建谈辉议室 by Kian Lau

Travelogue 2011

2011-12-31T23:50:00.006+08:00

OK, I have no plan at this new year eve night. So, I've decided to 'document' my travel itinerary for the year.

15 Jan - 25 Jan ~ Laos

Sabaidee! In the middle of the 1st month of the year, I started a backpack journey to Laos, the only country in Southeast Asia without any coastlines, just by myself. Don't be surprised, it's not my 1st time on the road alone. Try yourself once before making any comments to it.

Luang Prabang was my 1st stop. You can read about the 12 hours bus journey from Vientiane here. I fell in love with this UNESCO World Heritage city. I stayed 4 nights there and should have stayed longer. A beautiful city with mountains in sight and sandwiched by rivers.

Besides, joining a day trip to both Pak Ou Cave & Khuang Xi Waterfall, visiting the Ex-Palace cum Musuem, famous Wat Xieng Thong and different Wats (Temples), what I did there was mostly walking aimlessly around the town. When tired, just sat down and grabbed something to eat to drink. I felt great about it - observing the locals' activities and sharing stories with other travelers.

Khuang Xi Waterfall

Next stop at Vang Vieng, where it's famous for the tubing along the river. I have nothing much to talk about as it's just a town full of drunk foreigners from 5pm onwards. Quite a 'polluted' scene in this nice and supposed quiet mountain town. If you are not into trying the tubing, like it, you can most likely skip this town.

I spent the last few days of my trip to Laos in the capital, Vientiane. It's probably the least busy capital among the others in this region. As all the main sights in the city are within walking distance, one can visit them within half a day; like Patuxai - Arc de Triomphe alike, and the golden Phat Tha Luang.

Phat Tha Luang

Out of the capital, somewhere close to the Thai border, there's Buddha Park, where one can find different Buddha sculptures there. It can easily be reached by taking local bus from the Talat Sao bus station. Oh yeah, you can buy very cheap baguette at the Talat Sao market.

I did many things for the 1st time during this trip - taking the 12 hours bus, accommodation hunting (no pre-booked), no camera just an iPhone 3GS, wearing only slipper cause shoe worn out, walking to the airport, not bringing jumper (din check weather forecast beforehand) and bringing along kain pelikat (extremely useful, multitasking).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

4 Mar - 7 Mar ~ Bangkok, Thailand

At very last minute, I decided to go to Bangkok to have a small gathering with fellow Warwickian buddies - Vidya, Felicia, Mun Hou & Hong Choy. As Vidya was working there, she was our host and let us camped at her small apartment unit. Tasting great food, some shopping, a visit to Wat Arun, meeting up with our Thai uni-mate Chaiwat and of course, catching with each other life. That's all we did for the few days in Bangkok.

Warwickian buddies in Bangkok

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

3 Aug - 9 Aug ~ Sri Lanka

This was a very satisfying trip for me! Great companions - xueji mates - Khuan & Syuen, plus my sis. It was a trip without much planning. We just got advices from the locals along the way and itinerary was made spontaneously.

We spent the first 3 nights in Kandy. It's located in the Central Sri Lanka and we were there during its famous Esala Perahera festival, right timing to watch the parade. Kandy also houses the The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, the main sight in the city.

I would recommend visitors to stay at Majestic Tourist Hotel, which is run by Mr Jospeh and his family. They can make the arrangement for airport transfer and day trips.

During the stay in Kandy, we made a day trip to Nuwara Eliya. It's an amazing hill town like Fraser Hill and Cameron Highland back in Malaysia. All of us liked it so much and wished we could spend a night there. Don't forget to visit the tea plantations and of course, to stock up some tea supplies for own consumption or as souvenir.

Blue Field Plantation, Nuwara Eliya

Then, we headed to Dambulla. We visited Golden Temple of Dambulla (cave temples) and nearby Sigiriya (Lion Rock) site. Both of these sights are listed as UNESCO World Heritage site. The only downside was that the entrance fee to Sigiriya was quite expensive, USD30 per person.

After that, we were planning to Colombo. But, the locals suggested to us to travel to Kurunegala instead. So, we followed their advice and Kurunegala was the next destination. It's more like a relaxing pit stop for us - taking afternoon nap, walking around the quiet town, had Lion - the local brewed beer, sarees shopping... etc

LION - street tasting, Kurunegala

We never went to Colombo at the end. Negambo was the final stop before bidding farewell to Sri Lanka. This coastal town's where the airport located and we need to catch early flight the next day, so it's better to be there. Oh, we were attacked by mosquitos on the last night; bad ending.

It was quite an surprise to come across a few Sri Lanka born Malays during the trip. I didn't know there's a handful population of them in Sri Lanka. Besides, we met some locals who had worked in Malaysia and Singapore before. They gave us very helpful travel tips.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

29 Oct - 1 Nov ~ Chiang Mai, Thailand

Another Warwickian buddies gathering for the year. This time, more people made it to the trip, but too bad, Vidya couldn't join at last as the Bangkok flood had affected the plan.

Besides Chiang Mai, we did a day trip to Chiang Rai and the famous Golden Triangle. It's a tiring trip for me, probably due to the age factor and the lack of sleep.

otw to Chiang Rai

比翼连枝

2011-10-26T10:10:00.003+08:00

堂姐结婚了！恭喜恭喜！
Happy Newly-Wed to cousin Pooi Yan & Sam!

12 hours bus journey to Luang Prabang

2011-01-31T23:50:00.000+08:00

Once I arrived at the Vientiane airport, I took a cab (cost USD7) to the Northern Bus Terminal. My plan was to start the trip from the North - the UNESCO world heritage town of Luang Prabang. Then, to Vang Vieng and end my trip to Laos in the capital - Vientiane (Viang Chan).

the ticket counter inside the bus terminal

The bus terminal seemed quite new, probably just renovated not long ago. But, there was this funny urine-alike smell in the terminal area; really not sure whether it was the sanitation system malfunctioning or other thing. Also, I discovered something interesting in the washroom. The cubicles in the gents and ladies were 'connected' - only separated by glass blocks; blurry effect, of course. Weird huh?

The express bus ticket from Vientiane to Luang Prabang cost 95,000 Lao Kip (around RM36-38). Besides getting sales from passenger service, the bus itself too function as a 'cargo' bus. That's why it took almost 2 hours to load all goods to the top of the bus. I'm telling you, there're 2 motorcycles up there!

workers loading goods up to the bus - bus no: 9888

There were only 3 foreigners: me, a French lady and a German lad. I think the bus was 'donated' (read 'dumped') by the Korean to this country, as I found quite a few labels in Korean inside the bus. Could it be a sign of reusability and durability of Korean products? Or a positive sign of bilateral relation?

One thing I did find out: the odometer wasn't working - meaning the driver (or at least me, since I was just sitting behind the driver seat) wouldn't know the speed of the bus. Anyway, he was a steady driver. Moreover, speeding was quite impossible. The roads was like those in Malaysia, before elections - badly maintained. On top of that, not to mention the windy mountain roads. So, the main reason why the bus journey took roughly 12 hours was due to the road condition.

I would add in one more - it had too many 'pee-stops' during the bus journey. Yes, the bus was stopped in the middle of no way for people to relieve themselves at the bushes. Not only men, women did that too. The latter part was really a culture shock to me. Don't ask me how they did that, I didn't check them out. Well, come to think about it: it's human nature after all, right? Luckily, there were a few proper toilet stops, no need to fertilise the Lao soil.

stopped here for proper toilet and buying snacks

Another few discoveries that I found to be fascinating: the driver, his girlfriend and the bus assistants were having dinner picnic in the bus, right in front of me; a few passengers were picked up by the roadside along the way and their seats were just plastic stools on the aisle; one of the assistants slept on the mat placed on the aisle, right next to me; another one slept in the luggage compartment (yes, the part underneath the bus; wouldn't he be breathing in the dust?)

The weirdest: a long hunter sniper with kept in the bus, With or without bullets, I has no idea! What's that for? To kill wild boars or any other animals found on the mountain area? Or to defend against robbers? But, all of these didn't bother me much, other than the non-stop blasting of Lao music. That would be my only complaint for which I found it very much irritating.

Overall, it was a positive experience and quite a pleasant bus journey. However, I doubt that I would take such a long bus journey again in the near future. For your information, later on, I took minivan / minibus from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng (6 hours), then to Vientiane (5 hours). They cost a little bit more, but faster and slightly more comfortable.

【鄉音回家】

2011-01-30T12:00:00.000+08:00

祝大家：辛卯年，事事顺心、身心愉快！Happy Lunar New Year! Wishing everyone has a great year ahead and dreams come true!

Drawing Personality Test

2010-11-29T02:00:00.002+08:00

The test asked me to draw a landscape with:

a mountain
a path, like a dirt hiking trail or even a paved highway
some trees.

My drawing:

The results of analysis say:

You tend to pursue many different activities simultaneously. When misfortune does happen, it doesn't actually dishearten you all that much. (the mountains)
You are a direct and forthright person. You like to get to the core of the issue right away, with few signs of hesitation. (the path)
You like following the rules and being objective. You are precise and meticulous, and like to evaluate decisions before making them. (the trees)
You have a sunny, cheerful disposition. (the sky)

What does your drawing say about YOU?

饥饿30之后

2010-08-23T21:30:00.000+08:00

3年之后，又再次参加这个活动。不过，这次的身份不同。从3年前的营员变成今天的DIY营筹备人员。一开始只答应做个’打杂‘。可不知道为什么到最后，会一步一步地献出第一次——扛下节目策划的工作。除了小组里的伙伴闹内讧外，整个筹备工作都蛮顺利的。曾经想过下次做’打杂‘就够了。可是，活动结束后，那吹毛求疵的另一个我又跑出来打分——70分。剩下的30分，自然而然地成为下次要做得更好的推动力，我要做得更好。谢谢所有参与者给于的回应和意见，这一切都是宝贵的。

谢谢大家的参与！

P/S：这次活动之后，10年前的那种回忆和精力，不知不觉中再现世了！

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My weight hits a new low after 30 Hour Famine. But, I'm sure it would get back to the normal very soon.

Saigon - Sg Lembing - KL - Pangkor - KL

2010-07-30T00:05:00.001+08:00

I've done quite some traveling for the past 3-4 months. Finally, I've the eagerness to tell the stories. Sorry, too, for my laziness to update this blog frequently. Please don't stop visiting my blog!

End of March. I landed in Ho Chi Minh City aka Saigon with best friend Xuan. It was a spontaneous decision in choosing to visit this city. Both of us never wanted to miss the Airasia promotion and we came out with this plan, about a year ago. It was my second travel to Vietnam. I was in Hanoi on the North 2 years ago, alone.

Other than walking around the city and visiting the famous sights on our own on the first day, the next few days were quite relaxing, as we'd signed up package tour beforehand, everything was more or less planned for us. On the 2nd day, we were on a day tour to Cau Dai Holy See and Cu Chi tunnels. The following day, we went to the Mekong Delta, on guided tour too.

in front of the famous main post office

my surname! meaning 2nd floor, like in Cantonese

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At the end of May, I went to Sg Lembing with fellow ex-cadet reporter mates. It was quite a tiring trip; started with a midnight driving journey from KL to Sg Lembing, so that we wouldn't miss the the right timing to check the rainbow at the waterfall. (not to mention, it was a Ipoh-Sg Lembing drive, only a short stopping by in KL)

The trekking trail to the waterfall, was quite a new experience, in a way Nevertheless, it's a not so easy one. The rainbow was not really a 'Wow!' Could it be because of the will to get more sleep?

After a good afternoon nap for all of us, we headed to Kuantan for seafood dinner and of course, we visited Teluk Cempedak. I'd never thought that it could be so crowded by the beach. Culture shock? Maybe.

Next morning, still lacking of sleep, we reluctantly woke up early to hike Lembing Hill for the sunrise. I personally found this one easier, probably due to the fact that I'd given all out for the trekking the day before. I wasn't a big fan to sunrise/sunset. But, having the chance to witness the appearance of sunrise and rainbow at the same time, it marked as a fond memory.

Sg Lembing was a town well known for it's past glory in mining. Now, there's no more mining sites, yet, it's slowly becoming a popular weekend break destination. City folks like this kind of exotic place. But, I do hope that some kind of 'crowd control' should be implemented, so it would in a way preserve the not so polluted lifestyle.

@ Lembing Hill 林明山

classic stairway pose

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chris, Vidya and Felicia were in KL. So, it gave me an excuse to be in KL to meet my Warwick friends. I'd not been seeing them often this year. Not only me, everyone too was busy with own life. Such gathering was not a frequent one, these days.

Let's see what we did for that weekend:

brunch @ Village Park, Uptown Damansara
hi tea @ Oldtown Kopitiam, 1 Utama
dinner @ Canton-i, 1 Utama
karaoke @ Neway, 1 Utama
hang out @ LCCT
dinner @ Bao Xiang BKT, 1 Utama
yum cha @ unknown cafe, 1 Utama
chill @ Mabel's place

I really hope that I would meet them again soon. Of course, I wish we could plan some local or oversea trips in the near future. Time to get back all the 'together-ness' and 'bonding'. Soon, it would be the 10 years anniversary.

after karaoke; no zombie looking, everyone still young!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was in Pangkor few weeks back with ex-cadet reported mates - 琬瑆 & 筱韵. It was supposed to be a big group of us. But, most of them got the last minute commitment and couldn't make it for this trip. Anyway, it was an amazing trip, especially with these 2 girls. It wouldn't the same without them.

The last time I was in Pangkor? Probably a few years back. I have lots of fond memory there and made me want to go back every now and then. Anyone going to Pangkor, count me in please?

different story if these 2 weren't there

1st time seeing the thin version of myself

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Last Sunday, I went to KL with best friend SC. It was a day trip. Guess which mode of transport did we use? Answer: it's the train.

The shuttle train service between Ipoh and KL had been there for quite some time. I always wanted to do such a day trip but wish only came true last sunday.

We took the 9am train from Ipoh, arrived in KL by noon; then 9.45pm train back to Ipoh around 12.45 midnight.

We did some shopping at Central Market; karaoke at Pavilion; lunch at Lot 10; dinner at The Garden with more Ipoh friends.

Some might thinks that it's a waste of time by taking the train. But, I do feel that, at least, not having to drive was a pro factor.

dinner @ Alexis, The Garden

学记队26周年庆

2010-06-27T17:20:00.001+08:00

去年25周年，回去了一次。也是在去年的那个聚会中，经谢绍辉叔叔提议及众多学记附议下，决定把每年的父亲节定为大小学记有缘相聚的日子。

今年的学记是第26届；我是15届的。哗，我当学记已经是10年前的事了！我又来一下很红的那一句：人生有几多个十年？还好，我还认为自己很年轻，还有青春岁月。

我本来也没多大意愿想去今年的聚会。要不是玮文的简讯，我可不会出席呢。哎呀，反正我常驻怡保，last minute做决定还是可以的。

我想，或许去年是25周年，每个人都比较重视，出席的比较多。而今年出席的，大部分都是25和26届的junior。20届以前的，不到20位。不过，即使这样，有幸出席这场聚会也是开心的。

上一年，逃过被邀上台说几句话跟大家分享我的学记生涯。可是，今年不一样，“廖化作先锋”。随便哼两句当年培训营主题曲，懵过去。要在那么多人面前侃侃而谈，我还不到家。

～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～

当学记，其实也不用太过严肃或要执着些什么。我在学记队里应该要学到些什么？我应该怎样表现自己？如何能为校、为学会增光？⋯⋯这一些问题都不用想太多！

就带着一颗赤字之心，认真做好被分配的工作——认真地办活动、认真地写稿、该玩的时候认真地玩，就可以了。最重要的，还要有一颗诚恳、真诚的心，跟学记交朋友。在未来的日子里，那份友谊会带来好多惊喜！

没有加入学记队，我不会知道Lenggong、Langkap在哪里；不会知道Beruas、Hutan Melintang，这几个地方的存在；也不会认识来自Bagan Serai、Sitiawan和金马伦的朋友；也不会踏足Teluk Intan、Pantai Remis和Manong。

当年卸任后，渐渐地跟大家失去联络。没想过，十年后跟大家重逢，依然还有那么多说不停的故事、聊不完的话题。彼此失去沟通的那段空窗期，好像更加拉近我们的距离。

能认识这一班朋友，很开心、很感恩。也让我找到几位到处游玩的kaki。每次跟他们出去游山玩水，我不禁想起十年前不羁的日子，还有年轻没烦恼的曾经。我也发觉，原来现在的我们，依然可以很放纵！

I'm fine. You?

