 5 hours cut-off time, barely. My watch time says 4:44:44. 15 minutes slower to last year's, but with the amount of training I did this year, I can't ask for more. Being a classified finisher was more than good enough.

I'm so happy!!

Me at the finish line! Thanks my dear Anis for the pic :)

More detailed info to come...

Wish me luck!

2009-11-07T11:00:00.002+08:00

Powerman Malaysia is TOMORROW!

I'm all pumped up and nervous at the same time. But I'm just sooooo busy nowadays. Last night was in the office till 11:30PM. Only managed to clean & lube up my bike last night at 12:30AM! And as of writing, 11:00AM Saturday, I'm also in the office. Well, what to do.

My race kit

Hopefully I can get enough rest tonight so I can be ready for tomorrow.

A day at Putrajaya 2

2009-10-26T11:10:00.004+08:00

Yesterday at Putrajaya, desperate for more cycling mileage, went for a training ride at Putrajaya. Not a good day for me it seemed.

The moment I parked the car, realized I left the socks at home. OK fine, not really a big deal. After I struggled to remove the bike from the car's back seat, had a really disturbing stomach discomfort and really had to go. In went the bike again. Luckily lately I always park right in front of a public toilet for my rides.

Already getting late. Few minutes into the ride, noticed the cyclometer was acting up. My speed was over the place. From 30km/h to 19km/h to 31km/h to 22km/h to 33km/h over a few seconds. It just messed up my average speed and recorded distance. Damn it.

Less than 5 km into the ride, again, the dreaded puncture. It was the rear wheel (again). Stopped and removed the tyre using the tyre levers I just bought the day before. They worked like a charm and it was much easier than before. Every rider should have a pair!

Pedro's tyre levers

On goes a fresh inner tube, put on the tyres and try out my, also newly bought shiny & sleek Topeak pocket pump. Then I found out the valve stem was too short the pump can't lock on the valve! I was damned. A 5 km walk looked inevitable.

Luckily a group of young boys cycled past. They stopped to check me out. And to my luck, one of them had a long stemmed spare tube. Offered to buy it from him, but he refused. Just ask me to exchange with my short stemmed tube. About 5 minutes and a handshake later, thanked the group and made my move. BTW, the Topeak pump worked well and managed to pump higher pressure than my previous Zefal ASV. Very small in size, yet very efficient. The cyclometer then continued to act up and was so fed-up I removed it.

Topeak Micro Rocket ALT

But the string of incidences wrecked my motivation. After maybe 15-18 km or so decided to call it a day and retreated back to the parking lot.

A really bad day it was indeed.

10km @ 1:05

2009-10-22T19:07:00.003+08:00

What a training run! That was on Saturday night, 4 laps around Titiwangsa. In streaming rain. It has been sometime I did that kind of time on a training run. Not just that, lap times were

17:27 - 16:44 - 16:01 and last lap, 14:56!!!

It was ages since I did a sub 15 minutes lap around Titiwangsa! Great run!

A day at Putrajaya

2009-10-20T17:47:00.004+08:00

Last Sunday, went to Putrajaya again to cycle. Really desperate for cycling training nowadays. Was enjoying it. Weather was nice, my legs felt good, my cyclometer was working again. But right before reaching 20km, the dreaded puncture!

It was the rear tyre. And due to the cheap Panaracer tyre, it took me like 1/2 hour to change the tube. Wayyyy too long. If it was a race, the race would've been over already for me.

But I managed to change it anyway, not without very, very sore thumbs. Completed 47km averaging circa 31km/h, not bad considering the hilly terrain. Have to find solution for the problem. May need to buy new tyres or maybe re-tape the wheels.

Luckily the saving grace after that, discovered an Autocross event in Putrajaya. Spent another hour or so watching the event. Now I know where those small modified cars do their stuff. It's in Autocross event where big cars are not really suitable for. No wonder I seldom see them at Sepang track.

I took some video using my phone, but the quality was very bad, they're not worth to upload.

Training update - Powerman 09

2009-10-12T12:49:00.005+08:00

Powerman Malaysia is less than a month away and my training is still in haywire.

