Last weekend- Saturday 14th June to be exact- I crossed the Causeway to JB for a weekend getaway. My main purpose was to get some banking stuff done, though at the end of the day, that was not exactly settled…

Anyway, I went shopping at City Square as well. I’ve always looked forward for a trip to the SEED store, especially when there is a 50% discount on office shirts. However, this time round, I bought a shirt which was on 10% discount, and I just couldn’t resist getting the above-knees berms, which was at 20% discount. I like both of them alot, so in my opinion, it was a real bargain…

I also went to FOS. I’ve always considered FOS as the best thing that ever happened to Malaysia shopping scene- quality clothes at discounted price. I bought 4 tees, which cost me about RM50 in total… It was quite a bargain, considering two of the tees are of Pull & Bears brand, which would be sold in Singapore for at least SGD30 each…

I received the biggest Christmas gift to date, and it’s time to give back.
I decided to get K this:

…together with some other stuff including accessories to and a new handphone.

;)

My friend got these UNIQLO tees for me from Japan. I simply love the simple and pleasant designs.

Read more about UNIQLO here.

Over the Good Friday weekend, I made a trip up to Fraser’s Hill. It bore some of my sweetest childhood memories, and now that i’m older, i could learn better to appreciate the beauty of the place. I shall let the pictures that I took do the talking…
Btw, these pics were taken using my new SE k800i which I got last week after I’ve lost my previous phone.

Happy Easter Day~~

*Mouseover the pictures for short description*

Last Friday, on the 13th Oct to be exact, my company held a staff function at the newly renovated Singapore National Museum. As my company was involved in the renovation work, my company managed to secure the museum function room for free. FYI, I heard the booking fee is SGD2,000 and the place is pretty ideal for newly weds who went for ROM nearby. The place is pretty nice with a very good view. (Sorry, didn’t take any pic of the function room.)

The museum has already opened its door to the public, except that most if not all its exhibits are yet to be in place. What you’ll most probably gonna see now is the Cartier collection and some art items for the Singapore Biennale 2006.

The Cartier exhibit is pretty interesting, that is if you are into jewellery. You’l get to see the concepts behind Cartier’s collection as well as some pretty rare and interesting pieces which you’ll most likely won’t be able to see in your lifetime. One of them is a series of what’s known as the Mystery Clocks. They are called so because the clock faces are transparent and you don’t see any mechanism. The other is the Patiala Necklace, originally made in 1926 for the wealthy Maharajah Sir Bhupinder Singh of Patiala, India. It has five rows of De Beers yellow diamonds of 235 carats and its overall 2,930 diamonds is weighed at 963 carats, making it the world’s largest, heaviest and most valuable necklace, last seen adorning the chest of his handsome son, Maharajah Yadavindra Singh before it disappeared (Yup, some people can be pretty careless…) and reappeared again and currently being restored by Cartier as most of the diamonds have already long gone.

Now, for the rest of the museum, you’ll see art pieces currently on display for the Singapore Biennale. Unlike ‘conventional’ art pieces, those at the museum are pretty big and yes, they take up alot of space.

And one thing to take note is the museum’s facade itself. Without its display items, the facade actually took centre stage and they are also pretty amazing.

And of course, the icon of the museum is the dome building. Apparently, I was told that the contractor actually went mad erecting the dome as the work is very unfamilar to him. The contractor was from China, whereas the design is very western. The dome apparently is made out of good circular bricks supported by columns around the dome. It’s a huge impossible task back then when technology isn’t that advance.

Anyway, go take a visit to the museum, it’s a prety amazing place. And the museum is also a excellent place to get married in! But be prepared to pay a huge sum of $$, and also I was told that the museum committee is pretty picky about this; so you’ll most likely have to have some kind of high social status to secure the place for your wedding, or any other kind of party. (Oh, by the way, I was told that Tiffany Co. held a function at the dome area some time back before my company function…cool.)

Oh btw, I actually won first prize for the lucky draw at the company function. It’s a watch, but I’m going to exchange it to some other design and will be giving it off to my dad or brother…

On my way to office, I’ve been occasionally buying breakfast from Han’s in the morning. Their sandwiches are to die for, especially their tuna as well as roasted chicken sandwiches. And their coffee is good. Just look at the pics below:

Its business at Novena Sq has been so good, it’s moving to another bigger unit as part of expansion.

