Pixelated Mo

FACEBOOK I KILL YOU

2011-04-02T22:13:00.002+08:00

I think facebook has kill my blog........ its not that i dont have the time to blog... its just that i spend it facebooking........

sigh...... must spend less time on facebook... is that possible....

Yindia!!!!! Day 9 The Rock Fort Temple

2010-10-05T11:31:00.004+08:00

Looked forward to this day ever since i got here. The Rockfort Temple...

As usual i watched Keelaputur wake up that morning while i waited for Jagen to arrive. Im not sure if it was just me but i think the clouds that morning were so unique and interesting...

From India Day 9 & 10

while i was up on the roof trying to get a few shots of the interesting cloud formations when the bark of a familiar dog came from a nearby house.. this little feller lived on the top floor and i had seen it the first day in India but i didnt have my camera with me...

From India Day 9 & 10

We drove tru a different part of town to get to the Fort Temple... and it was interesting to find that the saree shops we passed were actually part of the old temple structure which spanned the area around this great rock..

From India Day 9 & 10

up a few steps to a small temple will lead you to the main flight of stairs takiing you all the way up... Unfortunately no photography is allowed in the temple areas... so all i got are stairs... Not sure how many steps we took but it was surely more then 272 steps which leads first to the Shivan Temple which is carve out of the rock .... again sorry for not having any photos because it was not allowed... thats actually sad because it was amazing... the rock carvings and the pillars were..hmmm. i have no words to describe it lah ... just amazing ....... Not a single pillar was the same... each had its own unique carving ...

The Rock was carved out some time in the 3rd century but it was fully completed between the 13th and 17th century....

... After an hour or so exploring this beautiful place we headed up to the top of the rock where the much smaller Ganesh Temple sits.... Being the highest point it had the best views of Trichy...

From India Day 9 & 10

It was well worth the trip to walk all the way up all those steps but alas the heat and our tummies brought us back down to earth...

From India Day 9 & 10

AFter a scrumptious breakfast of rava thosai we met up with the rest of the family for more shopping ofcos... Rose also wanted to find some books as she heard of india having a good selection of books by local authors... Interestingly books are so cheap in India... thats just ridiculous lah in comparison to how expensive books are in Malaysia.. Ever silver and Stainless steel products are so cheap too...

After a long day a nice chilled beer was a welcomed sight... Spent the rest of the day packing as it was the last full day in India... Sad yes but as a reward or a parting gift, Keelaputur put out an amazing sunset.

From India Day 9 & 10

hundreds of eagles....

From India Day 9 & 10

Although i was sad to to take my last morning walk around Keelaputur i was satisfied with all it had offere.. Didnt take a lot of photos that morning ..for some reason as i wasnt in the mood... all i wanted to do was take it in... take it all in one last time.... before saying goodbye....

From India Day 9 & 10

--END

Yindia!!!!!!!!! Day 8 ... Poondi Madha Basilica

2010-06-22T16:00:00.010+08:00

Woke up early to catch the sunrise again... and as usual it didnt disappoint.... amazing colours displayed before a glorious morning... it made me want to explore keelapudee further... so i walked tru the small streets as the women began cleaning the porch to start on their kollums... ....

From India Day 9 & 10

India... was amazing lah... the beauty... was simple..... yet amazing.... but sometimes it can disappoint also ...felt that way that morning cos even though on my right was this amazing view .... but on my left ..there was a heap of rubbish stacked up and strewn across the street...... what i dont get is that there was a huge rubbish bin right there but it was not even half full... A herd of goats was eating the rubbish...... Then as one goat moved over to more fresher rubbish... i saw a kid... no not a baby goat but a human child... squatting next to the rubbish bin..... doing number two right there at the dump.......yes yes.. takin' a dump at the dump..... i will never forget the stare he gave me as he finished, pulled up his shorts and ran back to his house..... sigh...

Luckily the view on my right began to change from purple reds to a royal gold... decided to walk back to the house and go up to the roof to continue taking more shots of the sunrise...

From India Day 9 & 10

That morning we were in for a long drive towards the east to visit the Poondi Madha Basilica... its in a small village called Poondi which is in the northern province of Thanjavur . Jegan drove us there all the way along the Kavary river. We stopped for a break at a Kavary river dam. (cant remember the name but it was breathtaking).

From India Day 9 & 10

Continued on through small quaint villages to reached the basilica.