Last week, only did a total of 18km of running. Shorter than the distance I have to do on race day! And then last Sunday, finally managed to drag myself out of bed and drive to Putrajaya to cycle. But the moment I reached Putrajaya, this awaits me:

Dark cloud all over. In the end, had to 1 1/2 hours before it started to slow down to a drizzle. But it was worth it. Have no idea of the distance since my cyclometer died. But covered quite a number of climbs.

Last week also bought this:

A new pair of running shoes since the last 2 years or so. It's a Nike Pegasus 25, to commemorate Pegasus' 25 years history.

BTW, a tip to buy running shoes, especially Nike. Never buy current year models. Last year, the shoe above was priced at RM349. But now, it's only RM210 after 40% discount. This is how I buy all my shoes. Always buy last years model, at steep discount. Not that there's a lot of improvement with the new model anyway.

Hopefully, the shoe will see the start line on 8 November!

Miscellaneous 1

2009-10-09T09:31:00.002+08:00

From now on, there'll be more this type of posts since sometimes I have things to post, but just a bit too busy to do so. So I'll just compile things into short summaries

1. Raging earth
The rage continues. After Ketsana, Parma & Padang quake, Melor recently pounded Japan and a few more minor quakes rattled this part of the world. Pray to God that nothing really bad happens, like the 1999 tsunami. BTW, for those wondering why the name sounds Malay-ish, because it is. Search "typhoon name" to know it's given.

2. Astro = football channel?
Astro just been awarded rights to continue airing English Premier League for the next 3 years. And reportedly they're going to fork out 30% more than they originally expected. It's also reported that rights to EPL makes up 1/3 of all of Astro's content costs! Fine. But what I'm worried off is, they will then increase subscription price for their sports channel and that already happened this year.

Great for the footbal fans, but for me who normally watch anything OTHER than football, it's not going to be a good news. In the same sense, I love it during the football season break during which I can watch the more exotic sports event e.g. air race, downhill skiing, triathlon, log cutting (!), etc.. etc..

Astro, not every single male in Malaysia is an ardent footbal fan! I would rather watch Discovery than watch football.

The news: http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/10/7/business/20091007131033&sec=business

3. Manager interview
Didn't get the post, but it didn't bother me much. I'm more or less happy with my job at the moment. Moving up will have it's pros, but it also have it's cons. I'll just KIV it to another year maybe.

Not your average Sunday - Sep 09

2009-10-02T17:36:00.003+08:00

Again went to track on 27/9. A short entry just a record of what happened during the day.

Suspension geometry - camber front -2.0, rear -0.5 degrees. Zero toe all round

1st outing - car handled really badly on high tyre pressure

2nd outing - changed tyre pressure to front 250kPa, rear 220kPa hot. Almost zero grip. Was pressured by Edrin, driving Fahrein's car, like mad. In the end overshot T7 and went straight to the run off area. Car was oversteering. Edmund said it was like a rear wheel drive car. But at least I was containing the oversteers. DCCD at 2nd setting from below

3rd outing - reduced tyre pressure yet again. Still not good

4th outing - final pressure 240kPa front, 200kPa rear, hot. Best settings. DCCD at 3rd setting from bottom. Better control. Slight oversteer but bad understeer at T1. Best time was 2:48. But I went off at T13, straight into run-off area. Took it easy along the back straight, topping at 160-170km/h only instead of usual 200km/h. Took it easy again round T14 and the front straight, but still got 2:48!! I guess without the off, 2:45 or lower would be on the cards. But the session already ended.

Overall was happy. Car was better. Was also practising late corner entry which I picked up from an online forum. It worked really well around most corners in Sepang. Was really happy that I can manage to contain oversteer at many times. It gives me more confidence to go faster around corners.

Caca merba

2009-10-02T17:12:00.003+08:00

1. Selamat Hari Raya, Maaf Zahir Batin
Hopefully it's still not too late to wish everybody Selamat Hari Raya & Maaf Zahir Batin

2. KL shook
On Wednesday, KL experienced the tremors from Sumatra earthquake. Not the first time for KL, but the first for me. I have read reports about building shaking, however never experienced myself. It was not that bad actually. Just slight vibrations in my chair, as if there's a lot of people running around. But it was still quite worrying, so immediately all of us left the building. Some people actually reported buildings swaying, how true is that, I'm not sure. It could be exaggerated.