2010-05-19T11:50:00.000+08:00

哗，好久没在这里写blog了！最近，爱上兼迷上twitter，所以就少去blogger。不过，大家可以在这里看到我tweet些什么。（如上）

为什么没有blog？自己觉得很多想说的都tweet了，就不用blog。你看，我是多懒的。hehe……没题材，是骗人的。去年12月到台湾晚的点滴都还没跟大家分享；还有3月杪到胡志明市走走的事迹也没告诉你们。

那要怪什么才好呢？没时间，可以了吧？我的确很难找出时间，安安分分地坐在电脑前，‘打’出文章。空闲时，不是在看电视，就是在看书。就算真的在电脑前，也似乎很忙、有其他事情要做。

哈哈，我是不是印证了‘1001种借口’的真实性？

再想想，近几个月，跟朋友出去lepak多了。做些什么不重要。至少我不用待在家里，被人亏为‘宅男’。嘿嘿……人，毕竟是群体动物嘛。总不能随意把‘社交’这种天性弄得退化去了，对不对？

跟朋友聚聚、吃吃喝喝、寒暄几句，还有什么能比这更有意思呢？大家聊些有的没的——上至天文，下至地理；政经文教；德智体群美；几乎无所不谈。

彼此交换想法，以‘取人之长，补己之短’，才不会让自己成了‘井底蛙’。因为，多听了不同的声音啊！（这是大部分政治人物所做不到的！嘘嘘……）这不就是‘交流’的目的吗？

最重要的，能在谈天中，打听到失去联络许久朋友的消息。那种感觉，就像跟他们重逢似的（非具体的）。

Only if they are politicians in Malaysia

2010-04-19T09:50:00.000+08:00

A very good debate among the leaders of the top 3 political leaders in UK. Truly professional and knowledgeable. What's more, no personal attack on private affair.

Can I foresee a similar debate in Malaysia? Well, at this time, I could only imagine it ends up like a circus, with all the name calling and the discriminating remarks.

I think the voters in Malaysia, basically everyone of us, should vote wisely and together improve the political arena in Malaysia. Just pray and hope for a better future!

任贤齐《再出发》

2010-04-11T14:30:00.000+08:00

几日前，偶然咁听到呢首歌。唔知点解，鬼死咁有feel。觉得佢好似同我讲紧：喺时候从新出发啦！但係，我想问：出发去边啊？如果问我，当下有啲乜嘢係最想做的，应该就係考返個硕士。我捻，都係时候做多啲有关方面的资料收集。然之后，揀返個心水嘅课程来读。其实都无为啲乜。就当係自我增值啰！多谢晒呢首歌嘅提醒！

P/S：过去几年，我其实有申请过嘅。第一次，考埋入学试，重收埋我添。但係，最尾因为觉得未做好准备返校园，所以就无搞入学。另外一次，最直接，没被录取，冇嘢讲！

性不性，由你⋯⋯

2010-03-11T00:05:00.000+08:00

性，不是理所当然的事。
性不性，是项选择题。

忠告天下所有雄性万物之灵：请对自己的决定，勇敢地负责任。
咱们用来作思考的器官，叫“大脑”，藏在头部里。
因此，别随意让下半身控制你的大脑，并作出让你后悔的抉择。

追求性福，是个人的权利，每个人都有他的方式。
所以，请别胡乱地自认为全世界男性的代言人，你没那么伟大。
不要硬邦邦把你的所作所为，一概地说成是其他男人的事。
“自己衰就好，冇拖埋其他人落水。”

还有，恳求你放上帝一马。
上帝给予你一切，并不表示你就能为所欲为。
记住：人与动物，很多时候，只是一线之差。

普天同庆庚寅年

2010-02-21T18:05:00.000+08:00

农历新年都过了一半，现在才为大家送上迟来的新年祝贺，别见怪噢！我祝大家：虎年行好运、万事都如意！

说真的，近年来看到长辈们都很‘例排’似地准备这传统的大日子，我对过新年也渐渐地没什么感觉。新年气氛比小时候淡了。失去童年庆新年时会有的兴奋与期待，不在话下。

可是，这些都不重要。因为，心灵上还是会感受到庆新年的意义在于——团圆。这码事不是更为值得吗？

或许，一直都呆在老家过活，身边的亲人几乎是天天见面的那一种。新年跟亲人在一起，也只是多了几位从外地回来过新年的兄弟姐妹。年复一年的年夜饭局、初一初二回祖屋和拜天宫。加上几句寒暄温暖，各自更新近况。

我到了这个岁数，收红包是最令我感到不好意思的！压岁要压到什么时候啊？是不是该计划明年‘避年’去了？不是避派红包，而是避收红包！哈哈⋯⋯

每年新年佳节的重头戏，莫过于跟一班老朋友相聚。尤其在去年行‘桃花运’，跟小学同学、学记朋友重聚，今年当然要继续跟大家见面，不能无端端地再失去联络。

年初一：下午去了中学同学家聚聚，跟旧同学们打个招呼；晚上则跟死党们在我家玩poker。
年初二：晚上跟学青的junior见面，好久都没见过大家，个个都长大了！
年初三：中午和学记朋友吃午餐，这次的出席人数很棒，希望下次能破记录；晚上就和几位小学同学摸酒杯。
年初四：中午跟死党吃午餐；晚上去死党家打麻将。
年初五：晚上跟死党去喝茶，继续聊。
年初八：中午和认识不久的FACES members吃午餐。

曲终人散，个个都走到七七八八，放纵的日子也该停止了。是时候硬着头皮回到各自的岗位。

～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～

今年的贺岁歌曲太多了。各花入各眼（耳），我最喜欢就是这首《惜福》。

昨天今天明天依然没有变只是见面时间少一些

老朋友老样子祈望每年相聚都能看到你幸福

晕……这样子还不拿‘冠军’？

2010-01-23T11:15:00.001+08:00

什么tarian 1Malaysia. 恶心死了！
都没看过那么欠扁的舞姿、舞步！
怎样可以让它登大雅之堂呢？

一人一種顏色 (DISC profile)

2010-01-19T16:10:00.001+08:00

你的個性屬於 S （ Steadiness ）

性格特徵：樂觀、洞察力強、有創見、責任心強、愛思索。
壓力下的表現：對批評敏感、理想主義、沉默寡言、做決定時猶豫不決。
喜歡的職業

．數字
特徵：喜愛參加與數字 ﹑ 計算有關的各種活動。
適合職業：出納員 ﹑ 會計師 ﹑ 數學家 ﹑ 行政辦公人員。

．藝術性
特徵：喜好抽象概念和獨特型態，富有創造性 ﹑ 欣賞美的東西 ﹑ 愛和形象化的東西打交道。

適合職業：攝影師 ﹑ 建築師 ﹑ 畫家 ﹑ 藝術家 ﹑ 花卉栽培家 ﹑ 設計師。

．文學
特徵：喜愛以文字來表達、喜歡閱讀、寫作、樂於學習外語等。
適合職業：作家 ﹑ 編輯 ﹑ 文學學者 ﹑ 記者 ﹑ 圖書管理員。

．音樂
特徵：喜歡旋律 ﹑ 節奏 ﹑ 以至色彩等，並願意參加與音樂藝術相關的各種活動。
適合職業：專業歌家 ﹑ 音樂家 ( 尤指流行歌曲 ) 。

Happy 2010

2009-12-31T23:55:00.000+08:00

Greeting from Taipei, Taiwan!

花田囍事

2009-12-25T01:00:00.002+08:00

Congratulations to Choon Hui & Ann!
Sorry for disappearing on your big day!
Wishing you a Happy Married Life!

Ready to fly!

2009-12-24T16:25:00.001+08:00

Packing... done! Now, I'm only waiting for the time to leave the house. Can't wait for the plane to take off and bring me to the destination - Taipei. It's time to begin an oversea trip after the last one to Bandung & Jakarta in November 20089. Everyone knows I've been craving for this trip for long time. I'm so glad that it's happening!

This trip will also mark the very 1st time I'm going to couchsurf. Ever since hosting CS'ers for the 1st time in June 2008, by simple counting, I've already done more than 10 times in Ipoh. I’m so eager to find out what the experience of being hosted is like.

Me, Xuan, SC, KW and Max are going to spend 8D7N in Taiwan. Taipei and the nearby areas would be our main base. However, we would too spend some time at the east coast – Hualien, the gateway to the breathtaking Taroko Gorge.

The Winter. I’ve not been in the Winter time for a few years. Would I be able to get used to the low temperature. I hope it wouldn’t be too harsh to handle. At least, I don’t think it gonna snow in Taiwan. Anyway, I know that traveling with all those bulky winter clothes, is not fun at all.

Taiwan, here we come!

I-You-He-She-It, again!

2009-12-18T20:00:00.001+08:00

Pakatan Rakyat (PR) alliance is going to have their 1st ever joint convention during the weekend.

Being a pro-PR civilian, at the moment, I hope that this convention can really bring out the reformation needed to make PR a strong rival to BN coalition and, more importantly, is able to clear up the inter-parties contradictions and of course, to educate the 'trouble-makers' within the alliance.

Just pray that this is not going to be another 'scripted drama'. We don't want anymore of that.

PR too has released a logo recently. I am not too sure whether it's the PR's logo, or logo of the convention.

Whatever is it, I have a small problem with the orange-coloured logo: why must the 5 petals Hibiscus represent Malay-Chinese-Indian-Iban-Kadazan? Why in Malaysia, everything has to be grouped in A-B-C... or Do-Re-Mi-Fa or 1-2-3-4-5?

When can we ever get out of such mindset? It's a disease and it's spreading fast. We need a cure for that!

心情随笔·二

2009-12-02T16:55:00.001+08:00

心情随笔

2009-11-30T22:55:00.002+08:00

最近比较烦⋯⋯但係又唔知烦乜

2009-11-28T21:55:00.002+08:00

最近比较烦⋯⋯总觉得日子过得有一些极端⋯⋯总觉得钞票一天比一天难赚⋯⋯我看那前方怎么也看不到岸⋯⋯人生总有远的近的麻烦⋯⋯我只是心烦却还没有混乱⋯⋯你们的关心让我温暖⋯⋯家是我最甘心的负担⋯⋯我不烦我真的不烦⋯⋯因为，我的人生很灿烂

OK，呻完。够钟睏觉

正碟新上架

2009-11-27T20:50:00.000+08:00

After the wait of close to 2 years, these 2 of my favourite singers have finally released their studio album recently. I just couldn't wait any longer to own them. Thanks to my Auntie Kim, who brought them to me all the way from Canada. Finally, I have these 2 albums on my hands today.

Yes, I'm checking on Norah Jones's now... Great voice as she always has!

The Fall - Norah Jones

Will tune into Michael Bublé later... Have listened to his Crazy Love countless time; good stuff!

Crazy Love - Michael Bublé

It would be a great news to me if 2 of them can have some sort of collaboration in the future. I hope... & wish...

Another tryout

2009-11-17T20:25:00.002+08:00

年轻嘅本钱

2009-11-16T11:05:00.001+08:00

都话啦，有时候唔洗咁care要做啲乜嘢，最重要係同啲乜人一齐。

就好似上個礼拜咁，本来约咗一大班最近揾返嘅旧朋友，一齐去PD度来個2日1夜游。點知道大部分人临时有嘢做，最后剩返4条友。咁就唯有改plan，上云顶住1晚，好过冇啦。

拜六一早起身，搞点晒啲嘢，就驾车先去金宝接观俊。跟住就去冷甲载埋阿Khuan，随便食埋早餐。然之后，就出发去KL。（哗，好耐都冇见过啲小镇风情——睇到啲稻田，绝啊！）

到咗PJ，同阿Weng食埋lunch，就开始我哋嘅行程——上山去云顶。弊啦，唔知点解，云顶超多人，酒店啲房都full晒。

我哋又改plan。打算打返场bowling同食埋打边炉，正落山。横點上到来，冇理由乜都唔做就嘛！

故事仲未完啊。喺平地要做嘅第一件事，就係接晓筠，再5個人一齐去唱K。真係委屈晓筠，要一個女仔陪我哋添！

当晚嘅K歌之王，非观俊哥莫属。冇乜歌係难倒佢嘅。离开K场嗰阵，已经係晨早5点几。阿Weng就带我哋去Jalan Ipoh食点心‘早’餐。

送晓筠返屋企，再去阿Weng度已经係7点几。洗过面，就睏咗。真係多谢晒大家让张床给我。睏饱食饱，我哋3条友就驾车返Perak啦。

虽然今次係攰咗啲，（我一挞响张床就睏咗十几粒钟），但係諗到可以同大家聚会下，乜到值啦！唔讲你唔知，我同佢哋几个，都係最近遇返。计计下，都识咗有10年啦！

～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～

唔知点解，今次出trip，令我諗起好多年前，同一班大学朋友一齐去Bath嘅trip。嗰阵又係好似咁样，冇乜计划就冲住去。虽然都係几乎‘事事唔顺’，但係得到嘅回忆，真係用钱买唔返㗎！

～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～

俾观俊影响咗，搞到几乎日日都喺度哼唱陈奕迅嘅《於心有愧》！不过，真係好好听啊！

Mr Mata, where's your Professionalism?