It was the feast day which is celebrated around the same time as Vailankani feast. Hundreds of Thousands of people (Well it looked like that many) camped out at the grounds and also filled its hostels. We had watched the Vailankani feast on the TV two nights before and i was amazed by the magnitude of the celebrations and Mass. Maybe one day we will make a pilgrimage to Vailankani ...but Poondi Madha Basilica was equally fascinating and enlightening.

From India Day 9 & 10

We stopped at Uncle Mani's house to rest and we also had a late lunch. Uncle Mani was all too happy to show me around his backyard ...he talked about the frequent snake visits and also demonstrated how he trims the rattan trees. He had many fruit trees but unfortunately it wasnt fruit season.

From India Day 9 & 10

(his T-Shirt says it all on his take on life)

It was a long and interesting day and we made it back to Keelapudee just before the sunset and had a wonderful dinner prepared by F.I.L's cousin sister. She prepared fried chicken specially for me... this is hardly the normal style of preparing chicken over here but... it was delicious!!!!

end of Day 8
next up Fort Temple...

Yindia!!!!!!!!! Day 7 ...Yindia!!! let the positive energy flow!!

2010-05-23T16:00:00.001+08:00

Had a really good sleep even though it was hot.... Woke up early that day and when out to watch the sunrise.. it was beautiful..

From India Day 5 to 8

Walking along the houses i noticed a lot of people sleeping outside their houses.. some on weaved beds but most slept right on the roads or pavements because of the heat.. Most of them completely covered themselves with their blankets... head to toe because of the mosquitoes..

From India Day 5 to 8

All shops were still closed except the tea shops... As men gathered to get their regular spot of tea to start their day...

From India Day 5 to 8

On the way back to the house one of the ladies whom i've noticed around Keelaputur came up to me and spoke to me in tamil... She asked if i understood tamil of which i said only a little... Then we had the most interesting conversation i've ever had in tamil... kekeke... amazingly we both understood each other... She asked all the usual Indian Auntie questions... like where i'm from? how many siblings? about mum and dad? etc etc... She used to help around F.I.L's house a long time ago..

I took a photo of her near her house and the shot is one of my favorites.Her friendly nature was captured in her smile and the sunrise had changed to a golden hue which gave a beautiful glow to her face....

From India Day 5 to 8

Got home to the smell of yesterdays curry... mmmmmm.... and nice hot idli... but before that i went up to the roof to observe keelaputur waking up...

What caught my eye were two little children helping their mother collect water from the public tap..... with their little mini water containers..... they were so cute... and so eager to help their mother... the little girl especially... laughing away as she ran to and fro with the container in hand... It was a beautiful moment.... one of many.. India... it was getting to me...

From India Day 5 to 8

After breakfast, Uncle Mani took us to Trichi town for more saree shopping...wow... the sarees were so beautiful and cheap...

Walking past the Fort Gates in the city centre i gazed at the Rock Fort Temple... cant wait to visit it... It was a tiring day and the heat really drains you..... best to visit early in the morning.

From India Day 5 to 8

Lazed around the house after lunch and decided to go visit Cooking Party at her house... she is amazing lah... her energy just radiates... wish i could be so positive all the time like her...

From India Day 5 to 8

day 8 hopefully soon...

Yindia!!!!!!!!! Day 6 - !! Overwhelmed by calmness!!

2010-01-31T12:16:00.000+08:00

Finally managed to wake up for the sunrise...... it was Sunday and we got ready to go to St Joseph's Church for Mass. Uncle Mani's son Jegan, drove us to the church which was not too far away. The church was nestled in between coconut trees... so nice one... There weren't many benches and almost everyone sat on the floor. The whole mass was in tamil so i didnt understand anything... and while i stood up trying to focus on praying ..a man suddenly tapped me on the shoulder... and asked me some thing... but for the life of me i couldnt understand his tamil... i think he repeated himself three times... until F.I.L turned around to see whats happening... he too looked at me puzzled.. The man repeated himself one more time and then only we realize that he was not talking Tamil... he was talking in English... he had asked me if the car outside belonged to me... ME!!!??... he wanted me to re-park it somewhere else... his accent was so thick ....it was nice that he asked me in english... did i really look that out of place :) but i think he should have just talked to me in tamil....kekekeke ...

We went over to Jeyenthi's sisters place just down the road for breakfast and waited for Jeyanthi and family to meet us there. They had stayed at her mum's place (The first house we visited when we landed in India)the night before.

I got a little lost while because everyone was speaking in tamil but i was enjoying eating some good crispy tosai ... i tried to grasp some of the words but it was hard to participate in any of their conversations ...