3. Tsunami
My thoughts with Samoan tsunami victims. Just watched the movie tsunami the night before, then the next morning read in the news about the Samoan tsunami. So ironic. The movie itself? Not so worth watching. Too much love story and not enough real tsunami action. 60 minutes of love story and just 30 minutes of tsunami.

4. Typhoon in Philipines
The earth on this side of the world is on a rage at the moment it seems. Another destructive disaster in the vicinity. Again, my thoughts go with them

Not your average Sunday - Aug 09

2009-09-02T13:25:00.005+08:00

Puasa or not, tracking still goes on! Went there on Saturday, 30th August, with my track buddy, Fahrein and James, another Subaru owner.

Luckily the weather was nice and not so hot. But since it's fasting month, there were not many attendees. Just nice number of cars. Probably around 50-60 cars only and for some reason, the most were Subaru Imprezas.

First outing, took it easy. Just warming up the tyres. But during this session met a TRD-liveried Vios on the track, on stock wheels but with a pair of serious looking racing shells. This car was obviously down on power, but was going round the corners so well. Doing 4 wheel drifts around T12 & T13. And impossibly late braking to T1. Impressive! My salute to the driver. Maybe a pro driver. Fahrein agreed with me.

After about 4-5 laps, went in to rest. I noticed that I was unable to really concentrate. Maybe due to puasa.

Then 2nd session, went out alone. Track clear with many other Subarus behind me who have left the pits at about the same time. Track was clear. I was watching this Myvi duelling with a Satria Neo around T2, with the Myvi's rear left wheel hanging in the air!

But when I was about to go round the off-camber T2, still going rather slowly, suddenly, BANG! And my car was sent into a 180 degree spin. I was hit from behind! During sighting lap!? All the cars went around me while I was facing the wrong way! Luckily it was a slow corner. Then slowly went back to the pits, expecting the worse, broken bumpers maybe? Broken diffusers? Bent mufflers?

Erk! I'm facing the wrong way!

Back in the pits, quickly checked my rear bumper. Nothing? Went round and then noticed a big dent above the rear left wheelarch. Mmmm... not so bad. That plus some scratches on the rear left wheel. Then went to find the group of cars behind me just now. Since we're sharing the same pit, so no problem. Surprisingly, his was much worse! Badly dented fender, cracked headlight, damaged bumper and torn wheel well cover. That'll be a few thousands ringgit to fix. Ouch!

The big dent on my car

His car was much worse! That's a limited editon Impreza S204 by the way

We however did not discuss about compensation or whose fault it was. It is an unwritten rule that one should not confront another party to claim for damages, unless willingly offered by the 'offender'. In this case, he was the offender since I was clearly in front, but he placed his car in my racing line, which at that time, I was already right up to the left kerb. Both of us were cool about it, exchange pats on the back and shook hands.

That incident more or less ruined my mood for the rest of the session. Subsequently, just made some more laps as practice session only. Didn't even bother to time myself. That was after Edmund helped me to pull out the hard wheel arch so it won't then ruin my tyres.

Now have to find time to fix this. *sigh* but tracking still goes on!

A quiz

2009-08-28T11:45:00.003+08:00

Stumbled upon this quiz that was given to me quite some time ago. But it is still quite puzzling and not many people can solve this. If you miss one point, you'll mess up the entire thing. It tests your analytical ability.

There's 25 variables, 24 are given below. On average, 98% people failed to solve this.

Try it!

1. There are FIVE houses.
2. Each House has it's own Unique Color.
3. They all have different Pets.
4. They all drink different Drinks.
5. They all smoke different Cigarettes.
6. The Englishman lives in the Red House.
7. The Swede has a Dog.
8. The Dane drinks Tea.
9. The Green House is on the left side of the White House.
10. In the Green House they drink Coffee.
11. The man who smokes Pall Mall have Birds.
12. In the Yellow House they smoke Dunhill.
13. In the Middle House they drink Milk.
14. The Norwegian lives in the First House.
15. The man who smokes Blend, lives in the House next to th House with Cats.
16. In the House next to the House where they have Horse, they smoke Dunhill.
17. The man who smokes Blue Master drinks Beer.
18. The German smokes Prince.
19. The Norwegian lives next to the Blue House.
20. They drink water in the House that lays next to the House where they smokes
Blend.

The question is: Who owns the ZEBRA?