2009-10-31T12:20:00.001+08:00

你給別人的形象

2009-10-29T21:35:00.004+08:00

啱啱收到email，就係以下嘅迷你测验。横掂都得闲，就随便咁睇下。测出来嘅成绩——我係屬於草香形象。读埋啲details，都觉得有些少咁准喎。不如，你都来玩玩啦！

用直覺來回答下列問題，轉瞬間便知道自己在別人心中是怎樣的一個人了。

(1) 你會把自己比喻成哪種花香？

濃郁的花香 --> 去第2題
清淡的花香 --> 去第3題

(2) 你會選擇哪種香味的潤唇膏？

水果味 --> 去第4題
薄荷味 --> 去第5題

(3) 你會把自己比喻為哪種花束？

紅色系的花束(如紅色/粉紅色/橙色) --> 去第2題
非紅色系的花束(如白色/藍色/紫色) --> 去第5題

(4) 你跟意中人首次約會用什麼香水？

帶有甜味的花香 --> 去第6題
清爽的水果香味 --> 去第7題

(5) 你較喜歡哪種味道？

盛夏乾燥的草味 --> 去第4題
雨後濕淋淋的草味 --> 去第7題

(6) 玫瑰和百合，你較喜歡哪種香味？

玫瑰 --> 去第8題
百合 --> 去第9題

(7) 你剛發現一瓶新款洗頭水，你十分喜歡它的味道，那瓶子的形狀是怎樣的？

圓形 -->去第6題
長身形 --> 去第10題

(8) 當你情緒低落時，哪種味道最能撫慰你的心靈？

花香 --> 去第11題
森林的味道 --> 去第12題

(9) 你在收視超高的劇集中看見一個香包，收O什麼顏色？

紫色 --> 去第8題
紅色 --> 去第12題

(10) 市面剛推出了一種全新的香草味雪糕，你的看法是什麼？

相當引人注意 --> 去第9題
不太引人注意 --> 去第13題

(11) 下列哪種味道會勾起你懷念的感覺？

麵包香味 --> 去第14題
大自然的味道 --> 去第15題

(12) 如果月亮的光輝會發出味道，你嗅到後會聯想起下列哪組形容詞？

刺激/燦爛奪目/香味四溢 --> 去第11題
沉鬱/弧獨/踏實/安靜 -->去第15題

(13) 你較喜歡哪種香味？

香料 --> 去第12題
茶香 --> 去第16題

(14) 你對體味的看法是？

非常討厭 --> 去第17題
如果是自己喜歡的味道就沒有關係 --> 去第18題

(15) 你覺得什麼香味較有助提神？

柑橘香 --> 去第14題
薄荷香 -->去第18題

(16) 你喜歡異性身上有哪種香味？

香水味 --> 去第15題
自然肥皂 --> 去第19題

(17) 想起遊樂場，你會想起哪種味道？

牛奶及葡萄 --> 去第20題
甜甜的糖果 --> 去第21題

(18) 如果要在房間燃點香薰，你喜歡哪一種形狀的香薰？

三角錐形 --> 去第17題
棒狀 --> 去第21題

(19) 你對於香水的看法是？

非常喜歡 --> 去第18題
不算十分喜歡 --> 去第22題

(20) 對於嬰兒使用的肥皂系列香味有什麼看法？

喜歡 --> A 型
不是特別喜歡 --> B 型

(21) 你知道自己的味道嗎？

不知道 --> 去第20題
知道 --> C 型

(22) 喜歡皮革的味道嗎？

喜歡 --> 去第21題
討厭 --> D 型

◆ A. 你是屬於水果香形象
你充滿自由愉悅的氣息，總是沉溺左遊樂場當中，像個天真無邪的孩子。有你在的地方，整個氣氛都會興奮起來，所以你是聚會中不可或缺的人物。

雖說你個性開朗，受到大部份人的喜愛，但別人一般認為難以跟你成為親密好友，即是說，你給人的印象只是個搞笑能手。有些人覺得你愛玩弄別人，依賴性又強，所以不太願意親近你。不過，真正的你其實十分成熟穩重，正因透徹了解你的人不多，所以知己朋友也相當少。

◆ B. 你是屬於東方花香形象
你擁有強烈的自我意識及自己的世界，不會被他人玩弄於股掌之間，會利用自己的力量積極地達成願望，給人有熱情的印象。你不會跟朋友糾纏不清，再加上給人單獨行動的印象，圍繞在你週遭的人都會覺得你是一個「帶有神秘色彩的人物」。

「神秘感」有時是相當有魅力的意思，但是人們對於你嚴密的防備以及自命清高的態度，感覺無法輕鬆地與你對談而覺得你難以應付。甚而變成非必要不跟你接觸,對你敬而遠之的傾向。真正的你其實是相當溫柔的，但是除非是與你相當親近的，否則是無法注意到你的優點。

◆ C. 你是屬於草香形象（我就係其中之一！）
你擁有非常堅強的意志，不依賴他人，給人獨來獨往的印象。你擁有旺盛的好奇心與豐富的感受性，是個過著知性生活的現代人。驟看下你是個自命清高，不好相處的人，但是一旦跟你交談後，就知道你很好相處，等到交情加深之後，就更知道你其實擁有很爽快的個性。

你所擁有的中性化魅力，讓你不論在男性團體或女性團體都大受歡迎，不過你不喜歡讓人看到你脆弱的一面。你外表上看來也許很冷靜，但實際上卻是熱情如火。能夠知道你真正本性的人，才能夠跟你天長地久地交往下去。

◆ D. 你是屬於花香形象
你總是給人樂觀、積極和勇於面對困難的感覺，而且溫柔優雅，很懂得為他人設想，給人非常擅長維繫人際關係的印象。這樣的你讓人感到既堅強又脆弱，尤其是你那關懷體貼的包容力，更讓人覺得你相當有魅力，很值得信賴。

你長期給人認為你是個「拜託做事絕不會拒絕」的人，所以特別容易讓依賴心強、只顧自己利益的人利用。這些人因為看中你細心隨和的一面，所以會故意親近你，然後借故佔你便宜。

早安老师

2009-10-24T19:55:00.001+08:00

I accidentally found this clip on youtube. It was such an old song. I remember learning it when I was in Std 3, which was 17 years ago.

Oh ya, forgot to say, this song was actually the theme song of a Singaporean 80s drama. I'm sure every S'porean has fond memory on this drama or the theme song. That's such a classic!

There's so much to talk about the younger age. How I wish I could be a school kid again! Do you think I would find clips of Mask Man?

早安老师 Good Morning, Sir!

An emotional letter

2009-10-17T16:15:00.000+08:00

I received this letter from a kid whom I've been sponsoring through World Vision. This wasn't the first time I got a letter from him. But somehow, I was a bit emotional after reading that letter. Reason? I've no idea.

Singkawang, 28 Agustus 2009

Yang terkasih bapak Adwin,

Bagaimana kabarnya Pak? Semoga sehat-sehat saja ya. Kabar Parno sekeluarga sehat-sehat saja. Terima kasih Pak atas kiriman 5 buah perangkonya dan suratnya saya senang sekali menerimanya.

Saat ini saya sedang menjalankan ibadah puasa hingga menjelang Lebaran nanti. Doakan saya ya Pak agar puasa saya lancar.

Pak maafkan saya ya karena saya tinggal kelas akibat karena saya banyak bermain dan malas belajar tapi saya berjanji tahun depan saya pasti naik kelas.

Salam dan hormat dari kami sekeluarga. Terima kasih.

(name undisclosed)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(the translation by the volunteer)

Dear Mr Adwin,

How are you? I hope you are healthy. My family and I are healthy. Thank you for sending me some postage stamps and letter. I was happy to receive it.

Now I am in my fasting seasons and it will be finished until we are celebrating the Idul Fitri. Please pray for me to make my fasting finish.

I'm sorry to let you down because I have to stay in the same grade; it is all because I played a lot and lazy to study. I will promise you that I will study hard so I can go to the next grade in the year 2010.

Regard from my family and I. Thank you.

Yeah, this was just a simple letter from a primary school kid. I've read it for a few times and had the same 'emo' feeling every time. Do you have an explanation for me?

恋爱方程式

2009-10-11T16:10:00.000+08:00

刚刚从某部新加坡连续剧里听到一句话：

感情问题就像数学题一样，要用对方程式才能解决。

我到底也算大学里修数学的。怎么没有听说过这码事呢？都怪自己没安分守己，搞到学艺不精，直像个‘半桶水’。有书不好好读，成天只顾吃喝玩乐。

咦？不对啊！我都没听说过有这门科。应该不是数学系的科目。数学是理科，一路来的训练，都是在动左脑。感情这回事，应该是感性的，要用右脑才对。是文科来的！

是这样的吗？

把感情事给理性化，看似简单，但要说得清楚是很难的。如果不小心，还可能引起很多后遗症。恋爱中的情侣、感情生活空白的单身族、或是爱情幸福美满人士等等有情人，都会同意这点吧！

解数学题，只要明白当中的定理、引理、推论、逻辑等，选用适当的方程式或方案，便能迎刃而解。当然，程度较高的难题要由有相当程度的学者来处理。像我这样的‘二打六’，骗骗中小学生就可以。

感情这种事，并不是肤浅地说一句：“男人来自火星，女人来自木星。”就能理出个所以然。十根手指各有长短；一种米养百种人。要不然，两性作家们也不用每次像写毕业论文般写书。因为，要创出合乎情理的‘恋爱方程式’，谈何容易啊！

爱情里的是非对错，一直都是‘公说公有理，婆说婆有理’；一个说先有鸡，一个说先有蛋。往往都把中间人给搞得头昏脑胀。每个人的爱情观点都不同、因人而异。

我只能说：“从‘心’出发吧！”要用哪种方程式应对，只有你自己知道。用对了，恭喜你。错了，唯有从中累计经验，改善只有你才拥有的（独家）‘百分百方程式’！

Kuching - RWMF 音乐故事

2009-09-30T16:30:00.001+08:00

Chapter 3 - Daytime Workshops

On the 1st day, both me and Xuan decided not to check in to the Cultural Village until the evening and instead, opted to walk around the city. It was a wrong decision. We only got there after all the workshops was over. As such, we missed the 1st day workshops!

We learned from the mistakes. As such, we nicely planned to get there early for lunch and attended workshops of the other 2 days. Without much problem, we managed to do as planned. Good stuff!

2nd day workshop attended:-
Free the Reed - Mouth Organs to Accordions
(less energetic compared to the others; probably due to the language barrier existed)
One-Sided Percussion - Pyrotechnics on Frame Drums and Tambourines
(overwhelming atmosphere; overwhelming crowds!)
Soul of the Maori by Moana & the Tribe
(good cultural exposure; amazing experience!)

3rd day workshop attended:-
Voice of My People - Voices from around the world
(not quite exciting but the all the nice voices did light up the day.)
Bamboozled - Amazing Instruments Made from Bamboo
(4 stars! good combination that worked so well. love it!)
I've Got Rhythm - World Rhythm Masters
(5 stars! standing ovation plus non-stop applauses)

Kuching - RWMF High翻天

2009-09-29T16:25:00.001+08:00

Chapter 2 - Night Concerts

No one would ever attend the RWMF and give the night concerts a miss. That would be so wasted if someone ever missed the shows. Why? Because it's just awesome. That's the highlight of the whole event!

We were a bit unlucky during the first night. Everything was going right and people had well seated ready for the start of the concert. Then, the rain poured. Everyone ran to the closest shelter. Although the rain stopped when the show started, it kept drizzling on and off. We had to wear the poncho, trying to stay dry.

The 2nd night, which was a Saturday, attracted the most crowd. As it's the weekend night, everyone decided to have the party there. I am sure you can have the picture of how wild and crazy the crowd could get. I think the supply of Heineken too contributed to such a energetic scenario.

The overall crowd presented at the final night was reduced to almost half of the previous night. Nevertheless, the finale was still fantastic and amazing. At the same time, I did feel a bit down as everything was going to end soon. I hope I would come back again for the future RWMF!

Pop Music had no room for itself in this music festival. The traditional and tribal music took the place. But, don't ever think that these 'non-popular' genres were nothing. They were everything! Music is an universal language and it unites the world!

RIP Kit!

2009-09-27T23:05:00.005+08:00

Kit Yang Charlene Pun, 1983 - 2009

Dear Kit,

I'm shocked and saddened. I couldn't believe what I've just found out. You left us so sudden without leaving a word or a warm farewell hug behind. I can't express in words of how much I miss you. All I want you to know is that I've just lost a true friend of mine, that is you - Kit.

You are such a wonderful and energetic girl! Believe me, you inspired me to have the positive attitude towards LIFE. I have a plan wanted to share it with you. I thought you could guide me through and witness how I would get it done. I have no chance to do that anymore.

I have always been waiting for your return to Malaysia and I believe you would. I remember clearly what we chatted when you were in Ipoh, the first time together with Francesco and for the second time before you left Malaysia for Japan. I want to learn your magic trick!

Francesco-Kian-Kit, Aug 2008, Ipoh, Malaysia

I know you are watching us somewhere out there and you will always be there with us. May you rest in peace! You will be greatly and deeply missed.

Love,
Kian, Ipoh @ Malaysia

especially dedicated to Kit Pun

有情人终成眷属

2009-09-21T22:30:00.000+08:00

有人话，通常过咗农历七月，都有一大堆恋爱中的情侣排住队等拉埋天窗，係结婚嘅好日子。咁嘅事终于喺我⋯⋯身边啲朋友度印证咗。（唔洗驚，我重未娶！）加上好多‘专业人士’都唔建议明年结婚，话唔係咁好日子喎。重有啲绰头呢——乜嘢999啊，20092009啊。搞到大家到赶住喺呢段时间行婚礼、办婚宴、搞注册。

来紧嘅十月到十二月之间，一共有五场婚宴等紧我去饮。其中两单重係咁啱得咁巧，喺同一晚接到通知嘅添！好彩五场都冇撞日子，唔洗搞到要做取舍，避过礼到人不到嘅尴尬场面。年尾個阵有堂大佬嗰婚礼；有一单係好朋友嘅哥哥；另外一场就係自小学一年级就识得嘅旧同学；其余两位，係今年正揾返嘅旧朋友，大家都係中学嗰阵参加同一届学生记者队时候认识嘅。

话事话，如果我唔係今年行桃花（唔係讲紧姻缘嗰啲，係人缘嗰种），有机会同埋啲旧同学、旧朋友重聚，都唔会有咁样嘅荣幸参加佢哋嗰婚礼。大家冇误会，我唔係呻紧有几唔好彩收到啲红炸弹！祇係有少少感触。原来当年大家响纪念册度写啲乜嘢‘有缘千里来相会’诸如此类嘅留言，唔係斋写来睇咁简单，真係有‘友谊万岁’咁嘅事嗰喎！

真係要多谢啲有心人，时不时搞吓啲大大小小嘅聚会啊、饭局啊、又或者係啲旅行团啊，俾大家有机会倾吓计、话吓家常，促进大家嘅友情。好彩呢個年代嘅科技咁发达，唔洗净喺靠飞鸽传书或者写信保持联络。短讯、email、facebook等，都好方便。事在人为，冇再揾籍口啦！喺呢個世界嘅某個角落，可能有呢啲朋友捻紧你嗰喎！

送俾大家呢两首靓歌。虽然旧咗啲，但係好听同有意义就得啦！本来捻住要upload谢安琪嘅《囍帖街》，但係捻捻吓，好似唔係几应景喎，重有少少攞景添。好啦，喺度祝大家：天下有情人终成眷属！

Amazing Art

2009-09-14T23:25:00.002+08:00

1^n = 1

2009-08-31T22:10:00.001+08:00

It seems that the current IN thing in the blogosphere is to blog about whatever related to Merdeka. I remember this time last year, the debate was on whether the Birthday of Malaysia fell on 31/8 or 16/9, and we got no answer for that.

This year, the most talk-about issue is around the slogan '1 Malaysia' promoted by our 'beloved' PM. To me, it's nothing new, it's nothing fantastic and it's nothing else. The same thing has been being talked about more a few decades. Someone got bored and decided to label it with a new title, so we have the '1 Malaysia' campaign now. That's just an example of 换汤不换药.

To execute something is always harder than explaining the ideas. There's no point keep on focusing on the branding and not applying it. It does no good to the nation!

I bet you never know such a song exists right?

我们的主题曲

2009-08-28T23:10:00.000+08:00

继《Ipoh Mali》之后，又有一首新的歌曲，在歌颂着我的故乡——怡保。它的山明水秀和美味食物，的确使许多过客流连忘返。要不然，易桀齊也不会有创作灵感，而写出着首好歌。不知道连锁店遍布全星马的Oldtown Kopitiam会不会征用这首歌，作为其金漆招牌的主题曲。

可是哦，连易桀齊这东马人都能为怡保写歌，为什么出生怡保的各位音乐人至今也没创作出脍炙人口的‘怡保歌’呢？（《Ipoh Mali》，差在不够大众化）不知道，要等到什么时候才有像《Sayang Kinabalu》那样被沙巴人传唱到街知行闻的‘非官方州歌’在霹雳州出现。

怡保

詞易桀齊
曲伍冠諺易桀齊

往北開兩個人路過了怡保
三小時才到檳城路上雨好大

回程的時候繞到這個鄉鎮玩玩
好山好水好風光

怡保的舊街場吃的數不完
芽菜河粉咖啡香

走在怡保街上這里舊得很好看
灑下古老月光
有多少人嚮往

被山嶺環抱在霹靂洞前面合照
有古早樣的浪漫

我走在舊街場撲鼻咖啡香
像愛般揮不散

走在怡保街上這里舊得很好看
灑下古老月光
有多少人嚮往

我走在舊街場吃的數不完
芽菜河粉咖啡香

走在新舊街場由近打河分两半
穿梭两个時光
你都在我身旁

Every song tells a story - Pt 3

2009-08-26T22:30:00.000+08:00

If you are a modern folk, I'm sure you are more or less hooked to listening to music, be it classical or pop music. And I truly believe that there must be a few particular songs that you like them so much, probably because of the catchy melody or the lyrics.