Bon appetit…

I borrowed my friend’s EOS 10D last week and help C to take her dancing club’s D&D at Chjmes.  More photos can be viewed here.

So so many times, when I flip thru coffee table books, model photospreads in magazines, or clothing catalogues, I’m pretty impressed with how beautiful some photos turn out.

Though my cup of tea is mainly journalistic photography, I’m equally amazed at some of the effects of studio photography, especially when the human form is featured. Some are strong and architectural. Others may be bizarre. Some may be soulful while some may simply be playful and whimsical. All in all, most studio photos are simply this: sexy.

Every now and then, I come across photography sites that are pretty exciting. And I came across this local fella’s photo-blog. His name is Kevin Han, whom I think has been showing pretty promising talent. I decided to email him up, and also one of his models featured here.

Before being photographed by Kevin, Joyce had known Kevin since they were kids. Joyce was already staying at Hilton KL where it’s naturally a perfect place for Kevin to work his magic with his camera.

Kevin said, “I would shoot on-location as I don’t have a permanent studio, bringing lights and such to where the model is. So it’s usually a major issue if it’s not convenient to use the model’s house/apartment, usually because there’re other people around.â€?

Joyce felt that working with Kevin is pretty alright. “His gf gives alot of suggestions as well.â€? Kevin added “Celine tags along for all of my portraiture sessions, mainly to help with poses and ideas. I think girls also pay more attention to detail, which is useful for any sort of studio work. Nowadays I insist to myself that I only do a shoot if Celine can come along. She’s good company too. Oh, Celine also photographs behind the scenes. I think other photographers would find such pictures useful. I know I do.â€?

According to Kevin, he’d not thought of specific ideas before photographing someone. “I usually only start thinking once we arrive at the place. Spontaneous.� When asked if Joyce looks sexy in those photos, Kevin remarked, “Sexy, glamorous, yeah sure.� And Joyce agrees as well.

Asked if she prefer her solo session or being photographed with her boyfriend, Adam, Joyce has this to say. â€?I think it’s easier to pose with someone, cos then there’s interaction going on which is what the photographer wants. And the posing comes more naturally cos you can lean on the person, and there’s body language going on.â€?

And when asked about the photos of her being in the bathtub…
â€?I was wearing clothes in the bathtub obviously. We had ideas to put other things in the bathtub but was lacking time so just chucked me in there and tried a few shots which i don’t really like anyway…â€?
This is what Kevin has to say. “The bathtub session could have been better. But I’m not sure how. A mirrored wall on the opposite side, low white ceiling and use of a softbox overdiffused lighting, so the pics turned out looking somewhat…. normal. The bubbles did look a little “dry” and um… brittle, after a while. I thought that looked a little awkward…â€?

He mentioned about this.

The owner modified his Proton Savvy?

Spotted it this morning while I was driving to work. The Proton logo is gone, and there’s no groove line.

This is how the back of the original Savvy looks like:

(from http://www.drive.com.au)

Nicer with or without the logo & groove at the back?

I came back from dinner at Tai Thong Imperial China Restaurant at Ritz SS17. It was one of my granny’s birthday; she’s 88 this year, if it’s not wrong… Initially, the plan was to go to Oversea Restaurant, but decided at the last minute to go to this restaurant instead.

We had one of those set course meal, which includes a bottle of red wine.

The place looks pretty nice. Being a Saturday night however, I would expect the place to be rather filled with people, but it wasn’t really the case. Perhaps the place is still new?

While waiting for the food to be served, my cousin fooled around with his digicam. It was a Sony Cybershot (don’t remember what model, nor whether it’s a 5 or 7 MP)

Generally, I like the food. It’s not much to shout about though, but I like it, because by the end of the meal, I didn’t feel bloated. I think the food wasn’t too salty or oily or too much MSG…

The sharkfin dish was so-so. The prawn dish was pretty good. It was served in a large bowl, and the prawns were basically ’swimming’ in some kind of herbal broth. I like the duck dish, as well as the chicken. Both were done up with pretty well- the meat’s tender, and the skin’s crispy.

The bill came up to about RM650. I suppose that’s about the price for such meal…

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

On Sat 040605, I decided to make a trip to Port Dickson since I had my cousin’s car over the weekend. I started off somewhat after noon and made my way to the highway. I wasn’t familar with KL road still, so I ended up entering the highway from Old Klang road area. Nonetheless, I managed to reach the toll at Sg Besi, where I was give a bottle of Nestea Lemon Tea upon collecting the toll ticket.
The drive was pretty long as many people hit the road on that day. I exited the highway after about 2 hours. I decided to search for food at Lukut town, some where before Port Dickson.