Trip to Thailand - Day 4

2009-08-23T11:56:00.004+08:00

Our last day in Thailand. We're leaving back to KL. A relief, for me at least, since I had a big restrictions in terms of food. I did not have confidence with halal status of the food in Thailand.

A relief, except for the 200km that stands between us and the Krabi airport! We had to start our day early. Our flight was scheduled to depart at 1255 so we had to be at the airport by 1055 to check-in our baggage. But unfortunately some people decided to take their time having breakfast, oblivion to the scale of distance we have to cover in order to catch our flight.

Actually I was not really agreeable to the idea to go to Phuket. Preferred to stick with the plan and go to Ao Nang instead. Better beaches and much closer to Krabi airport. But by going to Phuket, we went further than Krabi. A lot further. It's like after spending a day at Genting and your flight next day is at KLIA. Instead of spending the night at KL, you go to Kuantan instead. Get the idea?

The journey was mostly boring. Through small towns and villages. But we eventually barely made it to the airport on time. And after an hour in the air, we were back on Malaysian soil. Good to be back!

Transport to Krabi - THB800

Hujan emas...
People ask me, how was the trip? I would say, enjoyable! But set your expectations right. Go there to enjoy the sights and take lots of photos. You'll get nice photos almost anywhere you point your camera. But if you're like me, want to see the sceneries and enjoy the sea as well, like having your cake and actually eating it, I would say, there are better options.

If you have never been to our very own Redang Island, please try to. At least once in your lifetime. I did last June, for the 4th time. Stayed at Mutiara Redang Resort, which has sandy beaches with barely any rocks at all! Very enjoyable and safe to swim in. The water was much clearer as well. Can clearly see the sandy seabed even from the jetty with about 5m water depth!

The snorkeling experience at Taman Laut was also much better, with designated area to snorkel (no boats to fight with!), no sea current, with lots and lots and lots of fish. Even my non-snorkeling mom can enjoy the experience, by feeding the fish right from the jetty.

So if you've never been to any of our island escapes, trust me, ours are not that much inferior from theirs. As people say it, 'hujan emas di negeri orang, hujan batu di negeri sendiri. lagi baik di negeri sendiri...'

Trip to Thailand - Day 3

2009-08-23T10:25:00.003+08:00

Bye-bye Phi Phi
Our last day on Phi Phi Island. Last night, over dinner we decided to go to Phuket. Original plan was to transfer to Ao Nang beach, but some people really eager to experience the famous Phuket nightlife. We checked out of the hotel early, had breakfast and made our way to the jetty. Kind of sad having to leave since I felt there was still a lot to explore on the island. Took the first ferry out to Phuket. We left at 9:00AM.

About 2 hours later, we were in Phuket. We had our van waiting since we already purchased the transport to Patong beach, on the ferry. We took off in a white van to the famous Patong Beach. The driver took us to a hotel, near the beach and Bang La Road. Later we would discover why he highlighted Bang La Road to us.

First glimpse of Phuket
But first, lunch. We toured the small town for halal restaurant. Luckily we found Cairo Restaurant. At last, proper halal food after 3 days. We all had good lunch, additionally with the big portion for everybody. And to our surprise, it was cheaper than Phi Phi. But of course, only comparatively. Back home, I doubt we'll say RM35 lunch as 'cheap' hehehe

After lunch, we stopped at the beach. Big dissapointment. The beach was only slightly better than our Port Dickson, and I think almost everybody knows how bad PD is. So go figure. The beach is totally over-hyped. Murky water and not-so-white sands. So just went back to the hotel to rest.

Cashless Phuket
Then Anis and myself rented a small Honda Click scooter since we wanted to find an ATM which would accept our Malaysian card. We saw Thai CIMB on the way to patong, so we wanted to try that. It was a bit scary since we're not sure if my license was valid in Phuket. Worse still, they kept my passport as collateral.

But we can't find the CIMB, later it didn't matter since Fahizam & Erman already tried their CIMB Malaysia card, but it didn't work. So we tried to use our credit card at money changer, also to no avail. Lucky we still had just enough cash for dinner and transport to the airport. But it meant, no souvenirs for us. Only some postcards. Next time, should be more prepared. Should've had my Visa PIN number instead.