Of course, I'm just like anyone else, no different from you. Now, let me share with you of a few songs that could represent a certain period of my life.

2005 Michael Bublé - Home

2005, was the year I graduated with a bachelor degree. Finally, the hard works on rushing for the assignments dateline and the never ending tests and exams, were over. What a relief! I was actually feeling lucky enough to have graduated, since I was quite an an idiot throughout the whole final year.

So, just like anyone else, I was on the crossroad to choose an option from a few alternatives. Further studies was totally out of my choice as I had no confidence in doing more studies at that time. At the same time, the graduation too marked the end of my 3 years stay in Coventry, England. Here came another question: where should I start my career?

Back home to help out the family business, was my decision. It'a choice which I am still in doubt whether it's the better option, sometimes. But, the optimistic part of me always gets to brush it off with positive attitude. This nice song too reminds me how wonderful is it to be at home!

2006 James Blunt - You're Beautiful

I was so into this song; even until now. James Blunt is such a wonderful singer with a nice voice. Great melody, meaningful lyric. No doubt, this song's one of the greatest hits of all time! Do you think so? I bet you do!

'My life is brilliant; my life is pure' I like this particular 2 lines the most. Whenever feeling unhappy, down or upset about something, I would just shout out this 2 lines aloud. This is to remind myself that my life isn't that bad after all. Why should I be so negative?

Year 2006 was not my year. Everything just seemed going to the wrong direction and nothing much to be cheered for. I always believe that in reality, all these things were just part of the challenges that we need to deal with and to learn something from. More importantly, it does make us stronger and tougher than before. C'est la vie

Masyarakat Majmuk

2009-08-18T16:05:00.001+08:00

I always think that Malaysians can do more to show the world how people from different backgrounds can live together without much conflict. That's what the government and other organisations in Malaysia have been promoting to the rest of the world, right?

Malaysia, Truly Asia. Such a catchy phrase has been deeply locked in many foreigners' mind; at least that's what my experience with other couchsurfers tells me.

Most of the time, I explained to the couchsurfers that much conflicts were actually avoided as many Malaysians didn’t have much interaction with others of different backgrounds, be it race, religion, education, sexuality or whatever.

The institutions and policies implemented in this country, somewhat create an imaginative borders that group people in different community and prevent any interactions. Many do believe that such boundaries separating different communities must be eliminated eventually.

Nevertheless, one couchsurfer from Tunisia I hosted recently told me a different opinion: People from different backgrounds shouldn’t mix around and should just stay within the group they belong to. That’s the reason why Malaysians live in harmony and different cultures are well protected.

I was so shocked with such a remark. So, does it mean that we are heading to the wrong direction? Do we have to stop all the works in encouraging more integration among people? No, I don’t think so. We should just continue with our hard work to achieve that mission!

Well, he’s a foreigner and doesn’t really understanding the concept of multicultural which has had a long history with this nation. Hopefully, after his tour around Malaysia and Indonesia, he would have a new perception on the multicultural Malaysian society.

Meme

2009-08-07T15:05:00.000+08:00

Here are the instructions:

1. Put your iPod on shuffle.(or any mp3 player in shuffle mode)
2. Press forward for each question.
3. Use the song title as the answer to the question.

Q: What does next year have in store for you?
黑色柳丁 – 陶喆 (Black Tangerine – David Tao)
don't think we could find it and I don't want it!

Q: What does your love life look like next year?
The Way You Look Tonight – Michael Buble
make sure u do look good! dun ruin my love life

Q: What do you say when life deals you a bad hand?
Home – Michael Buble
get back home and sleep! then, a fresh new start

Q: Song that reminds you of good times?
今天没回家 - 陶喆 (Not going back home - David Tao)
who wants to be back at home if there's so much fun out there?

Q: What do you think when you get up in the morning?
Creeping In - Norah Jones
yeah... creeping into the blanket. I want more sleep!

Q: What song will you dance to at your wedding?
A Foggy Day (In London Town) - Michael Buble
nice song, but I need an instructor for this to happen!

Q: Your favourite saying?
My Girls - The Temptations
Well, I guess you'll say, 'What can make me feel this way?'

Q: Favourite place?
Nightingale - Norah Jones
somewhere where I can find Nightingale(夜鶯)? Of course, NO!

Q: What song describes your best friend?
Feelings - Il Divo
best friends know me the best! thanks for being my friends...

Q: What song describes your ex?
That's Life - Michael Buble
that's life! 命中注定的! what can we do?

Q: What song describes yourself?
Above Ground - Norah Jones
yup... I don't like to hide. I am who I am

Q: Where will you be in 10 years?
Painter Song - Norah Jones
undertneath the swirling skies for all to see... anywhere la

Q: Your love life right now?
Sunny Side Up - Freddie Ravel
I'm happy being single... enjoying the bachelor life!

Q: How will you die?
So Good So Right - Brenda Russell
how good and right can it be? just no much pain will do

P/S: You are TAGGED!

踏足Kuching

2009-07-31T22:50:00.001+08:00

天妒英才

2009-07-28T22:50:00.000+08:00

人猿·人缘

2009-07-24T10:35:00.004+08:00

"Thanks to Xuan for the photos of Orang Utan!"

Kuching - 猫城猫事

2009-07-21T13:35:00.002+08:00

Chapter 1 - 寻找Orang Utan的故事

在这个非常时期搭飞机，不格外小心一点儿也不可。唯一的防范措施——戴口罩，做了！应该不会那么不幸运感染到吧！还好，吉隆坡与古晋间的航程只有两个小时。不然，可能会先闷死。不管了！几天后还有另一趟，下次再担心啰！可不能让它破坏我放假的好心情！

Check In旅舍后，便跟同行的玮轩，到古晋市区走走，再计划这几天还可以到哪里去。这是我第二次踏足猫城，主要的地标位置都还记得。来到旅游咨询中心，参考了一些资料，决定到Semenggoh野生动物保护中心探望与人类DNA近乎相似的Orang Utan。可是，我们面临了第一个难题。

交通。要搭公共巴士还是的士呢？又或者租辆车子，自己当司机。也可以跟团，对吗？不过，问了好几家旅行社，似乎都不要收我们俩。几番讨论，还是搭公共巴士吧！可是啊，大马的公共交通系统是怎样的，大家都很清楚吧！几轮折腾，我们总算搭上对的那辆巴士出发去了！

一到达目的地，就下起雨来。买了票后，唯有冒着雨走进森林。没办法；没有雨伞、没有雨衣。真不像个frequent traveller！走着走着，雨势看似不会转微。但是，我们还是很乐观，深信很快就会雨过天晴！大约15分钟后，我们便到达人猿喂食区。时间还早，我们只好到处走走，了解这个保护区的历史。好事——雨停了！

也快到3点钟了。游客们都很自发地集合在一起，等着向导带领我们去跟人猿见面。就在这个时候，天公又不作美了！雨下得比之前更为大！走为上计——赶紧到停车棚避雨。难道跟orang utan的第一次接触就会如此告吹吗？我真的不想扫兴而归！

天公似乎被大伙儿的耐心给打动了。没多久后，雨也停了。也许这就是在大马才有的‘奇景’——雨总是下得大而不持久。我们收拾了之前的坏心情。同时间，向导告诉我们好消息。他说，人猿在雨后出来讨食物的机率是很高的！加上前几次的喂食时段，也没有很多只露脸，所以，这次我们肯定有‘眼福’！

走了近200公尺的湿泥路，我们来到一个人工搭出来的木制观台和平台。平台上摆放了许多水果，有木瓜、香蕉和椰子等。游客也陆续地在观台上找好位子。不远处，已有一只人猿和一对母子等着出来享用可口的水果餐。他们很熟练地爬树、爬绳子，登上‘水果台’，拿了水果后一旁慢慢吃。

在场的大部分游客，包括我在内，都是第一次那么近距离‘观猿’。兴奋之际，当然也不忘猛按快门，拍照留影。毕竟，在婆罗州境外看到活生生人猿的机会，真的少之又少。

不久，又有另外一群人猿出现。总共有4只，包括一对母子。我在想：难道人猿世界里也有不成文的‘用餐时间’，不能不遵守？或许，他们也懂得何谓‘尊卑之分’，所以才轮流出来觅食，不至于出现‘抢食’的场面。

原以为是时候离开了，没想到管理员却不让我们私自离开大队。因为，人猿王正on the way来着，怕他会攻击我们。这只人猿王果然鹤立鸡群、与众不同。身上的毛发长得特别茂盛、特别长。一看下去就知道他是当中的王者。不用说，这肯定是雄激素——睾丸素水平过高的结果。怪不得，其他的人猿都怕他三分、敬而远之。

约一个小时下来，我们有幸遇见大约十只人猿。跟平常的两三只，或甚至没有一只出现比较，我们算是幸运的，很值回票价。所以说，怕什么下雨嘛，塞翁失马，焉知非福。可是，我们得付出另一个代价！坏消息——我们错过了最后一趟回古晋的巴士。怎么办？我只能说，这是平常不过的事情。

当我们还在大门口犹豫着该怎样之时，已有位出租车司机开口问我们要不要租他的车子。没有其他选择之下，我们也答应了。原来他是从事旅游业的。平常没生意，也会在那里等着像我们这样的‘漏网之鱼’。他也派了卡片，向我们招生意，说可以当我们的导游兼司机。回到旅舍的途中，他也带我们去Civic Centre，好让我们可以从高处一览古晋市景。

我已累得要命了。回到房间，即刻倒头会周公去了。睡醒的时候已经是八点钟了。这个时候，当然是晚餐时间!我跟玮轩决定到Top Spot熟食中心吃晚餐。幸好之前的出租车司机已告诉我们Top Spot的位置，所以我们也不用花很久的时间便找到了。

我们点了：Belacan炒Midin菜（在砂拉越才找得到的山菜，味道和口感都像Paku菜）、泰式红曹和蚵仔煎，还有透彻心凉的现榨甘蔗水加柠檬。除了蚵仔煎，其他的都很美味。

吃饱后，在市区绕了几圈，便回到房间就寝。我们两个都很期待隔天掀开序幕的雨林世界音乐节。出席这个音乐节，是我们这趟来古晋的主要目的。

Rainforest World Music Festival 2009

2009-07-16T20:00:00.001+08:00

I was in Kuching a few days last week to attend the famous Rainforest World Music Festival. It was awesome. It's not common to have such a kind of events in Malaysia. After knowing the existence of it for a few years, I am glad that I've finally get to chance to be present at this event.

I have so much thing to share with you guys about this music festival and this trip to Kuching, although this wasn't my 1st time in the Cat City. More posts will be out soon. But, at the moment, I just uploaded a few video clips so you guys can have a sneak preview of what was the event about.

(I should have recorded more video clips rather than photographing! )

Day 2 Workshop: Soul of the Maori by Moana & the Tribe

Day 3 Show: by Zawose Family

雨伞

2009-06-30T16:55:00.001+08:00

雨伞，只可以在下雨天被派上用场。

阳光普照，没下雨，撑伞，错。
阳光普照，没下雨，一个大男人，撑伞，错错。
阳光普照，没下雨，一个有着健康肤色的大男人，撑伞，错错错。
阳光普照，没下雨，一个有着健康肤色的大男人，撑伞，粉红色的，错错错错。

出门前，只要涂上防晒液/防晒乳/防晒霜，再戴上墨镜，不就可以啰！

别来无恙吗？

2009-06-29T11:45:00.001+08:00

不知不觉，公元2009年又过完一半。回想一下，过去的半年里，我到底做了些什么呢？好的坏的，都有。唔……日常生活还是一个样，至少没对现况感到厌倦；与去年比较，到现在为止已有超过六个月没出国旅游，这就有点不甘愿。

不过，最令我感到开心的，就是能够跟小学同学重聚。小六毕业那年是1995。那已大概是15年前的事了！再用手指算算，一年级入学时认识的同班同学，如果还一直保持联络的话，这段友谊迄今已快要迈入第20个年头了！

套《巾帼枭雄》里柴九的一句话：人生有幾多個十年？我也依样画葫芦地说：人生有幾多個20年啊？

真的很庆幸，可以跟那么多位小学同学‘重逢’。坐在一起，原来是不用怕没话题的，也不怕多年没见面后的陌生感。反而，大家都迫不及待地想知道那十多年的‘空窗期’，彼此都做了些什么。当然，重温在校园内的点点滴滴，也是我们每次聚会不可或缺的‘前菜+甜点’。

能有这样的‘大团圆’，不能不多谢其中一位同学，那么积极地通过不同的管道，把我们每一位联系起来。email、facebook、friendster、msn、到最传统的电联，他都几乎一一地试过了。真的不能不写个‘服’字给他。可惜的，还有几位MIA(missing in action)。

希望大家都能继续保持联络、keep in touch！不时的聚会，总比十年一次的大团圆好得多吧！

好好听

2009-06-27T16:00:00.001+08:00

这个年头，有谁不认识“超级星光大道”和“超级偶像”？

这两个在台湾最火红的素人选秀大赛，为许多有梦想的青少年提供了让他们有机会展现才华舞台。同时，培育出一批又一批的乐坛新生代，为整个中文乐坛带来了新景象，也从而迎来良性竞争。最后得益的，就是各爱好音乐者。大家可以从更多元化的音乐世界里，选择自身最喜爱的音乐类型。

星光帮 —— 徐佳莹（星光3冠军）

超偶帮 —— 符琼音（超偶2亚军）

Future Travel Plan

2009-06-25T23:35:00.001+08:00

Since the trip to Jakarta & Bandung in last November, I've not been flying to anywhere. How could that happen??? Where're the quarterly trips??

I think it's time to start all the travel planning now!

9 - 13 July 2009 @ Kuching
Flight tickets bought + guest house booked

Travel mate: Xuan

It gonna be my 2nd trip to Kuching. The 1st one was, 31 Dec 05 - 2 Jan 06, with my 2 sisters. This time, I'm planning to visit the outskirts of Kuching rather than spending all the time in the city. But, the highlight of this trip is to attend the World Rainforest Music Festival. Heard that it's a good event. So, hopefully, it gonna bring me back all the memorable clips.

25 Dec 2009 - 1 Jan 2010 @ Taiwan
Return flight tickets bought

Travel mate: Xuan, so far

I've been longing to visit Taiwan for ages, probably, since 8 years ago. Luckily, airasia launched the new route KL-Taipei few month back. Without wasting much time, I got the ticket just few minutes after the launch. So kiasu right? Haha... The price doubled, almost, after that. How should I plan the itinerary? Anyone can offer me some tips? Thanks in advance.

27 - 30 Mar 2010 @ Saigon
Return flight tickets bought

Travel mate: Xuan, so far (again)

3rd trip in a row planned with Xuan. We didn't want to miss the airasia promotion - no admin fee & fuel charge. After a few lines of words exchanged, we settled with the date and the purchase. Hopefully, more people will join in. Oh yes, we bought the tickets with just RM 175 per person, all in. Good deal, right? Last March, Hanoi; next March, Saigon.

University of Warwick Alumni Weekend

2009-06-12T16:10:00.001+08:00

How I wish I could go back to have a walk around the campus again! But, it's just too far away; unless someone can sponsor me the flight ticket!

过去的一个月，不时收到大学校友会的电邮，邀请世界各地的校友回到大学校园出席首次举办的“校友周”。这不禁撩起了我缅怀大学生涯的思绪！我好想赴会、好想回去哦！

有没有人能送我来回机票？

05年7月毕业后，只在06年2月回过去看看老朋友和出席“大马晚会”。那时也是趁着带大妹到伯明翰入学，才顺道走马看花。不用屈指一算，都知道已3年多没踏足Warwick了!