I had a late lunch at this place called Lucky Seafood Restaurant. Ironically, I didn’t notice any seafood being sold; perhaps for dinnertime only?

I ordered myself chicken rice. It was alright, nothing fantastic. I noticed some pretty big buns being sold. I believed there’s curry inside the bun and you are supposed to tear open the bun and use the bun to dip into the curry sauce. The smaller version is RM18, whereas the bigger ones (as shown in the picture) cost RM23 each. I did not try it though, because even the smaller one was pretty big; I believed it’s made to feed 2-3 person.

It took me quite some time to reach the Port Dickson beach. I was a little baffled by the road signs and the general road system.
The beach was, as expected, crowded. I noticed that the sand was rather course and uneven. While walking towards the shoreline, I noticed some structure pretty far away. Located just above the water, I suspected that that’s the Port Dickson water resort my friends have told me about.
The water at PD isn’t that clear, and the beach isn’t gradual. The years of erosion as well as the restoration has made the beach less natural.

Facing the beach is a place used for the weekend market. When I was there, the activities were already in full swing. Lots of stalls, lots of food and lots of people.

I then drove to Avillion Resort to look-see-look-see. The place is not bad; I quite like it. Perhaps I’ll consider staying over- not during public holidays though so that the place’s less crowded. I checked out the room rates too, not too bad. Do call them up and ask about promotions and room-rate updates if you are planning to book.

I also visited another resort called Corus Paradise Resort Port Dickson. The place is pretty nice and being big; and it being big, the place could accommodate alot of people. I’m not all that inclined to have so many people around, like in the swimming pool for example.

I drove to another beach and stayed for awhile as it was already 6pm when I arrived. It was also pretty crowded…

After going around Port Dickson beaches, I decided that it’s time to leave for KL at around 7pm. It was a pretty tiring trip, especially so when the highway traffic was pretty bad as well on my way back.

I suppose I won’t be going to Port Dickson alone anymore unless invited by friends or to stay at Avillion Resort. I would rather drive all the way back to my hometown as the beaches are much better; it’s only an aditional 1/2 - 1 hour drive away anyway…

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

I believe it was a Tuesday, on the 17May05 (please correct me if I’m wrong), me and 2 other colleague went to this Restaurant for buffet dinner. It was a pretty decent dinner. The choices are plenty. I’m pretty accustomed to excellent sushi, so it’s inevitable for me to feel not-so-delighted about the not-so-good sushi. Nevertheless, I think Saisaki’s sushi passed my minimum criteria…

Overall, 3.5/5 stars for the dinner…

Restoran Saisaki Japanese Buffet
Unit No.1-9, 1st Floor,
Wisma UOA II, No.21 Jalan Pinang,
50450 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

It was Friday when I finally could let out a recuperating relief. After the last person’d left the office apartment, the whole place got silently still. Finally…
I then took a long comforting shower, leaving dusk to come and go quietly. It was already dark when I got out of the bathroom. Got dressed, and before long, I was out walking in Chow Kit area, looking for some place to have my dinner. I settled for ç‚’æžœæ?¡ (auntie, ä¸?è¦?虾…) and teh si ping at this corner coffeeshop.
It was a simple satisfying meal- loved it. After that, I went to get myself a bottle of vodka, and a bottle of Coke before heading back. I was also in a mood for a slice of cake so I got myself one from Secret Recipe. Sweet…
After getting some other stuff and newspaper as well, I headed back to they apartment, ready for a quiet night.
Nice…

To say that it’s a tiring week is an understatement. I was at Singapore for the Vesak weekend and reached back in KL on Monday 230505. Since one of my colleague, JA would be coming by the following day, I cleaned up the place a li’l; might as well so since my bosses would be coming over later during the week.
At first, I was told that bosses WK and PY would be coming over on Thursday, but on Tuesday itself, I was informed that WK would not be coming; instead, boss KH would pay the office. The bosses’ visit was brought forward to Wednesday as well. Okay lor…
JA’s visit was basically to provide some kind of training to my team here in KL. My bosses basically have their own agenda and I would normally leave it as that; it’s not really up to me to question their intentions anyway.
And in additional to all that, I was told that DK, my boss’s friend and the true tenant fo the apartment, would be coming over from Spore as well. Again, okay lor…

Anticipating the apartment to be pretty ‘crowded’ on Wednesday, I decided to have a rather quiet Tuesday night, especially that it was raining then. JA and I went to this vegetarian place for dinner. The restaurant is called Beancurd Restaurant, or something like that. The food’s alright- nothing fantastic- ‘passable’ I would say.