The kinky Patong!
Dinner was again at Cairo Restaurant. Later we had fun watching Marco fulfilling his promise to try out durian, right after dinner. Thanks Marco, you're a good sport. At night, Bang La Road is transformed! Almost all the bars had live dance show. Performed by scantily clad girls and ladyboys. A lot of 'happenings' right in the open, by the roadside bars. Definitely not a good place to bring your child to! In this town, it's the guys that get harassed!

But none of us were really interested and we went back to hotel.

Accomodation at Phi Phi - THB700 (twin sharing)
Ferry to Phuket - THB300
Land transfer to Patong - THB150
Accomodation at Phuket - THB550
Lunch - THB320
Postcards - THB50
Scooter rental - THB200
Dinner - THB300

Trip to Thailand - Day 2

2009-08-23T08:59:00.004+08:00

Our second day on Phi Phi Island. BTW, my posts will be devoid of photos, for two reasons, I haven't got them and I will create a fotopage to place the photos and link it back here.

Naturally we started the day early. After a short breakfast, we headed out to the 'town' to find a snorkeling package that suited our budget. We then decided to rent a traditional 'long-tail' wooden boat for the day. The boats were unique that they have their non-marine engine perched right on top of the propeller shaft. We were quoted THB3500 but Anis managed to negotiate it down to THB2500 only.

The Beach
Our first stop of the day, the ever-famous Maya Beach at the adjacent Phi Phi Ley Island. This is where 'The Beach' was filmed. And, if you Google for Phi Phi Island's pic, chances are you'll get a pic of this beach. My first impression, the water was not so clear. But the sight was breathtaking. The terrain around the island is different. The island is like a big rock that fell from the sky to the middle of the sea. It is made of tall rock walls and towers.

But before we set our foot on the beach, we had to pay conservation fee, which was THB200 per person! That's like 4 times then what is charged in Malaysia! But to our dissapointment, the beach was strewn with sharp rocks. And there was no fish at all, so no snorkeling.

Just spent like 10 minutes in the water and decided it was not worth it. Walked around the island and found a passage that led us to the opposite part of the island, to Lo Sa Ma Bay. We had to clim a slippery wooden steps to see over the rock. And the sight was simply amazing. A natural lagoon with crystal clear water with a rock tower, right in the middle, facing the open sea.

Lo Sa Ma Bay
After the dissapointing visit to Maya Beach, we asked the boat man to take us to Lo Sa Ma Bay, which seems more promising. There's no beach here so we had to snorkel off the boat. But it was not easy as sea current was quite strong. And the marine life was not as much as I expected. After about 30 minutes and many photos later, we were off again.

Deep-shallow-deep
We made our next stopover at Piley Bay. This is simply an amazing place. The boat was guided further into the island, between tall rock walls. Suddenly we reached a part where the water is shallow and greenish. But go forward a bit more, at the end of the passage, the water is so deep that it is deep blue! It's like a lake, but with no edge. Since the shallow part is sandy, so we spent time swimming here instead. But again, the place was devoid of any marine life, which rules out snorkeling.

Lunch
For lunch we headed back to Phi Phi Don Island. The boat man took us to a resort at Phak Nam Bay. Only salad lunch for me. Eventually, we spent more than 2 hours here to relax under the trees on the beach. Very relaxing, while Marco was busy tanning himself in the hot sun.

Snorkeling
Then we continued our journey. On the way back, we stopped at a snorkeling spot. For me, this was the only proper spot to snorkel with a lot of marine life. I noticed the fish around here were different that what I used to see around our Redang or Perhentian. Andaman Sea vs South China Sea. I just wish there was no current and the water was clearer. Visibility was only about 3m at best and fighting the current without flippers are not fun at all. Nevertheless, we spent quite some time here snorkeling.

Harmless sharks?
We then were brought to a spot where 'harmless' black-tipped reef sharks can be sighted. Harmless? Mmmm... The boat man anchored at a spot and pointed the general direction where we should head to, about a good 50m away, along some rocks. Both Fahizam and myself, jumped into the water, eager to see some sharks.

But in the water, it was different story. Visibility was bad (about 2-3m only), the sea was quite choppy and current as usual was strong. With no fins and life jacket that was constantly seeping in water, leaving us only half afloat. That was like someone took us to a jungle safari, at night. Stopped at a spot. Blinfolded us, tied our hands behind our back and then ask us to go out of the jeep expecting to see some 'harmless' tiger. We decided, not to proceed. Not worth the risk. We should at least have been guided and accompanied, equipped with proper equipment.