要谈谈在大学度过的那三个春夏秋冬，是的的确确谈不完的。总觉得自己的文笔还欠缺点什么似的，不能很潇洒地舞文弄笔，把许多的生活点滴赤裸裸的让大家欣赏。

唯有“看图说故事”。图文比茂；互补不足。

有山（森林）、有水（湖）、还有鸳鸯在戏水！我没有欺骗你，这摄影地点确实在大学校园范围内，时间是我抵达大学的第一天。1st impression: Breathetaking! 之前，完全想象不到能在这样美不胜收的环境里求学。跟钢骨水泥的城市哪里有的比？

Compton Hall. 我第一年住校的宿舍。前前后后，在那里住了（10+10+10)30个星期。遗憾的是，没有跟其他室友很熟落。都怪自己常常不在宿舍咯！没办法，上课的地点跟宿舍相隔十万八千里。因此，常常‘驻扎’校园中心，尤其是其他同学的宿舍。

我的‘狗窝’。也不是啦！认识我的人都知道我有洁癖，典型的处女座男生。这宿舍的房间是全校园内空间最大的。美中不足的是离Central Campus太远了。而我上课地点——统计学系所又坐落在另一个校园，要经过一座小森林才到达。年头，从宿舍步行到系所要40分钟；年杪时只需20分钟。真的是‘日子有功’！

我来自热带地区，一年无四季之分。第一次渡过冬季、第一次看雪，你说我能不有一点儿的兴奋吗？还记得2003年1月初的某个清晨，天微亮就起床了。往窗外一望，就是以上这样一幅美景。赶紧地拿出数码相机，再按下快门，把眼前的那幅画摄入记忆卡里。

第一年住校时，我宿舍区是大学里唯一附有餐厅的。我们所付的宿舍费也包括了一学期80英镑的预付膳食费。每次光顾那里，就得‘刷卡’，从那80英镑里倒扣。每个晚上，我几乎都在六点半后、七点关门前到那里吃晚餐。这是为了避开人群，因为六点钟电视正播映最热门的《The Simpsons》啊！

这是大学另一个校园——Gibbet Hill Campus。统计学系和数学系的系所都坐落这里，冰山一角。从Central Campus过来，还得经过小‘山芭’——Tocil Wodd。不过，第二年时，统计学系跟数学系的都搬去Central Campus。很久之后，才在毕业前上过去拍照留念。

第一次在国外过年，几个朋友聚聚、煮几道小菜，来个不一样的年夜饭。这样才不至于‘每逢佳节倍思亲’嘛！虽然，比不上餐馆的山珍海味，或有着浓浓家乡味道的‘煮家饭’，可是，自己亲自下厨的，味道再差还是吃的下口的！总不能吃Fish & Chips过除夕吧！

踏正十二点，迎接正月初一春节来临之际，纷纷雪花忽然从天而降。这似乎在为我们首次不在家庆祝的农历新年掀开序幕。不用说，也知道接着下来的就是一轮‘雪球大战’！我看着照片在想：穿着黑色寒衣过新年，好像有点大煞风景啊！没关系啦，都说这是个‘另类’春节噢！

你看，大家笑得多灿烂！照片里的人，都是来自马来西亚的同届同学——当年的新生。这一晚，我们都出席了一年一度的Malaysia Night。为了这一场晚会，我们已经筹备、排练近一个月。最后，总算圆满落幕。过去一个月，有着许多欢乐。最重要的是能跟许多人从陌生到相识，这是缘分呗？

从我其中一位同学宿舍往外看，眼前就是这样一幕风景。是不是很棒呢？有什么烦恼，或者是读书读到发疯，只要看到如此般的美景，肯定会放松许多。我想，做父母的如果知道孩子们的求学环境是这个样子，肯定会放心很多。咦，我怎么好像在为大学打广告呢？

看了这些照片，可别以为这个地方很‘郊外’，什么都没有。告诉你，学生们可以几乎不用离开大学校园都能搞定生活里的一切。

大学里有艺术中心，中心里有戏院、有剧场；有体育中心，几乎要玩什么球类运动都可以（除了保龄球，悲！），还有设备齐全的攀岩设施呢。还有理发院、银行、超级市场、邮政局、酒吧、快餐吧，每个晚上student union还变装成舞池。

虽然，我很怀念在英国那段日子、三年的大学生涯、下雪的冬季等等，但是，我却不想念那刺骨的寒冷天气。还记得第一年住校时，寒假后搬回宿舍，发现central heating坏了，盖了两张被再穿上两双袜子，还是不能御寒。那几个晚上，对我来说，过得非常辛苦！

这次就先为大家带来这么多。有机会的话，再跟大家分享多一点。

Every song tells a story - Pt 2

2009-05-31T23:55:00.000+08:00

If you are a modern folk, I'm sure you are more or less hooked to listening to music, be it classical or pop music. And I truly believe that there must be a few particular songs that you like them so much, probably because of the catchy melody or the lyrics.

Of course, I'm just like anyone else, no different from you. Now, let me share with you of a few songs that could represent a certain period of my life.

2003 Sheila on 7 - Seberapa Pantas (How appropriate)

This song was once so popular among me and a few Warwickians. Out of no where, suddenly everyone fell in love with it. Even those who didn't normally listen to Malay / Indon songs tried to learn to sing the song too. What's the X-factor to this scenario? I guess it's because: music is the universal language!

It was during my 1st Easter break in UK. The bunch of us that didn't go home stayed together at the hostel on campus. We saw everyone everyday, day to night. We joked, we ate, we played, we chilled out, ... we basically did everything together. I really miss those term breaks!

This song could well be the milestone of me settling down in England and making new friends. We were just strangers about half a year ago. Slowly, I grew closer to everyone. I was glad that I did make friends in Warwick and I am grateful that we have been keeping in touch since I graduated.

2004 陶喆 - 寂寞的季节
David Tao - Ji Mo De Ji Jie (The Season of Loneliness)

In the beginning of 2nd year, I bought back with me to UK a CD of David Tao. I was so into David Tao's music at that time. I had the CD played almost all the time in my room. Among all the other tracks, I like this song the most.

Season of Loneliness. It sounds so down, doesn't it? Being away so far from home, family and best friends, more or less made me feel lonely sometime. Especially when I got back to my room and all by myself.

Actually, I did enjoy such a moment; just a little bit though. It gave me the chance to think of the past and then reflect to the present. It brought to surprises unexpectedly - I could feel how much I had grown up and what were the new experiences I had come across. Nevertheless, spending fun time with friends is still always the best thing to do!

Practical vs Dreamer

2009-05-28T10:55:00.000+08:00

Have u guys watched Sell Out! ?

Personally, I would classify it as another great M'sian production. It's worth to pay for the movie tickets and you won't regret, really.

Come to think about it, that was my first time watching a local musical film. (Maybe not; I'm not sure)

I'm not a movie critic. So, I'm not going to discuss how good or how bad of the film. Well, I would just like to express what I felt and thought about after watching it.

There was one scene in the movie that really caught me up in deep thinking. It was a live show and audiences were asked to send in sms to vote: to kill the 'Practicalist' or the 'Dreamer'.

(The telco companies are always the winner!)

After all the drama, the result was -- to kill the 'Dreamer'. The message was clear -- be practical and don't dream.

******************************

Back in reality, shall we be practical and force ourselves to stay in the controlled boundary or have big dream and work to make it comes true?

Ok. I know this is just another 'Chicken-or-eggs question'! But, there's no harm give it a thought right?

First, let's answer this -- what is your dream or what are your dreams?

Done? I think you've probably come out with a list -- what you want to achieve in the near future, aka 'dreams'.

Good grades, prestigious colleges, well paid jobs, good wives / husbands, luxurious cars, big houses, etc...

Next, ask yourself again. Are all that really your dreams? Or, just something you want to achieve on behalf of somebody or for somebody? Are you influenced to have all these dreams? Do you have reasons for all these?

Take your time to think about this question. Be it a few seconds more; a few minutes more; a few hours; a few days; or any longer...... until you get the answer that convince to yourself ONLY.

(I know it's a hard question. We are living in complicated world, aren't we? Human beings like to do thing in the hard way.)

Congratulation! If you have the answers. If NO, don't worry! Just forget about it and get back to the reality and continue with your lives. Relax!

For me, neither do I want to be the 'Practicalist' nor the 'Dreamer'. I just want to follow my spontaneous sense -- doing things as I like and as I wish, without much planning and resentment. Follow the heart.

Of course, there's limit. Not to hurt anybody else nor bringing trouble to others.

Dreaming BIG, dreaming too much makes me feel like a loser. It seems that it would take me forever to achieve them. Worse, I might not even have the chance to realise them.

Stop dreaming! (Just like what the parents and teachers always tell the young ones!)

Whereas, being practical stops me from enjoying my life. Aren't all these boring: doing thing within pre-set boundaries, taking no risks, dealing no uncertainties or blindly following others' path?

We can do better than that! It's human instinct to face challenges and find a way out with it.

So, just follow our heart. Go ahead to do whatever first appears in our mind. Reminder: be responsible and don't bring any trouble to others.

(Ok, I'm going to do water rafting again. I'm going to learn to play the guitar. I'm going to start reading a new book.)

I believe: living simply and ordinarily can be extra ordinary. I want to be another 陶渊明！采菊东篱下，悠然见南山。

十年之后

2009-05-22T15:35:00.000+08:00

跟这一班学记队的朋友，没见面已差不多十年了！
说长不长，说短不短。
有些人已经结了婚、有了孩子；有的，快要结婚了。
每个人生活都过得很不错！
最重要的，大家还是一样漂亮、一样英俊！

1月的某个周末：Jaya 1

不知道大家还记不记得在培训营里第一次见面？
（看着那一群受不了‘经痛’的‘老学记’发疯。恶心死了！）
我相信大家还怀念那每两星期一次的会议；
还有每两三个月才一次的大活动；
当然，少不了数不清的大小聚会。

年初三：在我家

希望今后不时都可以跟大家聚聚。
聊聊天、开开玩笑、吹吹水。
更盼望能尽快把那些还没露面的同伴‘一网打尽’!
可以来张大合照，就是十全十美！

4月：Adeline's Rest House

Pembohong

2009-05-14T12:45:00.002+08:00

Who can be the ambassador of a pepper spray brand?

Tak lain tak bukan. Kakak ni lah!

It's a PEPPER SPRAY...
No, it's a KEY CHAIN...
No, it's a PENDRIVE

Yes, it's a PEPPER SPRAY... after all

I picked it up from the floor.
I didn't know what is it.
And I didn't know how to use it!

7th May 2009 - another date to remember

2009-05-08T15:00:00.001+08:00

This was the consequence of not dissolving the State Assembly; and what every Perakians did not want to happen.

Unfortunately, it did happen. And I would say that the biggest loser was none other than the Perakians. The power grabbing is, sadly, always comes before servicing the People.

DEMOCRACY FIRST! ELECTIONS NOW!

Perakians reject Racial Politics

2009-04-30T23:45:00.000+08:00

We like Nizar! We love Nizar! We want Nizar!

This is so sad...

2009-04-26T09:55:00.000+08:00

Talentime

2009-04-15T13:05:00.000+08:00

It's been such a long time since I last went to the cinema. Blaming myself for taking up the part time job as Maths tutor.

It left with me just a little bit of time for me to rest - to sleep. Fortunately, I've made some arrangement and I will have more time for myself now.

I just went to watched 'Talentime' with Xuan few Sundays ago. My rating for this movie - 5 stars. Yasmin Ahmad did a good job again!

Her movies have been so real all the while. It's so 'Malaysian'. Yet, she always got criticised by the extremist, claiming that she had 'polluted' the cultures and bla bla bla... Kak Min, you are doing the right thing, don't give up!

This time, the focus wasn't on the inter-relationship between Malay and Chinese families, but Malay and Indian. Therefore, one would be exposed to different languages during the movies. Just wondering, what the stories of her next movie would be?

I still remember watching 'Sepet' for the 1st time (uncountable, after that) with my house mates back in Coventry. It made we missed home that time, especially seeing all those familiar places of my hometown. Why? The movie was shot in Ipoh!

Next, 'Gubra'; then, 'Mukhsin'. I have been waiting for the release of 'Muallaf'. But, it would only be shown on Astro and not the silver screen. Kak Min stands firmly this time for not wanting her movie to be 'edited' by the censorship board. Bravo!

I would mark 'Talentime' as my all time favourite among her movies. I enjoyed the storyline more; the touching scenes and nicer OST... I am going to buy the vcd or dvd once it's released and going to watch it again and again.

Thanks Kak Min for loving Ipoh so much. Don't stop coming back here for movies or tele-commercials shooting.

The winner takes it all

2009-04-08T12:25:00.000+08:00

It's 2-1.

No. It's 4-1.
Don't forget the previous 2 parliamentary seats by-election.

But, I would say it's 5-1.
We all know well enough which side was the winner in the 308.

我在做Part-time

2009-04-02T14:00:00.001+08:00

农历新年后，无端端地当上了‘冒牌’的数学导师。

一星期里，其中三晚在一间新开的补习中心教学；另外两晚，就在我家附近的救世军男童之家，义务地为那里的孩子上数学课，指导他们做功课。

你说，我空闲的时间，是不是一下子就少了许多呢？

说真的，是有点累的。

有时候，下班后回到家，真想好好地睡一大觉、今晚不去救世军那里。可是，臭屁的意志力还是有能力对我的脑子催眠。时间一到就出门去了。

两小时不停地为孩子们解答数学课题，真的可以把疲劳这码事给抛诸脑后。跟孩子们道别后，就会很开心地、很有满足感地离开。

反正在家里闲着也是闲着，做点对社会有贡献的事也无妨，对吗？

当初也想到，赚点额外的零用钱也好啊！就当着是筹一筹盘川、投资在‘旅游基金’啰！

补习中心开价，一个学生六四分帐。我六、他四。学生付一科，四十五令吉。算一算，我也有二十七。很好的价钱，对不对？

错了。一科四十五。但是，报名四科有折扣，共一百零五。这样子，平均一科才二十六左右。六四分帐，我才拿十多令吉，鸡碎咁多。

还有，这间中心开门至今，才有小猫两三只。加加减减，第一个月才有，大约百七。

一个礼拜十个小时，才有一百七十。我之前上门教一对一，可是收费二十五令吉一小时。蚀晒啰！

本来，还接到通电话，问我要不要上门教。可是，我真的没有多余时间，唯有推掉、看着两百多块飞走。

我那里可以忍受这样的underpaid。所以，就跟负责人谈谈，提议把一两班combine起来。那么，我就可以省点时间，不至于每小时才拿几块。还好，她答应了。

在救世军教，和在补习中心教，有什么分别呢？当然有啦!

在男童之家的话，没什么压力。谈一谈、笑一笑，很快地，时间到就回家。

相反的，在补习中心，会感到有压力的。遇到比较差的学生，自己很懊恼，为什么就是教不会他们。‘受人钱财，替人消灾’。这是我的责任。

我还打算今年去进修，教育系硕士班，好让把自己从‘业余’提升到‘专业’。可惜的，不知道什么原因，我的申请被驳回了。只好去找‘西家’，或其他课程呗。

想一想，这样子做part-time，也算是自我增值的一项吧！累计经验也可以，不一定要去上课考张‘沙纸’。你认为呢？

令我作呕的照片

2009-03-30T12:40:00.002+08:00

前几天，各大报章几乎都很心有灵犀地，于头条版面刊登三伟‘英雄’的合照。他们三位，我以‘过去、现在、未来’来称呼他们，应该不会有什么不妥吧！

过度被神化的他们，不知道为什么要如此出风头、抢上镜。难道他们sense到快‘大势已去’，不把握机会，可能就会‘永在怀念中’？搞噱头之举动，没有人会比他们更有经验吧！

善哉、善哉。愿主保佑他们。

Get to know 'myself' better

2009-03-18T12:55:00.000+08:00

Just did another personality quiz.
I would say it's quite a positive one.
How true do you think it's?

Your view on yourself:

You are down-to-earth and people like you because you are so straightforward. You are an efficient problem solver because you will listen to both sides of an argument before making a decision that usually appeals to both parties.