Came Wednesday, and by the evening, those who were supposedly around were present. I decided to head towards Sungai Wang/ Plaza Low Yat area after work to get myself a Bluetooth adapter. My colleague and JA came along, and we had dinner at Causeway Bay Restaurant (Lot G5-G5B, Plaza Low Yat, 7 Jalan 1/77, off Jalan Bukit Bintang, Bukit Bintang Central, 55100 Kuala Lumpur. Tel: (603) 21410881).
I ordered this seafood with rice dish. The portion is pretty good, but the taste is so-so- nothing to shout about.

I bought this blue Bluetooth adapter for RM65, after considering other adapters for ages. (looking at it right now, I thought it’s an awfully expensive piece of small gadget…)
We all then went to Sungai Wang, where JA bought some DVDs from Uncle Ho. And to complete the day, JA and I went back, and had a ‘chat session’ with the bosses.

Thursday. Everyone’s pretty occupied with something or other… And as for dinner, my colleague and I brought JA to The Colliseum. I supposed it’s the place to bring each Spore colleague who come by to KL…
Three of us- me, JA & CW- had Sizzling Ribeye, Steak & Lamb individually. And following the custom of the restaurant, the three of us had to wear napkins around our neck. This is the first time I’m ordering the popular sizzling dish and it’s pretty good. HL ordered fried rice. I tried a li’l, and it’s also done up well.

On Friday, I joined the bosses to view this soon-to-move-into office at Menara Mutiara Bangsar. The financial director (whom I met for the first time) was present as well. I was told that he had been pretty much the guy managing the overall KL branch’s financial matters. The place is in a move-in condition and I supposed that’s what appealing to my bosses.
While looking through the office, I made some mental notes on the office itself. It has many rooms partitioned off, and it has a toilet of its own, which I don’t quite prefer. The office will be getting some hot sun in the evening. I didn’t get the chance to explore much of the surrounding; so I’m not sure what eateries around. Overall, I would rate the office space as OK, not too great, not all that enough to raise some kind of excitement in me…

After settling some issue and paperwork for the office, my bosses and I proceeded to get some furniture. We went to this second-hand shop, hopefully abled to get some good bargain. And from the discussion with the furniture shop owner, I came to know of a J, whom will be sharing the office at Bangsar as well.
By the time it’s done, my bosses and I were back in PWTC area just right for lunch time. I was pretty tired to say the truth by then. And during lunch and for the whole day, I wasn’t in the mood for anything, or at least till my bosses left for Spore right after. I told my colleague about the new office place, and showed them photos taken using my new SE K700i.

So, that pretty much sums up the whole week. I was pretty much burnt out; it was really as if I was working 24-7 for the whole week with my bosses around. I didn’t even have a private space of my own as I was sharing the room.

Anyway, while writing this entry, I took a break and got myself Mee goreng for dinner/supper from this place at the corner of Jalan Raja Laut and Jalan Chow Kit. It was pretty decent. I requested for a fried egg as well. It costed me RM4; pretty reasonable I would say…
Today’s a pretty much R&R day, which I did absolutely nothing but glued myself in front of the TV and surfed the net. I watched A Very Long Engagement and it was a pretty good film. I enjoyed it, though I’ll most probably be watching it again as I didn’t pay my full attention to this French film. And just now, I watched Hitch. It’s a feel-good-nice-to-watch film. That’s about it…

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…… |-O

As another blogger went on a trip to Cameron Highlands, I myself decided to take a layback drive to Seremban. I went alone; geting people to join would be pretty daunting and frustrating itself.

After travelling for about an hour or so from my place, and paying RM7.20 for toll, I finally reached Seremban. My first impression was that it’s a developing town, being greeted with done-up landscape upon arriving.

The local town council building was fitted with a display screen in front.

I drove around and took some pictures of the town.

The place somehow reminded me of my own hometown. I like how Seremban still has its old buildings, but I thought better restoration work should go into preserving them.