Jeyanthi wanted to bring us to meet her eldest sister... her place was quite a drive away... but it was an interesting drive... On the way there we took a detour to Srirangam Temple which is the biggest 'working' hindu temple complex in the world.

F.I.L, Rose and I got down to have a closer look while the rest stayed in the car because it was freaking hot... 40 degress Celsius ... We were short on time so we didnt go too far in... the massive gopuram was fascinating... beautiful!!!...

The heat was really getting to us... it was a delight to get back into the air-conditioned car... Driving around Trichi you see alot of road works being done... hopefully this will bring some much needed change to the chaotic look of this city .....

Kumar took many interesting back roads to avoid the jams to reach Jeyenti's sisters place. But these back roads really open your eyes to the real living conditions the majority still live in... the poor in Keelapatur was nothing compared to this...

Anyway as we pulled to the house which btw has been newly rebuilt and was now three stories high... as usual the roof top landing was my favorite part of the house.... But this time it was just way too hot to stand barefooted on... it was 40 degrees Celsius after all.

After some yummy biscuits... We then went over to Jeyanthi's mother's house for lunch. The whole house was buzzing with activity ... relatives and friends... actually the friends in some way or rather related too..

it was a tiring day but it felt good... i was also feeling alot better... no more fever and my throat felt a lot better...

Once we were back in F.I.L house i as usual went up to the roof to watch the sun set... it was hot but the wind was starting to pick up... Standing up there watching Keelaputur unwind... the saturation of noises you hear ...its amazing... a chaos of sound.... its simply amazing...

Then suddenly in the midst of all that chaos ... i heard a faint chant in a distance ... i had no idea where it was coming from... and it seemed to get louder as i slowly focused on it.... and as the sun was setting it made me feel calm... i was actually overwhelmed by calmness... it was exhilarating.... .... and when the sun had disappeared behind the horizon and the hues of the sunset were replaced with twilight... the chant just stopped... and i was broken away from its embrace.. i felt soooooo rested... like i had just finished a fabulous massage or something... i just really dont know how else to explain how i felt at that moment...

Keelaputur looked different that night... We walked to visit another relative who lived nearby... i was sure i had the same look these children had ...as they played sparklers outside their home...

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for more photos go to my picasa page..

Yindia!!!!!!!!! Day 5 - Uncle Mani's Infectious Smile!!

2010-01-14T10:21:00.004+08:00

My throat was already bad before coming to India.. Then getting drenched in the rain in Anthirapillai and being totally not prepared for Coimbatore and Kerala's chilly weather.... i had lost my voice and was burning up with fever....

Had a superb breakfast of tosai and chutney and took a couple of panadols... Then we got ready to leave Coimbatore...

I wasnt as trigger happy with the camera... Even Kumar commented that he hardly heard the camera's click this time... I was almost like a zombie... We were all tired and the road trip was long and bumpy ...

We stopped at Karur Town for a short while for tea and some tit bits... Karur was a bit more warmer then Coimbatore but the wind was just as chilly....

As we continued our journey back to Trichi it got warmer and warmer... and we reached Trichi... it was a balmy 38 degrees Celsius...

As we crossed one of the bridges across the Cavery river we noticed that the river served as a launderette as hundreds of people were washing and putting cloths out to dry... This time of the year the water level is low as it is controlled by a Dam nearby..

We reached Uncle Mani's house and as usual were greeted with his infectious smile and laughter... he had a cozy house surrounded by a garden full of fruit trees. He even had a grape vine growing in front of his porch.Uncle Mani gave us a tour around his garden. At the back there were 5 different types of Mango trees. Too bad it wasnt in season. Coconut trees, Jambu trees and many more. His land was surrounded by padi fields. Although it was so hot it was very shady and as usual windy... that really helped becos the heat was getting to me... i couldnt stand up.. the fever was really getting to me... luckily Uncle Mani's best friend who was a doctor was there... and he wrote me a medical subscription which i received after a superb late lunch and a really good evening nap...

Uncle Mani's family wanted to celebrate our wedding anniversary even thought it was almost a month before that. They even bought champagne to toast ... so sweet of them lah...I just had a sip of champagne and just drank water the rest of the night... Spent the rest of the night getting to know all of them but i decided to call it an early night... my head felt so heavy and a little woozy..maybe becos of the meds... but I swear my face was aching from smiling and laughing so much... it felt like my wedding day all over again...minus the alcohol ... kekekeke...