The type of girlfriend/boyfriend you are looking for:

You like serious, smart and determined people. You don't judge a book by its cover, so good-looking people aren't necessarily your style. This makes you an attractive person in many people's eyes.

Your readiness to commit to a relationship:

You are ready to commit as soon as you meet the right person. And you believe you will pretty much know as soon as you might that person.

The seriousness of your love:

Your have very sensible tactics when approaching the opposite sex. In many ways people find your straightforwardness attractive, so you will find yourself with plenty of dates.

Your views on education:

Education is less important than the real world out there, away from the classroom. Deep inside you want to start working, earning money and living on your own.

The right job for you:

You're a practical person and will choose a secure job with a steady income. Knowing what you like to do is important. Find a regular job doing just that and you'll be set for life.

How do you view success:

You are afraid of failure and scared to have a go at the career you would like to have in case you don't succeed. Don't give up when you haven't yet even started! Be courageous.

What are you most afraid of:

You are concerned about your image and the way others see you. This means that you try very hard to be accepted by other people. It's time for you to believe in who you are, not what you wear.

Who is your true self:

You are mature, reasonable, honest and give good advice. People ask for your comments on all sorts of different issues. Sometimes you might find yourself in a dilemma when trapped with a problem, which your heart rather than your head needs to solve.

What's your memory with me?

2009-03-16T12:41:00.001+08:00

Leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot.

Don't send a message, leave a comment here. Next, re-post this in your notes and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses.

Every song tells a story - Pt 1

2009-03-14T15:35:00.001+08:00

If you are a modern folk, I'm sure you are more or less hooked to listening to music, be it classical or pop music. And I truly believe that there must be a few particular songs that you like them so much, probably because of the catchy melody or the lyrics.

Of course, I'm just like anyone else, no different from you. Now, let me share with you of a few songs that could represent a certain period of my life.

2001
张学友、陈慧娴 - 接近 - 《茶是故乡浓》主题曲
Jacky Cheung, Priscilla Chan
- Jie Jin (Getting Close) - Theme Song of TVB 'Plain Love II'

The year of 2001 marked a new chapter of my life, as I moved to Subang Jaya from Ipoh, to do my A-Level studies. Well, it was my 1st time staying away from home and had to deal with new thing almost everyday. Fortunately I didn't take too long to adapt to this new environment.

During the 1st month when I was there, the cable was showing the TVB drama - Plain Love II, at night. Watching the drama every night, was one of the few entertainment I could enjoy at that time. The catchy melody of the theme song had no doubt found a place in my memory.

Every time when I listen to this song, all the pictures captured during this period would just flash through my mind.

2002
周传雄（小刚） - 黄昏
Zhou Chuan Xiong (aka Xiao Gang) - Huang Hun (The Dusk)

There were so many that I could talk about the year of 2002. I sat for the A-level exam, then left for UK for my undergraduate. Having stayed in UK for 3 years was definitely one of the highlight of my life and there's always so much thing to talk about.

In that year, it was also my 1st time following the whole FIFA World Cup tourney. Before that, I was never interested in watching soccer matches at all. I think it's because I was so free and so bored after the A-level exam and at that time, almost all the TV program was World Cup related.

During that time, this song was very popular among the Chinese community in Malaysia. It was made popular by one of the contestants from the 2002 Astro Talent Quest - none other than Nicolas Teo, one of the current pop icons. He sang this song during the final which he won the Champion.

'Be-End' has no balls

2009-03-04T14:30:00.000+08:00

Kelam-kabut-Chaotic-乱. These are the best words to discribe what's happening in my state - the silver state - Perak. All the drama has been going on for almost a month. I'm so tired of watching this drama and so sick of all the politicking. Could we just have a fresh state election and end all the turmoil? I'm not begging for it but, I am demanding it.

Why is one side of the policticians so afraid of having a fresh election? Kiasuism. Yup, they have so much to lose. The power, the privilege, the fame, the freebies, ... etc. They have no guts to witness another humiliating and landslide failure. They have forgotten that they are supposed to represent the Perakians.

Be a man and do the right thing! There's no point for the 2 boxers to argue verbally about who is the better one. Just get into the ring and start a fight professionally. At the end of the fight, the winner takes the applaud and the loser walk off with head high. Sportsmanship. Who doesn't understand that?

Just for laugh - Dikir Frog

2009-02-24T15:47:00.000+08:00

Tiada Gambar Bogel Di Sini!!!!!

2009-02-19T13:05:00.000+08:00

OK. I'm sure all my blog follower has quite a good eye sight. Yeah... the visits to my blog raised significantly from 10 to 183 on Monday, 18/2. For the next 2 days, the figure was still quite high.

After a quick check from the sitemeter, it seemed that almost 99% of the visitor were brought to my blog through google'in 'Elizabeth Wong Nude Pic' or similar keywords. WTH! I think it had disappointed them as no NAKED PIC could be seen here.

I truly believe that these google'ers were not browsing for this particular news. But instead, they were looking for the 'PIC' of Eli.

Come on, please give little support to this unlucky yet dedicated politician, by not searching for the 'PIC'. She has done nothing wrong to deserve all these.

Being a politician in Malaysia is challenging. It's worse for a non-Bumiputra / non-Muslim / female politician. Nevertheless, these politician are needed in Malaysian, to voice out the opinion of the minority groups.

The ordinary citizens might have the bread and butter to worry about, especially during this tough time. But, when it's time to work against the BAD GUYS, I believe that people would just join in to show support!

革命未成功，同志尚需努力！加油！

晴天霹雳后，何时才会雨过天晴？

2009-02-09T16:00:00.000+08:00

我，与许多人一样，从没想过单凭一个女人，就能牵动一场政治风暴。
我，只不过是平民老百姓一名，没有什么政治智慧。
我，感到愤怒的是，为何要在我的家乡让我目睹这一场闹剧？
我，对在308大选后组成的民联州政府，抱有很大的希望。
我，一直相信，新的州政府能让大家为身为霹雳州子民而骄傲！
我，只想知道，何时才能恢复过去的风平浪静？

2009-02-05T11:50:00.005+08:00

新春佳节期间，传来晴天‘霹雳’的消息。
显然的，有点煞风景。
但是，我相信——阳光总在风雨后。
雨过天晴，还会遥远吗？

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

原来人民的声音是那么的微不足道！

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

在你看到这篇文章时，你也该知道事情的结果是什么。
我为被牺牲掉的“民主精神”默哀一分钟。你呢？

Long Lost Friends

2009-02-03T10:50:00.001+08:00

One of my primary classmates created a site, in order to have all the classmates be united again. This is such a wonderful idea and I really hope that I can get back in touch with all of them.

We have parted since Std 6 and it's already been 14 years. Just simple calculation by fingers, I met my Std 1 classmates close to 20 years ago. Wow! That's what TIME can do to us.

The class of 6A, 1995

Do you think you can locate me in the pic?? If you do, please don't laugh k? Everyone has their past that's not needed to be in the limelight!

那些片断……

2009-01-22T15:10:00.000+08:00

My 1st experience in creating such a clip. Thanks to iMovie for such easy and user friendly step-by-step. It's really fun doing this. This is the result. What do you think?

Ancol & Indonesia Indah

2009-01-21T17:05:00.001+08:00

During the last day in Jakarta, we went to visit a few (just 2) tourist attractions. Taman Impian Jaya Ancol, aka Ancol Dreamland, was the 1st stop of the day after the Nasi Padang lunch. It's located along the Jakarta's Waterfront.

It has a theme park (Dunia Fantasi aka Fantasy World) well known for its rides, water parks, beaches, sports complex and resorts. Unfortunately, it's a bit run-down. I think the management need a good plan to maintain the area.

by the water

pics with us in it

No doubt, it's a great place for family weekend outing. But for us, there wasn't much fun. Could it be the age factor that made us so out of place there? Anyway, we just walked along the seaside, took some photos and left the place.

our main transport throughout the trip

Next destination - Taman Mini 'Indonesia Indah'. It'a culture-based recreational park. The main attractions would be the miniature villages that exhibit the culture, especially the architecture, of different ethnic groups from every province of Indonesia.

Besides, one could visit to the musuems (about 10) in this huge area. I'm sure it's the best place for the schoolkids to have different lessons here. It's an alternative to the boring chalk-and-talk.

the islands in the lake = map of Indonesia

Museum Komodo & Taman Reptilia house

The highlight of the day would definitely be the visit to the Komodo Dragon Museum. None of us would ever think that we could get such a close distance to the 'monster'! If it wasn't the worker, we would never have such a chance; and luckily, the pet had just had lunch.

Varanus komodoensis

HC and the Komodo dragon

The age factor kicked in for another time. We didn't visit all the villages in this park. We were too lazy to walk. Of all the miniature villages, we visited only one - the Bali. In total, there're about 20 of them.

mini Bali

discussion on the next activity

優子姓名學

2009-01-18T22:55:00.002+08:00

我也跟着恩来做个姓名学分析，看看我的个性。
照我来看，有的说对了；也有的讲错了！

姓名：刘建辉
性别：男生

內在想法
*想得比較多，簡單的事也常常想到很複雜（非常准确）
*頭腦不錯，求學時成績良好，很會做筆記（成绩还过得去；笔记做得再好，还是考不好）
*個性主動、積極，比較會去配合他人（有保留）
*對於不熟的人防禦心比較強（这是对的）
*看起來很好說話，但倔強起來比石頭還硬（陌生人都说我很cool喔）

外在行為
*很在乎自己的想法做法，有時無法容納他人的建議（很对）
*當自己覺得沒希望的時候，很容易自我放棄，突然會變得很脆弱（准得离谱）
*有創意、有才華，很會舉一返三（太看得起我）
*個性有時太過衝動，明知不可為的事會硬去做（后面那句⋯⋯）
*爆發力十足，但比較短暫，有三分鐘熱度的感覺（这是没错啦）

相逢何必曾相识

2009-01-13T15:40:00.000+08:00

茫茫人海当中，有多少人已经跟一群朋友失去联络许久？你也是其中之一吗？在这个科技发达的年代，人与人之间的距离其实已拉进了。还出现‘六度分割理论’之说。可是，为什么找回老朋友还是那么难？

我想，很多时候那是人为因素所造成的。有电话、有地址、有email、有facebook、有friendster……能不能做到，只是在于我们有没有去做。守株待兔，只等着别人找上自己，完全处于被动状态，你觉得会成事吗？

当然，若什么联络方式都没有，那就要相信‘六度分割理论’。凡走过必流下痕迹。从身边的人，认识他们身边的人，再找出这些人的身边朋友，再去打听……我相信很大机会能得到你意想不到的结果。原来，彼此间的距离其实不是很遥远！

而我是怎样找回没有联络已久的朋友呢？我用过且不曾失败的——在农历新年时，寄去一张贺年卡。大部分人都以离乡背井到外面打拼，只有过年过节才回家。趁这个佳节，把贺年卡寄去老家，他们收不到的机会非常小。

认识我的人都知道我曾经是《星洲日报》学生记者队的。中学毕业后，都与学记队的朋友没联络很久。直到我在英国的第二年，突然心血来潮在农历新年前，寄了几张贺年卡给几位较熟的学记。就这样，慢慢地与其他人‘重逢’，也从中知道更多人的近况。

前几天，接到一通电话。是其中一位学记打来的。说今年是我们第15届的，相识的十周年。也就这样，邀我出席一星期后的小聚会。我当然是高兴不已，也答应将会赴约。这可是难得的机会跟大家聚聚叙旧啊！

这让我想起MY Astro《牛转乾坤庆团圆》主打歌——《庆祝》里的几句歌词：

来庆祝来祝福
老朋友一起欢呼
经过这些年
重逢就满足
前尘和往事都历历在目
原来已经值得庆祝

你看，如果我当初没寄出那几张贺年卡，我不可能接到这一通电话、更不会知道有这样的聚会，因而错失与大家聚聚的机会。所以，别小看毫不起眼的贺年卡。记住：‘勿以善小而不为’；还有‘礼轻情义重’！你的朋友都在等着你啊！

Nasi Padang of Minangkabau

2009-01-06T23:35:00.001+08:00

Date & Time: 11/11/2008, Noon
Food tasters: Vid, KH, MH & HC
Targeted Restaurant: Rumah Makanan Garuda, Jakarta Pusat

24 hours - to increase competitiveness?

This wasn't my 1st time being the taster of Nasi Padang. During my last trip to Jakarta back in the Summer of 2005, I'd already tried that, but not at this restaurant. Watching the waiters & waitresses putting the dishes on our table non-stop, was always the fun bit.

view from the entrance

Other than being less Curry-based, I personally haven't found out the significant difference of Nasi Padang to Nasi Kandar in Malaysia, or maybe Nasi Kayu Pinang, Nasi Campur or whatever one likes to call it. Unless I consider the non-food-taste element, like the Indian influence in Malaysia.

They are all hot and spicy, unlike the Chinese 'Economic / Mixed Rice / Chap Fan / Chap Cai Peng'. The latter is more on stir frying, braising and of course, cheaper.

pic taken before the feast

the main thing - food

Overall, we were satisfied with the food here. Tasty and delicious. But, the down side: it's a bit more expensive than what we'd had for the past few days. That's the reason why we didn't eat the big prawns!

霉

2008-12-31T13:05:00.002+08:00

昨天下午下班时，突然间来个倾盆大雨。
在犹豫着是否要在办公室待久一点儿之际，
不管三七二十一，一支箭地奔上车子里。
当然，身子是被淋湿了些许。

想一想，还要不要到银行bank in支票。
既然刚刚也就弄湿了一身，
再和雨水共舞一下子也无妨。
我也就驱车前往旧街场的汇丰银行。

雨是小了点，撑着伞下车去了。
咦……好像有点不妥。
遥控器好像出了问题。
按了几次，门就是没锁上。
嘀……好的，锁上了。

搞定一切后，也该去拿车，然后回家去。
糟糕……遥控器再次失灵。
显然的，不是电池的问题。
那是什么呢？

站在车子旁，使力地按。
五分钟过去了，就是不能。
虽然，可以用车钥匙开门，
但是，我知道随之而来就是那刺耳的警铃声。
我可不要就此引起路人的注意。

人有三急，先去Mamak档借用洗手间。
然后到Kopitiam避雨。
点了杯咖啡乌，热的。
拨电给家人拿后备车钥匙过来。

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2008年，也快结束了。
没什么偏要在这个时候，遇上了这样的倒霉事件？
或许，我该换个正面角度去看看。
霉运来了，好运还会遥远吗？

才上个月罢了，就被问到今年有什么愿望是达成的。
我的答案——今年密集地出国旅游！
3月去了越南北部；7月在柬埔寨；11月到西爪哇。
当然，那些没实现的，不告诉你。
我会挪后到明年，再去努力。

还有少过半天的时间，2009就会来临。
先在这里，祝大家“新年快乐！”
再借用星光三班《星光祭》里的咒语：
Teman baikku, kamu harus semangat!

I'm your host

2008-12-26T13:15:00.002+08:00

This is just another update on my Couchsurfing experience. I was quite busy hosting different CSers during the first 2 weeks of December.

I'm always happy about it as I get to meet people from different sides of the globe. Having the chance to understand different cultures was the main motivation for me to join Couchsurfing.

1st - 2nd Dec 08: hosted Ayesha & YiXin (Singapore)
This young couple from Singapore showed how adventurous they were during the college break. No proper travel plan. Just to travel until they were broke. They were so amused of how the bean sprouts being eaten in Ipoh. This reminded me of Shiling's comment about the bean sprouts.

Ayesha - Yixin - me - Kit

1st - 4th Dec 08: hosted Kit (Canada)
It was my 2nd time hosting Kit in Ipoh. The very first time I met her was way back in August. She was going to end her exploration in Asia soon. On the way to KLIA to catch the flight to Japan, I hosted her a few nights. She had a day trip to Cameron Highland with my mum and mum's friend.

4th Dec 08: hosted Sandrea (Malaysia)
My first time meeting up with a fellow CSers from Malaysia, Johor to be more precise. She is an activist and just started the job as the special assistant to one of the state excos. She had spent 6 months in New Zealand with the working traveller visa before that.