The old charm can be seen in many aspects, including this signboard design.

I really like looking at all those old buildings. I was actually driving pretty carelessly as I marvelled at them. As it was a Sunday, the people were out and about on the street.

Then, I decided to drive off-course, pretty much getting myself lost on purpose. I stumbled upon a school, where some kids were playing football. This particular school has a hostel and I believed that they are the residents. Notice the graveyard at the back? I suppose it’s quite a frightening experience at night, especially if it’s during orientation times and the seniors have very mischievous ideas.

I stumbled upon another school, and took this picture.

As I drove on, I passed by the Seremban Prison, which looks pretty new. I would thought that the high walls would be visible, but I didn’t really notice them.

And this is a picture of the bus terminal. Not much to comment since I was paying attention to the road.

After driving around Seremban for quite some time, and after having a pretty decent bowl of laksa for my late lunch, I then head back to KL. With the company of the radio- reception wasn’t that good though- I drove back at around 6something, close to 7pm.

And how can I forget to buy the all-famous Seremban Siew Pau? I wasn’t sure where to get them, so I bought two types from two different brands- Kee Mei and Seremban Siew Pau. I would say that I prefer the Kee Mei version, simply because they look more appertising with the sauce spilling out. It tasted pretty good, though are a little too sweet. The Seremban Siew Pau version doesn’t look as good, but nevertheless, the it was pretty tasty.

I gave some of the Siew Pau to my aunt, and also my brother. Perhaps for breakfast tomorrow?

During the longer weekend due to Labour’s Day, I went back to my hometown for the weekend to celebrate my aunt’s birthday. A semi-surprise birthday party was thrown as my aunt didn’t know that some of us were going back as well.

We went to this Chinese restaurant. Our previous experience wasn’t that good; we had dinner at this particular restaurant during Chinese New Year this year and the food’s pretty terrible. We decided to give this restaurant another go though since it has a private room, and my mom did the arrangement to ensure that the menu’s good.

Nevertheless, the food’s pretty alright, except for the Sharkfin soup.

If anyone’s watched Lost in Translation (2003) (here) by Sofia Coppola, you’ve most probably heard of the phrase: For Good Times, Make it Suntory Time.
Well, I tried this brand of Japanese whisky called Yamakazi by Suntory at the party and I think it’s pretty good- not that heavy, kinda smooth, but perhaps coz I put in a lot of ice…

It’s pretty much a pigged-out dinner.

My brother and I decided to be a bit silly at the party and we took this picture:

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

Went to this bak kut teh place for lunch yesterday. the place is somewhere at chow kit area. it’s actually some house, being converted to some eatery place. My colleague and I ordered bak kut teh and fish head noodle. Though we had not-so-good seats, but nevertheless, I supposed we all enjoyed the food as it’s pretty good. Even my collegue from Penang (fussy food critic) commented that it’s not bad, a.k.a. good.

The bak kut teh’s pretty nice. The soup’s not too cloudy, and it tasted sweet; I realized that red dates were added. There were mushrooms and other pig’s parts in the claypot, which is very nice. All in all, a pretty good dish.

The fish head noodle’s also pretty nice. I’m not a big fan of this dish but nevertheless, I pretty like it. Perhaps the choice of fish parts is not that good though; I would prefer fried fish parts without so much fishbones though. Other than that, I think it’s pretty good as well.

The bill came up to RM24.00. The Chinese tea- though rather bland- is free.

Do message me if you want to know the place.

On the very same day as David Tao’s showcase, 光良 had his meet-the-fans session just outside Sunway Pyramid. He was on schedule; he arrived at 7pm. After greeting his fans, he sang a few songs from his latest album. I was at the event as well, before making my way to DT’s showcase. Snapped some photos, but they turnd out blur. The photos below are from ANOTHER cousin who stayed on for the whole event, before she too made her way to DT’s showcase.

How I wish I’d stayed on for 光良’s performance, since 1) being at DT’s on time wasn’t any good. 2)tried to be at DT’s showcase early but couldn’t find the right entrance ( my cousin and I ended up going around Sunway Lagoon before finding the right entrance). 3) 光良’s good, judging from my OTHER cousin’s video clip shot of 光良’s performance.

I finally received these photos from ANOTHER cousin, who was also at the showcase.

the haze’s back…again.
these pictures are taken on 22/03/05 and clearly, the visibility was pretty bad.