To be continued
(pls visit my picasa page for more photos

Yindia!!!!!!!!! Day 4 - A Peechi Day!!

2009-12-22T14:28:00.012+08:00

Another day goes by and i still cldnt get up early enuff for the sunrise .... but as soon as i woke up i grabbed my camera and headed out of the hotel for a walk around Palakkad... mostly everything was closed not because it was early in the morning but because it was Onum Holidays.... there was still some activity around...

From India Day 5 to 8

Walked around and got a few stares from people but also a lot of smiles... but there was no mention of the word, PRESS!!! maybe becos its Kerala and me having Tamil looks... ... they knew i was a tourist...

From India Day 5 to 8

I walked through a few rows of shops which were all closed ... then suddenly through one of the narrow pathways i heard a crowd... and stumbled upon the market.... buzzing with activity... The centre of the market's courtyard a number of different types of bananas were spread out......

I realized that the locals did not try and talk to me in Malayalam nor Tamil ...but straight away tried speaking to me in English.... well... i still didnt understand them... but they were a friendly bunch and were not camera shy...

It was too bad that i could not stay longer and explore the market some more... we were leaving Pallakad soon so i had to made my way back to the hotel.... got ready and as usual had some delicious idli for breakfast.......

We stopped a few places on the way back to Coimbatore..... .... Mother-in-law wanted to visit Potta Retreat Centre... one of the biggest Catholic retreat centre in Asia... we managed to find it but then were told that the one we were at was the smaller one... The bigger, newer one was at a different location close by.... but from the directions given ...it didnt sound close by.... so we walked around for a bit and then got back on the road...

Kumar took us on a diversion to visit Peechi Dam.... it was so last minute we actually decided to go there at right at the junction of the turn off.... ... It mainly serves as a water catchment area and a wildlife sanctuary but during the monsoon season the dam gates are fully opened... .... Talking about monsoon... just as we walked into the entrance... it started raining so heavily... well it did rain on and off from Palakkad all the way to Peechi but this time the skies opened up and it poured like nobodies business ..... We waited about 20 minutes for the rain to die down before we made our way across the dam.... it was very nice lah... but were running out of time.... Would have been nice to go down to the garden area below and also take a few shots of the dam from down there....

The other thing about Peechi Dam is that photography is TOTALLY prohibited.... .......

When we made our way back to the parking lot Kumar asked me if i wanted to drive... at first i was a little hesitant but then i said... what the heck.... So i drove out to the main road and continued our journey ..... Man i tell you although i was averaging about 100km and going up to speeds of about 130km .... it was the overtaking which really got to me lah... scary... it was clear that i was going to make our journey even more longer ... so i handed the keys back to Kumar when we stopped for a drink....

We also stopped at a handcraft and traditional furniture shop.... besides getting asked not to take potografs... i didnt do anything else.... beautiful but i think i was just too tired to be interested....

We were really hungry when we reached Coimbatore.... so the first thing we did was eat.... We went to Sree Annapurna Sree Gowrishanker Restaurant at the People's Park Building for a late lunch.... the place was packed when we got there .... and when we ate the food we knew why........

I crashed when we got reached the house.... but Kumar and the ladies headed out for more saree shopping.... Me... I just lazed around and watched tv that night...... i did go out and stand in the wind for awhile...... it was sooooo windy.... and really chilly.......brrrrrrrrr............ the clouds looked fierce and true enough it rained... and as daft as this may sound.... it felt so 'peechi'...... ....

To Be Continued
(for more photos please visit my picasa page)

Yindia!!!!!!!!! Day 3 - We Two, Our One!!!!

2009-12-07T16:39:00.007+08:00

I think it drizzled the whole nite... I really didnt think i would be shivering in India... At first we thought of going up to Ootty which is very close to Coimbatore... but decided not to since we just came back from Cameron Highlands and we didn't really bring any warm clothing with us either.... maybe another time :)

Jeyanthy's husband suggested Athirapally Waterfalls. It is located in the Thrissur disrict in the state of Kerala. It would take about 4 hours to get to the there. So the plan was to drive to Palakkad, book ourselves into a hotel and then drive to Athirapally after lunch.

So it was set... after a nice hearty breakfast of tosai and chunney... we packed and im mean packed ourselves into the Captiva... There was 7 of us plus luggage... a long and claustrophobic journey... which took us through Kerala's wet and green landscape... i tell you it rained and drizzled on and off.... we did stop to rest and have something to drink.. i filled up on a strong hot cup of black coffee...