5th - 6th Dec 08: hosted Alar (Estonia)
I didn't spend much time with Alar, just a little bit of chit-chat. He arrived late in Ipoh from Lumut and left early the next day for Cameron Highland. Coincidentally, he met my next guests - Anian & Mathias during the bus ride.

10th - 12th Dec 08: hosted Anian & Mathias (Switzerland)
They came to Ipoh at the right time when all of my sisters were back in Ipoh. Hosting them made my place so happening and brought in much cheers. My sisters and cousin went white water rafting with them too. Later, my sister, too, became the host of them in Subang.

Anian - my bro - Mathias

12th - 14th Dec 08: hosted Peter & Maria (Russia)
They were out all the time, so I didn't have much time talking to them. It might be the language barrier also that made me couldn't know more about them. They had a free ride to Penang with my friend - Sam, after that.

Tangkuban Perahu

2008-12-20T11:00:00.000+08:00

Welcome to Tangkuban Perahu

Mt Tangkuban Perahu, meaning the flipped boat in English, is an active volcano and at the same time is seen as the symbol of Bandung. The name has something linked to the 'Legend of Sangkuriang', about how a disobedient son kicked his boat upside-down and turned into stone.

we're finally there after a very long journey

wanna have a horse ride? or scarf made of rabbit fur?

Since we were in Bandung, how could we miss the chance to visit this place? In fact, it was the only tourist attraction that we went to. Of course, we didn't hike up to the crater area. Fortunately, we had Pak Ari there to be our chauffeur. He drove us there, passing through the forest.

lotsa 'climbing'

the viewing hut; unknown snacks

It's very cooling up there; right time to get away from the heat. Due to the smoke from the volcano, it's quite hazy. Yet, it made all the pictures taken there look nice. Again, this place gave us much opportunity to show our photography skill.

paparazzi wannabe

Pak Ari was the only one among us to have the guts to stand so close to the crater and squatted down as seen in the picture below. For this, HC claimed 'His balls is bigger than mine!'

Pak Ari, squatting very closely to the edge

one of the 2 active craters

We spent time exploring the place and taking pictures. When we thought that it's time to leave, the rain poured. Worse, we were not with Pak Ari at that time. So, we couldn't get into the car and got to hide at the road side stall. Not to mention, we were all soaking wet; in such a weather. We couldn't reach Pak Ari's phone as the coverage was very bad up there. No choice, but to wait.

When the rain wasn't that heavy anymore, we decided to rent the umbrella and look for Pak Ari. Just as MH & Vid stepped out the stall where we sheltered, we saw Pak Ari walking towards us. Opps, wrong timing.

the car was there but couldn't get in; sheltered from the rain

Then, we started the long journey back to Bandung. All wet, sting and hungry!

An artist

2008-12-14T18:05:00.000+08:00

Every one of us is born to be an artist.
We are gifted with a blank drawing paper and painting tools.
We draw, we paint and we colour it.
The piece of art resembles our lives.

Some takes only a little time to get it done.
And use the rest of the time to perfect every details.
Some makes a lot of changes in between.
Some could only complete it when bidding farewell to this world.

For me, I would say I'm still at the pencil sketching stage.
I don't mind taking however long to complete.
Because I know it would somehow be done one day.
And, it would tell every stories of my life.

Bandung Snacks

2008-12-10T12:45:00.001+08:00

Clockwise from top left:-

Durian Ice Cream
Bubur Ayam Mang Oyo
Mie Bakso
Martabak
Savoury with Rum
Ginger Soupy Dessert
Mie Yamien
Sweet Potato Balls
Batagor
Brownies Panggang / Brownies Kukus

Sundanese Cuisine in Bandung

2008-12-06T13:10:00.003+08:00

On the way up to Mt Tangkuban Parahu, the symbolic and active volcano in Bandung, the traffic was very congested on the opposite side (towards Bandung). According to Vid, it's because of the large crowd spending the weekend in Lembang. As such, everyone was rushing back to Bandung or Jakarta on the Sunday.

We stopped by at this restaurant for lunch. It's a random choice as it's had passed the lunch hour for some time and we had no info on any particular restaurant. Thinking about it, it's actually my first experience of Sundanese Food.

Warung Nasi Saung Pengkolan

the interior decor

I've forgotten most of the food that we ordered. I could only think of:- Gurame Goreng (Fried Gurame fish), Sate Kelinci (rabbit-meat satay), Patai Bakar (roasted petai) & Tempeh. It wasn't a bad lunch after all, yet, there's not much to talk about other than nocticing the flies around us.

our lunch...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day, before going back to Jakarta, we had another round of Sundanese food for lunch. This time, we went to the food place that was stated in the Wikitravel guide. It's in fact a famous eating outlet in Bandung. I think, sticking to a travel guide wasn't something bad after all.

Kedai Ma'Uneh

I learned something new. Pepes. It's a way to prepare and cook the food. Marinate the meat, fish, eggs, tempeh or tahu with different kind of spices, then wrap them with banana leaves and roast. We ordered a few Pepes dishes. The food was better than what we had yesterday. Good job, Wikitravel!

the food stall

lunch... with different kind of chillies

Berhati-hati di jalan raya!

2008-11-28T12:35:00.002+08:00

Very Hot Manadonese Food

2008-11-25T11:45:00.001+08:00

Location: Restoran Beautika Khas Manado

We were introduced to Manadonese food by Vid in Jakarta. The place was kind of like any mixed rice shops in M'sia. But, the dining area was so much classy and with air-con. We chose whatever dishes we wanted at the stall near the entrance.

All the food looked delicious and named clearly. The number of chillies shown beside the name of the food indicated how spicy hot of the dishes. However, we didn't interpret that correctly.

As such, we ordered (stupidly):

Cumi Woku Belanga - Calamari (3 chillies)
Ayam Isi Dibulu - Chicken (3 chillies)
Daging Paniki - Bat meat (3 chillies)
Pepes Cakalang Bakar - Fish (3 chillies)
Bunga Pepaya - Stir fried papaya stems or leaves (1 chilli)
Pisang Goreng & Sambal - Fried banana & fish sambal

(Clockwise from top left: Fish - Chicken - Calamari - Bat - Papaya)

Fried banana & sambal

The highlight would be the Bat meat. The meat tasted like any other smoked meat, be it pork or chicken. The wings part was like very soggy fungus. Anyway, it's very hot............. As hot as the other dishes.

the Bat...

Everything was so spicy hot until our taste bud couldn't functioning well anymore. We kept on drinking the teh hangat (warm tea) hoping to cool down our tongue.

The fried banana was the only thing I felt nice because it wasn't spicy. The sambal was different. It's more like the fish paste.

Angelina Jolie & Shu Qi (舒淇) wannabes!

再次踏足Jakarta

2008-11-19T13:55:00.001+08:00

Fel:"Jakarta nice meh?"
Sorry Fel. I gotta disagree with you about that. Jakarta is not bad actually. What made you so afraid of going back to Jakarta?

I was asked whether this year resolution has been achieved.
My answer's 'Yes', seeing that I had traveled quite 'regularly' throughout this year.
Nevertheless, a few targets haven't been hit. It's no big deal.
Overall, I'm more than happy and satisfied with everything happening to me this year!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

相隔3年，我又在Jakarta留下脚印。今年，我已经是第三次飞出大马了！先是4月份独自到越南北部；7月份与健华结伴到柬埔寨；现在到印尼爪哇西部。请容许我在这里打一下广告：谢谢你，亚航。让每个人都可以飞！

Jakarta某区街景

这次的旅伴有大学同学——MH和HC。我们3人分别从吉隆坡及新山启程，在Jakarta会合。我们都以探望在Jakarta工作的Vid为由，再“顺便”到Bandung（万隆，西爪哇省府）游玩。感谢Vid，除了让我们几个大男生在她的家借宿几宵外，若没有她这位印尼人带队，我们就没有机会看清楚这个城市、尝到更多道地美食。

3年前的回忆，只停留在那比吉隆坡糟糕些许、且跟曼谷差不多的拥挤交通；因为交通法令漏洞而出现的‘专业Hitchhiker’；还有，就是每次到购物广场，都要被搜车、搜包包。虽然说是为安全着想，但有时候我也在想，这会不会‘想太多’了呢？

读万卷书，不如行万里路。旅游能让大家开拓视野，这是千真万确的！几天下来，我又对印尼这个与大马称兄道弟的万岛之国，留有新的印象。原来，这里的超级市场是没有Halal和Non-Halal区之分；原来，印尼人比大马同胞更有礼貌，难怪大马一直被人笑说‘第三世界的服务’！

服务最有口碑的德士

（虽然翻译成闽南语，非常不雅‘听’）

很遗憾的，我们找不到当红新闻人物——美国侯任总统Obama曾就读的小学。还以为可以在该学校大门前拍照留念，回国后向大家炫耀一下。事与愿违。驾车在该区兜了几圈，就是找不到。地图上也没表明该学校的位置。要不然，这次的旅程会更有意义。

West Java 之旅

2008-11-14T11:17:00.001+08:00

Wonderful Moment - 美好时光

2008-11-03T18:50:00.002+08:00

It's time for me to do another trial run of translation.
I know I'm still not up to mark yet.
Give me more chances, k?
Practice makes perfect! Right?

Dedicated to all my beloved friends!!

传说中那个美丽小村庄
There's a small beautiful village
在遥远被遗忘的远方
Located far away
背着行囊驰骋在草原上
Traveling across the grassland
路虽颠簸心充满温暖阳光
Though hard there's always warm sunshine

清澈眼眸和微笑脸庞
Clear eyes and simles
在雨季午后更加明亮
Even brighter after the rain
小小心愿只是美丽的衣裳
Nice clothes being the only desire
原来简单的幸福在你身旁
Simple happiness is always there

一起共渡每一刻美好时光
Spending every wonderul moment together
微笑一直在我们脸上
Always having the smiling face
永远没有烦恼也没有悲伤
No worry and sadness forever
许个愿一辈子快乐飞翔
Wishing we could fly happily for all time
当想念我就歌唱
Just sing it out when you think of me
这样我会陪在你身旁
For me to be at your side

一起共渡每一刻美好时光
Spending every wonderul moment together
微笑一直在我们脸上
Always having the smiling face
永远没有烦恼也没有悲伤
No worry and sadness forever
许个愿一辈子快乐飞翔
Wishing we could fly happily for all time
当想念我就歌唱
Just sing it out when you think of me
手牵手看天空一起闯快乐的天堂
Together we explore the happy heaven

Bon Voyage, Kenny Chew

2008-10-30T22:50:00.002+08:00

Kenny has finally gone back to the US to continue his Phd studies. What‘s supposed to be a 3 weeks long break has eventually become a 3 months longer vacation. What’s more with the change of citizenship in a blink of eyes?

I would think he’s not going to forget all the hell he had to go through. It’s definitely a turning point in his life journey. Sincerely hope that he’d leave all the negatives behind and working hard to achieve what he wants!

Max - me - SC - Kenny

～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～～

人才流失，这码事情听得多了！但是，往往就觉得它是那么的遥远，似乎对自己嘎不上任何关系。或许，我有自知之明——因为，我不是人才。

现在，眼看着自己的最要好朋友，因为签了一份蛮霸道的合约，而需要放弃马来西亚的公民权，并效忠新加坡去了！没办法，他是人才嘛！要不然，我也可以跑去修个博士学位了！

我的好友，忽然换了个身份，感觉好像少了个朋友的同时，又多了一位新朋友。霎时间，人才流失，好像跟我搭上了关系。

从各种媒体得到的结论，不外就是说这会造成国家缺乏相关领域的专才，对经济影响有多大。另一种声音，就振振有词地说这些人才是怎样被边缘化，不得不离乡背井、在异乡落地生根。

这样的争论，有如‘先有鸡还是先有蛋’般的问题，答案莫棱两可。

对，向‘钱’看的话，到国外打拼一段日子，固然可以拥有一笔可观的存款。或者，就一些人所言，到外面的世界转几圈，无非是为了开拓视野、当着是人生历练。这也没错！

但是，可别忘了我们在童年时许下的承诺——对社会要有贡献。因此，在外头流浪的时候，千万别忘记家在何处！还有，游子们，记得要多回家啊！

我是幸运的

2008-10-23T16:42:00.003+08:00

Today is my lucky day!

I attended a roadshow hosted by UBS Software this morning. It's just a seminar regarding its recent version upgrade of the softwares. Nothing much to talk bout it actually.

However, the highlight of the day -- I won an 1GB iPod Shuffle! I was the sole winner of the one and only one lucky draw of the day.

Why no CASH??? :-)

Long Weekend

2008-10-21T15:40:00.003+08:00

The SG Citygal, aka Shiling, was in KL.
As such, it became an excuse for me to be in KL.
It's been almost 3 months since the last time I was there.

Friday evening, I drove down to KL after work.

I was given the task to pick up the Citygal.

Ok, I know it's weird to ask an Ipoh-mali to do that.

No choice. The most reliable KL folk - MH couldn't make it.

The others? Busy with 'meetings'!

You know la, the market is so bad now...

Haiz, dunno why am I finding excuses for them.

The 1st night, met up with Dhar & KQ.

Ate some not so nice HK style cafe food.

Then went to have some beer.

Chit-chatted a bit and called it a night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day, started around noon time.

While waiting the arrival of the 2 KAF slaves,

me & Shiling went to eat some Shanghainese snacks.

Then, window-shopping at Pavillion.

Then, Japanese Mocha drinks.

Then, the 2 - Mabel & Dhar arrived.

Another round of eating - Italian food.

Next, watched movie - Mamma Mia!

My 2nd time & Mabel's 3rd.

After the movie, we shopped for MH's house warming present.

Next, started calling the others for dinner.

Dinner place decided - Banana Leaf Rice @ Nirvana, Bangsar.

4 of us + Xtie + KQ + David + David's gf.

Later, moved to Alexis for desserts & drinks.

Of course, with the red carpet entrance of WW.

We chit chatted until the curfew started.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sunday, very relaxed.

As per requested, went to A&W for brunch.

It's because there's no more A&W outlets in SG.

Next, Karaoke session @ Neway, One Utama.

Just 4 of us: Me, Shiling, Mabel & Xtie.

It's fun although we couldn't sing well!

Around dinner time, we all visited MH's new house.

His family held a house warming party.

We were invited as theis guests.

Few rounds of food until we were so full.

Then, it's time for me to hit the highway back to Ipoh.

So did MH & Shiling.

They're going to Ipoh craving for food.

2 hours later, we were in Ipoh.

1st round, the famous Snow Beer in Ipoh Old Town.

Highlight: the waitress here used PDAs to take orders.

We too ordered fried clams (lala) & calamari besides beer.

Met up with MH's colleague - WS.

Non-stop discussions on Ipoh food.

Before going back to my house,

MH wanted to hunt for the prawn mee near Central Market.

Unfortunately, the stalls wasn't open that night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Went back to old town again on Monday morning.

This time, we had the hawker food as breakfast.

Chicken floss hor-fun, taugeh & popiah.

Me & MH then went to work.

Shiling was left to explore old town all by herself.

At noon, I met them again.

Together with WS & my friend SC,

we then headed to Kuala Sepetang,

a small town near Taiping, for seafood lunch.

Food ordered:

Assam fish, fried baby crab, fried fish, octopus,

刺螺, seafood tofu, oyster noodle, etc...

When back in Ipoh,

we went to the famous drive-in taufufah.

No reason for them to miss this whenever in Ipoh.

After resting for a while, it's dinner time.

Location: Gourmet Square.

Food ordered:

Grilled stingray, fried mantis shrimp, curry mee, etc...

Not enough, tong sui street was the next stop.

Chilled out a bit while tasting the desserts.

There's a incident happening.

However, we left the place without finding out why.

Unlucky for the 2nd time.

The prawn mee stall was closed again.