On Saturday 19/03/05, I went to David Tao’s showcase at Sunway Surf Beach, Sunway Lagoon Selangor. Since I had two tickets, I went with my cousin to the meet-fan session.

It was scheduled at 8pm, but DT only appeared on stage after about 45mins to an hour. Meanwhile, his MTVs and Hotlink promos were played on the two screens on each side of the stage. I supposed, such delay was to built up anticipation, but personally, I thought most people were rather sien, considering some audience were kids and parents as well. (After awhile, I saw only teenagers around me).

Before DT made his appearance, there was a contest where six chosen fans would go through 2 criteria- first being Maxis subscriber, as well as the ability to sing a part of any songs from DT’s latest album.

The prize: entry for two to DT’s after-showcase private party.

So, okay, most of them (5 out of 6) can sing quite decently. If I remembered correctly, all of them sang 就是爱你 (Love Can) except one girl who decided to perform 孫�兵法 (The Art of War).

After a performance of 6 dancers, dancing to the tune of Hotlink, DT finally made his appearance. All in all, he sang 3 songs - 就是爱你 (Love Can), 愛我還是他 (Who Do You Love?) & Susan 說 (Susan Said). In between songs, he chatted with the emcee, talking briefly about the songs in the album, his plans and so forth. I supposed it’s the usual stuff…

After about an hour or so being stage, DT disappeared again, later only to appear to sign his autograph. It was pretty strict: Only his latest album will be signed. He’ll only sign the standard cover of the album, not on the CD, not on the lyrics book, and so forth. He would not sign any other things. No photo’s to be taken. Any of the restriction not complied, then you were not allowed to go to the stage. My cousin suffered from this fate because she did not have DT’s lastest album, despite pushing her way to the queue.

I was a bit hesitant at first to stay on for DT’s autograph session; I was hot and sweaty, so was my cousin, and the crowd’s pretty huge and it would take awhile more in order to have my copy of the album signed. But we finally agreed: Since we were already there, might as well…

The autograph session was perhaps the worst part of the experience. The organizer did not do a good job over crowd-control. The fans were pretty much told to be at the right side of the stage in order to go up the stage to have their albums signed. For about an hour, the fans were pushing each other in order to get through this small guarded opening, where about 10-15 people were allowed through periodically. The justling was so bad that it was an accident waiting to happen; but luckily that did not happen.

I finally made my way up to the stage. Yes, I met David Tao, shook his hand, had his autograph…but all in all, I think the ‘affair’ lasted for less than a minute. My cousin and I were pretty tired and both of us left right away.

The showcase was my first of such experience. I’ve never really fancied showcase or meet-the-fans session or even concert (I’ve never really been to any concert). Since DT’s in town and I like his songs pretty much, so I thought: oh well, let’s just give this experience a try. I would say, it was a pretty alright experience. Some expectations were met, some were not. All in all, I would think that this is my first, and would most probably be my last (except maybe for Faye Wong…).

太平盛世 ~陶喆

After the whole thing, I went to SS2 with my cousin and her bf to have some cold dessert. Now, that’s the shiok-est part of the day, as far as I’m concerned…

david tao’s showcase in KL (ii)

Had dimsum on Saturday morning with my cousins. It’s more like brunch actually, because by the time we reached the dimsum place, it’s already pretty late in the morning. The dimsum place is somewhere in SS2, not too sure where it is exactly. The food’s pretty good, and if given the chance, I think I woul visit again for some decent dim sum.

The haze’s back in KL.

The above pic was taken 2 days ago on thursday (10/03). A light shower this evening did not really help actually.

And some other places have been ‘hazed’ up lately, and I’m talking about Malaysia-related websites. Go here and you’ll see a list of .my websites that have been recently defaced. It’s not all that surprising to me to see so many websites hacked, considering Malaysia has been coming up with mediocre websites. This website takes the cake, simply by just looking at it’s Flash intro screen. (Hey! Maybe contact me and I’ll recommend an overhaul of the website since it’s pretty much within my field.-Commented on 2005-03-12, 16:55:18) Not much thoughts put into web-design huh, be it the physical outlook or the security features, and also its relavance and usefulness… ?

At 9:35pm, Sunday night.

Ai Ling: Go and buy newspaper?

Ah Meng: Very tired. lazy.

Ai Ling: Go lar… got ToTo wor…

Ah Meng: Didn’t buy lar this week. You scolded me and told me not to.