Remember i told you about those captions you will see behind commercial vehicles ... well as we continued our journey I noticed a caption behind a lorry that read 'We Two, Our One' ... im like what???.... what did it mean???... i wished i could asked the lorry driver what it meant.... I just did a google search and it asked 'Did i mean: We Two Are One'.... nope thats not what i was looking for.... so readers ..please... if you know what it means ...leave a comment will yer'....

(Theres suppose to be a train in the shot but i clicked to fast and there was nothing but trees in the next few shots)

(I stopped counting how many churches and shrines we passed along the way)

I was glad to reach Kallely's Park Inn... in Palakkad .... i was actually more glad to be out of the car... its no fun seeing so many interesting things pass you by in the car and not be able to take a closer look... ... well we didnt really have that much time to rest either... We checked-in and decided to eat at the hotel... Thats when we find out that the hotel is understaffed because of it being Onam.

Onam is the biggest festival in the state of Kerala, South India. It falls during the Malayalee month of Chingam (August-September) and marks the homecoming of the legendary King, Mahabali. Onam is celebrated for ten days and is linked to many elements of Kerala's culture and tradition..... (thank you wikipedia)... i guess we picked a bad time to come to Kerala...

The drive to the waterfalls reminded me so much of Malaysia... the lush jungle and landscape was just like a drive through a malay kampung (village) .....heck even the rain fooled me......... the roads were good.... .... We were home!!!.... then an 'Auto Rickshaw' passes us by.... honking away like life depended on it... and then we wizzed by a giant sized sculpture of the 'Pieta' ...... nope.. defirnately not Malaysia...

(everything but the kitchen sink)

Anyway the drive there was pleasant .... right until we reached Athirapally... it was total pandemonium .....first we were greeted by ... hundreds maybe thousands of cars..... then ...... good god!!!!....the people.... hundreds of thousands of Keralites enjoying the Onum Holidays....... and maybe a few thousand other tourist...

The rain made it even worst... Rose and I went ahead with an umbrella as Kumar went to park the car.... I had to pay 10 rupees at the gate to take my camera in.... and we walked up a rocky path and then as the path led down ... it got really muddy.... with hundreds making their way to and fro... .... some trying to shelter from the rain with umbrellas and also funny plastic hats they bought from the string of stalls outside the entrance...

Decided to walk down a path that lead to the base of the falls.... i really wondered why we did that... The force of the falls was so strong that all we could see was mist of water spray ... then the rain got heavier so we went back up to the top.... where we met up with the others .... got closer to the edge of the falls. Athirapally was truly a powerful and magnificently beautiful waterfall... it was too bad that it was just too crowded and the weather just didnt let up....

We made our way back to the entrance and as we waited for Kumar to get the car, we had a look around at the stalls... and then took refuge under the coconut drink seller's shed ...because ... yup you guessed it.... It started raining heavily again...

(the fresh coconut drink stall we took shelter in)

Kumar took some time to get back with the car.... im sure he had to park really far away... well once we eventually got going... they all actually stopped further down the road to let me take a few shots of the falls .... it was really magnificent lah... wow ....just wow...

(can you see the people on the left side of the falls?)

Ofcos we also stopped at the giant sculpture of 'Pieta'... Mary Mother of Sorrow...watch over us...

actually its amazing lah... we passed so many holy shrines, churches and places of worship .... every few hundred meter or so you will see one of the other...

(yet another church ..... check out the roof design...cool)

The other thing i noticed was the unique roof structure of a number of buildings... i wonder if it was unique to this part of Kerala...

We were absolutely tired when we got back to the hotel.... a few winks of sleep and a hot shower later... we went out for dinner... Took a walk from the hotel to find a place to eat but it was long before the women were in saree and jewelry shops .... kekekeke Anyway... it looked like mostly all shops were closed ... so we decided to go back to the hotel for dinner...

On the way back father-in-law and i got a little curious with a long line of men at the side of one shop... the front looked closed... but the side of the shop had a rows of men lining... It was a 'wine shop'.... liquor shops in india where called wine shop... but they didnt have a single bottle of wine... they had everthing else though... You know what... As chaotic as India seems ... It was strange seeing these men line up so patiently .... ... We Malaysians cant even line to get into the bus properly also...

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We Two, Our One......

Yindia!!!!!!!!! Day 2 - Sound Horn Please!!