This time, Shiling was the one craving for it.

Too meet her demand, we went to Oldtown Kopitiam.

What a day full of food!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tuesday breakfast: Bak Kuk Teh.

It's Shiling's die-die-must-have meal.

As such, MH got to miss the Lucky's seafood porridge.

Next time la!!

Then, I bidded farewell to 2 of them.

& MH went to collect all his buah tangan for family & colleagues.

Egg tarts, kaya puffs, salted chickens, heong peng, etc...

What a long weekend!

Happy Two-Five

2008-10-14T12:35:00.001+08:00

Gathering Minutes

Location: Gourmet Square, Canning Garden

Date: 27/09/08, Saturday

Time: 7.00pm ++

Present: KH, Max, SC & Kenny
Absent: Unknown

Topic of the day: To celebrate KH's 25th Birthday

Proceedings:

1. Food ordered:- Curry Mee, Chilli Crab, Fried Mantis Shrimp, Popiah, etc.....

2. Dicussion on Kenny's recent change of citizenship; M'sian -> S'porean

(Conclusion: Unhappy, but left with no choice)

3. Weird experiences with S'poreans.

4. Carried on with no-points chit-chatting.

5. Gathering adjourned at Gourmet Square, but continued at Ice-Cream Cafe.

table for 4 please......

Updates on Couchsurfing

2008-10-06T12:15:00.001+08:00

I had received another request from a Couchsurfer, Marco. He’s an Italian Punk-Rock musician and will be coming to Ipoh some time next month. I replied to him saying that I would be able to host him so long that it’s after my trip to Jakarta & Bandung. His reply to this: ‘hope to see you soon.’

Of course, I did browse through his profile on couchsurfing.com. His description of himself really caught my attention, especially this line:

… have no desire to go back to Italy. I want to go anywhere and I want to help like-minded people to have a place to crash …

What a cool phrase! I do hope to be as magnanimous as him! So 豁达 (fut da) & 潇洒 (siu sa) ！

Having such a liberal & unconventional mindset wasn’t what I’ve been trained for. Although a very small part in my heart telling me to be like that, the reality set in and I have to resume to my role. The reason: my body and soul have been brainwashed for nearly a quarter of a century, to face up to the challenges in reality.

All the Couchsurfers that I hosted so far are generous minded as that. Like Ota the Czech for which I had my first experience of Couchsurfing, decided to retired from working despite only in the late twenties; Kit & Francesco, both taking some time out of works and studies, joined some soul-searching camp in India. All of them share a same goal: to step in to different territories and meet people. This is the same to the two Couchsurfers I hosted recently: Shar from Nevada USA & Simon from Uruguay

Shar is an American Fine Art graduate. After working a few years, she decided to go to Australia to work part time and earn enough for travel fund and for her graduate studies later on. She is a very polite and well-mannered person. Too bad, I didn’t have much time showing her around Ipoh. Luckily, both my sisters were in holiday that time and they had fun doing white water rafting in Kampar.

Simon, a skilled photographer, on the other hand, has not called a place home for few years. He has just begun to tour around half of the globe. It’s going to be another 2 years before reaching the final destination – Turkey. At the end of his trip, I am sure he would have met up and befriended with more than a hundred of Couchsurfers and locals in different coutries. I wish I could be like him; just leave everything behind for awhile and forget about the sense of belonging (归宿感) for a short period.

I am really looking forward to be hosted by any Couchsurfers in the future. Who wanna join me? However, I do feel weird to tumpang at some strangers’ house. This is something I need to get away with so as to happily enjoy the true spirit of Couchsurfing!

Mamma Mia!

2008-09-29T11:55:00.001+08:00

昨天，去戏院看了《Mamma Mia!》这部改变自著名音乐舞台剧的电影。该音乐剧在全世界都引起热烈回响，得到很多热爱剧场表演人士的青睐。因此，被拍成电影，是蛮令人期待的。

对于我来说，这剧本的主角，不是演员，而是ABBA组合的经典音乐。他们的音乐，自小就有机会接触了。每当听到他们的歌曲，都能勾起儿时的回忆。

电影里唯一美中不足的地方，就是把我最喜欢的《Knowing Me, Knowing You》这首歌曲给抽起。我非常肯定，舞台剧版本是有这首歌曲的。因为，在看舞台剧时，我对这首歌留有最深刻的印象。

在戏院和剧场观看的不同之处在于，戏院里的观众不会随歌起舞，跟着唱、跟着跳；在剧场里，有点像在看一场演唱会，掌声此起彼落，有时候也来个大合唱，蛮疯狂的。

我是在伦敦看这舞台剧的。非常记得那天是2005年7月16日，毕业后离开英国的前一天。除了我，那时还有Chris、Vid和Shiling。因为每次都买不到票，所以等了好久都还没看这音乐剧。离别在即，票再贵也要看，怕以后没机会。

也因为这样，看完这部电影后，忽然想起很多在英国的片断。有喜的、有悲的，还有其他甜酸苦乐的。随之而来，便幻想着，如果当初不这样、我那样，现在的我会是怎样的呢？

想得太远了，便问自己：‘我对现况满意吗？’我的答案是：满意，（虽然还有些许的不如意）。既然对现在的生活满意，我也不该再想过去了！我常常就是这样把自己从‘白日梦’中引回现实当中的。

没有过去的经验，就不会‘打造’现在的我。我可以有更好的过去，但是我能笃定我现在会更好吗？‘God knows！’这会是大部分人的答案吧！

The Khmer Way XIV

2008-09-22T16:50:00.000+08:00

旅途上，我们都想一切顺利，不想有任何不开心的事情发生。但是，难免会遇上一些不愉快的。通常，我们会埋怨它使我们的旅途蒙上黑点。往正面去想的话，我们为何不把它当成‘遗憾美’来欣赏呢？假以时日，他很可能是我们回忆里，最耀眼的一颗‘亮点’！

I had a bad impression of our Tuk-tuk driver in Phnom Penh. He was doing a good job. But, everything vanished when he ‘begged’ for extra tips on top of the payment we were supposed to pay, at the end of the ‘rental’. We did tip him, however, unwillingly.

inside Central Market

We were actually thinking of taking a photograph with him as remembrance. But, we thought: forget about it la! Forget about him too!

Tipping is not something oneself could ask for, but to earn it! We too tipped the tuk-tuk driver & guide in Siem Reap for the wonderful job they had done. Even if we didn’t tip, they shouldn’t have begged for it.

Wat Phnom

Oh well, it’s a whole new ‘tipping’ world that I have just encountered. Luckily in Malaysia, it’s still uncommon to tip.

Was it the tourists, especially the Westerners, to be blamed for ‘blooming’ the culture of ‘tipping’ or the art of ‘begging’?

11/7/08

The Khmer Way XIII

2008-09-21T00:55:00.001+08:00

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum 波尔布特战争罪恶馆

it was just a normal school

the victims... may they rest in peace

the interrogation room

the leg cuffs

limited space in the cells

the wooden lockup cells

one of those equipment used to torture the prisoners

not the Roman Ring... but the Gallows

the grave

The Killing Field @ Cheuong Ek 杀戮场

the Pagoda

the clothes found on the dead bodies

remind us of 'how cruel the human can be'

click on the image to read the story

the tree witnessed the tragedies

where the bodies were buried under

916

2008-09-17T13:05:00.000+08:00

今天是，公元2008年9月16日。
是马来西亚成立45年的纪念日。
也是全马来西亚子民等待“好戏上映”的日子。
在野联盟团队，是否能终结巫统的霸权政治？
安华能不能成为新的首领，组织新大马政府？
这些，自308以来，都是每个人所关注的。
不过，到现在，一切‘只闻楼梯响’。
普罗大众也只有‘观热闹’的份儿。
亲国阵的，高兴之际，也在揶揄‘反对党’。
民联的支持者，虽失望，但还存有希望。
对于政治冷感的，这些都无关痛痒。
国家大事，都不管我的事！
对我来说，这当然是我的事。
因为，马来西亚是我的国家。
它是属于每一位马来西亚人。
没有一个人，可以把它占为己有。
过去，联邦政府的政策，都旨在分化各民族。
各家自扫门前雪，成了本国人民团结的象征。
和睦且融洽地相处，只是挂在嘴边的口头禅。
向外国朋友说：“马来西亚，真实的亚洲。”
也只不过是在舞台上，让大家看到：
我跳我的、你跳你的、他跳他的。
我感谢308，让我重新认识我的国家。
马来西亚，并不单单是由三大民族组成。
现在，每每听到‘三大民族’，心里都不爽。
西马的政治霸权，使半岛原住民的声音没被听见。
东马的一切，从来就传不到西马人的心中。
突然间，我感到很羞愧。
很多看似理所当然的，其实并不竟然。
历史，可以解决831或916的争论。
可是，许多人却把它看成是‘先有鸡还是先有蛋？’
答案，很可能就不了了之了！
不管怎样，现在国家有难，匹夫都有责任。
黑白两边，到底哪一方才是维护正义的？
站在灰色地带，静观其变。
这样的选择，你又觉得如何呢？
政治圈子里，不应该只有政治人物。
每个人都该在那圈子里，找到立足之地。
因为，人民才是老板!

P/S:

今天也是农历戊子年八月十七日，我的农历生日。

还以为，可以有大件事让我纪念这一天！

到最后，还是事与愿违。

Say 'NO"!

2008-09-13T11:44:00.001+08:00

The Khmer Way XII

2008-09-08T14:10:00.000+08:00

我在想，我会不会重游我曾经去过的外国城市？英国境内的城市，先不说，毕竟那里曾是我短暂的‘第二个家’；与马来半岛为邻的边界城市，如合艾或新加坡，也不说，因为去了无数次。算一算，我到现在为止，只旧地重游过曼谷、雅加达和香港。我能否再回去柏林、佛罗伦萨和暹粒？唯有看缘分啰！因为，世界那么大，还有很多陌生国度在向我招手啊！

I miss Siem Reap; I miss the Tuk-tuk driver - Mr Trung; I miss E8ightrooms & its staffs; I miss Ly Hong telling us the stories lie behind each Angkor site; I miss the road side hawker food; I miss everything that I've heard, seen, tasted, smelled, touched or 'breathed' in Siem Reap. It's a lovely city!

The Royal Palace

I'm now in Phnom Penh. It's just like another Hanoi or another Bangkok. There are more foreigners here. (I've been seeing many Caucasian guys together with local girls) All the restaurants here serve mainly Western food and just a little bit of Khmer food.

Independence Monument

Why was I disliking this city so much? Was it because of the unpleasant bus journey from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh?

10/7/08

The Khmer Way XI

2008-09-05T12:00:00.000+08:00

Expedition to the famous Angkor Heritage Site - 3rd Day: Part F

Lolei 罗蕾寺

long-abandoned temple

hope it wouldn't collapse

Bakong 巴孔寺

typical long way leading to the main building

the main building

closer view

the holy guards

me & Kin Wah

Preah Ko 神牛寺

after restoration

cows - the master

so fierce

The Khmer Way X

2008-09-03T13:25:00.001+08:00

Expedition to the famous Angkor Heritage Site - 3rd Day: Part E

Banteay Srey 女王宫

long walking way

me & Kin Wah

monkeys?

me & Kin Wah

so alike the Chinese village house

Brahma - Vishnu - Shiva

Banteay Samre 班蒂色玛寺

entrance

conquered by the plants

the centre point

the central compound

Selamat Menyambut Hari Kebangsaan

2008-09-02T11:20:00.000+08:00

Should 31st August be remembered as the Birthday of Malaysia??? By definition, birthday should be that day when it was born. However, Malaysia was formed on 16th September 1963. So, shouldn't all Malaysians celebrate it's birthday on 16th September? 31st August 1957 was the day when Malaya gained independence, and at that time, no one had any idea about Malaysia. 831 or 916, that's a question!

国庆日->假期->周末->回怡保->聚会

8月30日，星期六，晚上

我、雯逊、善赐、健华和伟伦，五个人，先到市中心的“碳世界”吃火锅大餐。虽然这家火锅店很有名，但这也只不过是我第二次光顾它。第一次，也是近一年前的事了！那时侯，同行的也是craziest那班死党，只不过那时‘党员’较为齐全。每位RM21.80+服务税，自助式，还算“大件夹抵食”！

接着，一行人看戏去了。Babylon AD，演员有Vin Disel和杨紫琼。不过，很可惜的，不好看，都把大家搞得一头雾水！我不是专业的影评人。评语，甭谈了。

8月31日，星期天，早上

我、雯逊和善赐，心血来潮，决定勇闯Tambun Sunway Lost World Water Park。这座水上乐园虽然已开始营业了好几年，也跟我的家相隔不远，但就是从来没买票进去过。今天，难得我们有假期，所以打算做点户外运动。

这个地方，还蛮适合一家大小过天伦之乐的。我们，还未成家立室，所以觉得还好而已。再去第二次，应该会是很久很久以后的事！

本来，我们可是要去Lata Kinjang & Kuala Klah Hot Spring。但是，这个地点，好像不太受大伙儿的欢迎。

8月31日，星期天，晚上

午睡醒来后，我便和善赐到东区的Waraku吃晚餐。在怡保，要吃日本餐，我一定推荐这一家。食物道地且选择多，价钱也还算大众化。如果有iDeal卡，还有10%折扣。
过后，再会合贤智，到东区的Oldtown Kopitiam聚聚。这集团的Kopitiam，近年来，似乎已成了怡保人，晚上出去跟三五知己聚会的“老地方”。

9月1日，星期一，晚上

今晚吃韩国餐。这次有我、善赐和家权。地点——也是位于东区的艺苑韩国料理。主食是猪肉烧烤。餐单里的选择不算多；味道可还不错。价钱，个人略嫌贵了一点儿！

P/S: 恩来，你走得太快了！不然，一定有你的份儿！希望你能轻轻松松的读完最后一年，好好享受在乌克兰的时间。

建谈辉议室 by Kian Lau

Travelogue 2011

比翼连枝

12 hours bus journey to Luang Prabang

【鄉音 回家】

Drawing Personality Test

饥饿30之后

Saigon - Sg Lembing - KL - Pangkor - KL

学记队26周年庆

I'm fine. You?

Only if they are politicians in Malaysia

任贤齐《再出发》

性不性，由你⋯⋯

普天同庆庚寅年

晕……这样子还不拿‘冠军’？

一 人 一 種 顏 色 (DISC profile)

Happy 2010

花田囍事

Ready to fly!

I-You-He-She-It, again!

心情随笔·二

心情随笔

最近比较烦⋯⋯但係又唔知烦乜

正碟新上架

Another tryout

年轻嘅本钱

Mr Mata, where's your Professionalism?

你給別人的形象

早安老师

An emotional letter

恋爱方程式

Kuching - RWMF 音乐故事

Kuching - RWMF High翻天

RIP Kit!

有情人终成眷属

Amazing Art

1^n = 1

我们的主题曲

Every song tells a story - Pt 3

Masyarakat Majmuk

Meme

踏足Kuching

天妒英才

人猿·人缘

Kuching - 猫城猫事

Rainforest World Music Festival 2009

雨伞

别来无恙吗？

好好听

Future Travel Plan

University of Warwick Alumni Weekend

Every song tells a story - Pt 2

Practical vs Dreamer

十年之后

Pembohong

7th May 2009 - another date to remember

Perakians reject Racial Politics

This is so sad...

Talentime

The winner takes it all

我在做Part-time

令我作呕的照片

Get to know 'myself' better

What's your memory with me?

Every song tells a story - Pt 1

'Be-End' has no balls

Just for laugh - Dikir Frog

Tiada Gambar Bogel Di Sini!!!!!

晴天霹雳后，何时才会雨过天晴？

Long Lost Friends

那些片断……

Ancol & Indonesia Indah

優子姓名學

相逢何必曾相识

Nasi Padang of Minangkabau

霉

I'm your host

Tangkuban Perahu

An artist

Bandung Snacks

【鄉音回家】

一人一種顏色 (DISC profile)