Ai Ling: Aiya, since when you listen to me wan? Go lar… go buy newspaper…

Ah Meng: It’s just downstair. Buy yourself lar. Go to the coin bowl and dig up RM1.20 lor.

Ai Ling: Dunwan lor.

Ah Meng: AAAArrrrrrrr! I know why liao. You saw the molester notice right?

Ai Ling: Yea lor. And still ask me to go and take the lift at this time.

Ah Meng: It’s not late lar. Don’t worry lar. Just shout lor if got molester.

Ai Ling: In the lift how people can hear? And what if he has a knife or something?

Ah Meng: You saw the description right? He looks like some small kid… 5′5″ only, you oso taller than him lar!

Ai Ling: Go lar… Go and get me the newspaper lar.

Ah Meng: Don’t worry lar… No one will molest you lar. Mou yan hou (No one will care).

Ai Ling: *furious. Fine!

Ai Ling dashes out and slammed the door behind her.

At 9.55pm, she returns home, empty handed.

Ah Meng: Aiks? No newspaper?

Ai Ling: The store’s closed.

Ah Meng: Oh yea! The shop was closed when I returned home just now. Forgot to tell you.

Ai Ling: Argghhhhhh…. I’m gonna kill you!

And Ai Ling chases Ah Meng around the whole night through.

My previous entry was apparently mistaken when I saw the pigeon chick again a few days back. It’s much larger now, but still seemed rather weak.

However, looking out of the window after coming back from lunch today, the lifeless body of the chick greeted me.
Many reasons for this:

1) Stressed by me
2) Parent pigeons are not able to take care of the chick.
3) The chick is simply not well.

Bye Bye Birdie.

I woke up today, walked to the window, looked out, and realized that the haze is back. A few days back, I could see see signs of it, but today, it’s real bad.

Online article from The Star Malaysia today:
———————————————————————————————————————————-

Air quality alert

BY JANE RITIKOS
KUALA LUMPUR: The Department of Environment (DOE) is on high alert as air quality in eight locations - mainly in the Klang Valley - plunged to unhealthy levels, worsened by the current drought.

DOE air division director Che Asmah Ibrahim said the air quality in Port Klang, Petaling Jaya, Shah Alam, Kuala Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, Nilai and Bukit Rambai was at an unhealthy level yesterday.

On Thursday, only Port Klang and Malacca had an unhealthy air quality level, she said.

The DOE measures the air quality in five levels - good, moderate, unhealthy, very unhealthy, and hazardous. The DOE has been issuing only the qualitative readings for air quality.

Che Asmah also said satellite images showed 33 hotspots throughout the country yesterday.

However, the number of hotspots does not indicate the number of forest fires as cloud cover could put a damper on the sighting by satellite, she explained.

“For example, there was no hotspot detected in Pahang but we know there are forest fires there,� she said.

The DOE, therefore, did not solely rely on satellite images but also on ground detection.

“The firefighters are struggling to douse forest fires and bushfires because of the drought.

“The deteriorating air quality is caused by the forest fires as well as other local pollutants including vehicle smoke emission.�

Che Asmah said the department was on high alert in mid-January when it detected increased burning activities, but stood down the alert when it rained.

“But the current dry weather is expected to last till end of March when the inter-monsoon season sets in,� she said.

She added that the haze was mainly due to local sources and was not trans-boundary.

Although five hotspots were detected in Sumatra and two in Kalimantan yesterday, the wind direction was not blowing haze from Indonesia, she said.

“The forest fires could have been sparked off by cigarette butts and even when the branches brush against each other.

“Peat fires can occur when the water level at the peat area is too low. Unlike man-made fires, it is difficult for us to control bush and forest fires,� she added.

Che Asmah said the DOE detected 378 open burning cases last month. She said the present condition was not as bad as the 1997 haze (caused by forest fires in Indonesia) but was similar to the 2002 haze which was caused by local fires.

The Meteorological Services Department said visibility at the KL International Airport in Sepang was only at 2.5km but this did not affect any flights.

Elsewhere, such as Petaling Jaya and Subang, visibility was at about 6km and 4km respectively.

Visibility in Malacca was at 8km, Butterworth and Prai at 6km, Bayan Lepas at 8km and Ipoh at 9km.

March 2, 2005 01:42 am:
The images are taken on the day itself, but only manage to upload them today.