'No'-Monkey Bay
We then stopped at Monkey Bay, where supposedly there were a lot of monkeys. But when we were there, no monkey at all. Only rotten fruits by the beach, the only sign that indeed there were monkeys. Not that I cared of. Not when I can see monkeys even at my office's disaster recovery center. So instead we just 'monkeyed around' swimming in the sea and took more photos.

Sunset
It was already quite late. And we were all tired. But there's still one more thing to do, viewing the sunset. Apparently, it was not just us, but there was like 20-30 boats floating in the gap between Phi Phi Don and Phi Phi Ley, to view the sunset. It was stunning view indeed.

Dinner
Later at night, we were all exhausted. Again, we had a scrumptious dinner of seafood tom yum, grilled white snapper, tiger prawns and barracuda! After dinner we were all too tired and retreated back to the rooms.

Mineral water - THB40
Snorkeling - THB500
Conservation fee - THB200
Lunch - THB320
Dinner - THB480

Trip to Thailand - Day 1

2009-08-21T21:06:00.006+08:00

Went to visit Thailand last weekend. Organized by my dear Anis. It was 5 of us, Anis, Marco (Anis' friend from Italy), Fahizam & Erman. The following are the travel blog of the visit

Departed from LCCT on Air Asia flight to Krabi. Actually it was my first time going overseas, well not counting Singapore which I visited looooonnnnggg time ago, when I was still a small boy. So obviously, I was a bit excited and nervous at the same time. My first time going to a foreign place.

The flight was delayed for about 30 mins but after just about an hour we were already in Krabi! So excited. Immigration was a bit slow, since it was just a small airport, but we all got through without any hassle. The only thing I regretted was not putting the bag covers on, as a result I lost a few small items which were placed in the bag side pockets. Oh well.

Right at the exit, already tour agents were calling us promoting their tour packages. After a short survey, our tour organizer quickly sorted out transport to Krabi jetty. We took a 1/2 hour bus ride and then we were dropped off to wait for connecting transport to the jetty. We were on our way to Phi Phi Island!

The boat ride was smooth and the sea was calm. In fact we just stayed on top of the boat, outside to enjoy the scenery and cool wind in our faces. I just wished it went a bit faster. After 2 hours, we reached the ever famous island. To our surprise, there were tour agent booths right at the jetty. All were promoting accomodation package on the island. Apparently there are tons of resorts and chalets strewn all over Phi Phi Island! Maybe like more than 30, really. The tour agent booth save our time and effort from walking from one place to another. They all have pictures on the wall of all the resorts available and we just need to choose which one that suited our budget. We decided on a budget chalet, Phi Phi Don Chukit Resort, facing the main beach with a superb sea view. We paid at the tour agent booth and they quickly arranged for people to transport our bags in wheel carts to the resort, which was about 10 minutes away on foot. No cars on Phi Phi Island, only on two wheels.

Later at night, had seafood dinner, since that's about all that we can have. Even though we were told the island is a Muslim island, we still had some doubt on the food so we were sticking to seafood. After dinner we just spent some time walking along the main 'road'. Seeing the nightlife on the island. There were quite a number of bars, dive shops and souvenir shops along the walkway. Then we all retreated back to our chalet to rest.

Taxi to LCCT - RM65 (for 3 of us)
Bus transfer and ferry - THB400
Tit-bits - THB70
Accomodation - THB700 (twin sharing)
Dinner - THB420
Toiletteries - THB220

Map of Phi Phi Island

Where else can you find this?

2009-08-09T19:20:00.004+08:00

It says, 'All items are free'!!!

This is at SAS training center, plaza sentral. Been there few times for training these past few weeks. And of course, the machine will be the center of attraction at every tea break we had hehehe

Search di Awan Biru @ Bukit Kiara

2009-08-09T18:55:00.006+08:00

Was offered free ticket to the above concert. Since I have never attended a paid concert, decided to go. There was way too many people, especially worrying with H1N1 spreading fast. But some of them are quite young, which I would think are not really from the 80's 'rock kapak' generation. Quite surprised actually.

The concert started an hour late. Search themselves were caught in traffic to the venue. Lucky to the fans who were struggling to get in. Traffic and crowd management was very bad. Had to literally squeeze to get through the entrance. A lot of people were complaining about the congestion.

And in the first song itself, there was a 5 minutes blackout on stage. Preparation seems to be lacking. In fact, it was the bad sound system that was the highlight for the rest of the night. The guitars were not balanced. Bass guitar overpowered everything. And the guitars come and go as it wish.

Amy was just being him. OK, but not outstanding, not at his age now, but clearly still have a lot of influence with the audience. Half way through the concert, Kid joined the stage. So at one point, they tried to do G3-like guitar solo duel, but that immediately showed their lack of skills and quickly, they ran out of ideas and became boring shred show.

They seemed to focus more on the younger generation and play their relativly newer songs more. But it was obvious it's the older generation that is their bigger fans at the concert. Admittedly, I only knew like 1/3 of the songs played that night. But when the older songs were played like Isabella, Fantasia Bulan Madu, Gadisku, etc.. more people sang along, the screams were louder and the crowd responded better. Especially during their last song, Pawana.

In all, I would only give 5/10 for the concert. Due to the technical glitches and the songs selection. If not because I met another friend there, I would have left early that night. But then, I admit, I'm not really a die-hard Search fan hehehe

Manager interview

2009-08-09T18:37:00.003+08:00

I applied for a manager post about a month back or so. And was shortlisted and called up for the interview, 2 weeks ago. Until now, I haven't got the result yet. But if you ask me, I was not fully satisfied. After the interview I think I could've went through it better.

But at the same time, it also made me realise of some shortfall of the system. Now I understand why there's quite a number of managers that I know of, but in my opinion (and others opinion) that they don't deserve to be one. Because it depends a lot on how you talk and how witty you are. People like me who are naturally not so witty and always need some time to think to make sure of a correct answer will be at a disadvantage. Even though you may actually be very good.

But the system as it is, I think I have devised a few plans for my next interview if I will ever go through one again.

1. Be specific. Identify something specific that I have done and make sure it's highlighted. Should be able to relate the details as well. Telling them that I do a lot of things (simply because I am) without the details will not impress them. So it's better to do just a bit, but make sure I remember it and highlight every details

2. Sensationalize. Just like newspapers. It has been at many instances that people rave about something I did, but for me it's just another task I completed, in a day at work. So I have to learn to identify and 'market' these

3. Complicate simple things. So when being asked, 'How do you solve problems?'. Rather than just say, 'I prefer to discuss in team to solve problem & escalate to higher level for advise & direction' which takes more or less 10 seconds to answer, I should say 'I would analyze the problem. Try to ascertain if the probolem is within my and my team's capabilities and skillset. If yes, work on options to solve it and finally employ the best options. If not, try to obtain assistance from people external of the team. While if still unresolved, to consult higher management for advise and direction on the situation'. That would sound much more impressive! But then, sounding impressive is the name of the game

4. Be compulsive. When they ask, quickly answer with something. Don't pause to think, they'll make faces while I'm doing that.

Hopefully, I can keep all those in mind the next time I'm attending an interview hehehe

Penang High Chapparal

2009-07-09T18:17:00.005+08:00

IMHO, this is human greed at the finest.

Think of the following situation, I took a pair of shoes from a friend. The friend knew it, but keep silent on the notion to 'lend it out'. But now, the friend is asking back for the shoe and I'm asking him to buy me a replacement shoe of my choice for the return of the shoe I took? Silly, ain't it? But that's exactly it.

I have a feeling that Kg Buah Pala is a squatter village i.e. setinggan. And today, a government document has been declassified. My feeling was right. Kg Buah Pala is indeed a squatter village. So in a way, they are residing on land NOT belonging to them, it belongs to the state government. But they are demanding the govt to pay for them to move out! Why? Because they've been there a long time.

The document also revealed that these people are offered a RM75k terrace house for just RM1. U read it right, RM1 only, as exchange for them to vacate the land. Not just that, RM1k for moving-out costs and RM750 for renting another house for 36 months! But the villagers are asking for replacement land... even when the current land is NOT even theirs in the first place.

So now, refer back to the friend's shoe example above. Greedy.

Here's the declassified document: Click here