2009-12-02T10:03:00.010+08:00

Although I was too tired to wake up for the sunrise... i did however manage to wake up early enough to take a short walk with my camera... Women took turns at the public taps and wells to collect water for the day.. Men getting their dose of original 'Teh Tarik'(Tea)before they head of to work... children playing in the streets but most were headed to school... People purchasing provisions from small provision shops... Most homes had kollums drawn outside... these are usually drawn by the women at dawn... didnt wake up early enough to see them draw it....

(this is a HDR composite of two photos)

Keelaputur was a mixture of middle class, below middle class, the poor, the really poor and the really really poor... You can see huts or shacks right next to three story houses... most houses where small...and the space was tight so most people built taller instead of bigger... and all houses had open roof tops... this is very common in India... many people sleep outside because of the heat... and the roof is perfect for that purpose... ofcos its an extra living space used for all kinds of other purposes.. I actually love the open roof top concept.... Oh and i noticed how windy Trichi was... it was really warm and the wind helped with the heat.......

While we were up on the roof father-in-law explained to us how it was and used to be... a lot has changed but a lot has not changed either... He vividly told us about his childhood... the hardships... the pains...the hopes and the joys... it was a real eye opener... looking around from the roof ..you do see the hardship... the poor... but you also see happiness and also content... hmmm i just dont know how to put it in words.. lah

(Cool dude and his 'cooling' glasses...)

Anyway... Day two's plan was to go to Coimbatore... which is to the west...almost to the border of Kerala and it is near Ooty.. Father-in-law's cousin sister lives there with her family... Their driver and her young son were suppose to pick us up at around 9.30am... but at 10am they were not there yet... this would be a taste of Indian timing... In Malaysia we always joked about it... but unfortunately it was true.. When somebody says "wer arre verry nearr verry nearr" "wOne hourr wonley"... that means two hours...

Although Coimbatore was about 300km from Trichi... it is about a good 5 to 6 hours away by road... like i said... the roads are bad... Here in Malaysia it would only take about 3 to 4 hours including a reststop for the same distances... But Father-in-law explained that it used to take longer... and that the roads have improved... So i guess it wasnt about Indian Timing but more about Time Estimation... So everyone knows it will take 5 hours but they seem to remain hopeful that they can make it in two hours.... kekekeke... im kidding im kidding...So anyway...the big hand on the clock swings two more times before they reach Keelaputur....

ooo i forgot to tell you that the Idle and Sambhar breakfast with two types of chutney was superb.... yum yum yummmmm... :P got to talk to Cooking Parti a bit more... yes yes.. we managed to have a conversation... in tamil... kekekeke

(Cooking Parti is the one on the left)

So ok ... back to our journey to Coimbatore.... which will take us towards the west, through the district of Karur and Erode...

From Trichi we drove along side the Cavary River (kaveri) and passed many villages fueled by the river...its alot greener than Trichi and there where many farmlands but after passing Karur Town i noticed that the land became more barren and more dusty... but it got a little green again near Palladam... and i was so surprised to find Wind Farms in India... im telling you... im convince theres nothing you can not find in Yindia!!!

As mentioned the roads were better for most parts... there were even segments of what looks like dual carriage highways but are still underconstruction... but the over taking ,... my god!!!.. There are cars and lorries overtaking cars and lorries which are over taking other cars and lorries...!!!! incredible...

Most commercial vehicles and a few cars have signs at the back which read "SOund Horn Please!" or "Horn OK"... i will find that i will get used to the sounds of all kinds of horns in India...

We all so exhausted by the time we reached Jeyanthi's house in Coimbatore... It was even more windy here... and when we got into the house i felt so cold... i looked around but didnt find an aircon...The weather in Coimbatore is really nice... i find out later in the car that it was around 24 degree's Celsius and about 21 to 22 at night... just nice...

After resting for a bit we went out to go shopping... for sarees of cos... :D

Walked around town to different shops... looked at different things and found that normal clothing and shoes are cheap .... sarees no need to say lah... damn cheap and so much of variety.... electronic goods are about the same price... pots and pans, stainless steel product all so cheap...really interesting lah...

Although the roads where a little better... the traffic was just as bad as Trichi... im not even talking about jams... im talking about the caos... arrrghhh...

One thing was really funny... where ever i went i always hear people saying Press!! Potograperr!! Press!!.. wooo Potograper!!!.. kekekekeke.... maybe i should have taken off the flash gun from my camera...

After we finished our shopping, Jeyanthi wanted take us for chinese food... I was like woah cool... chinese food in Yindia!!!... We went to a place called Shanghai... It was all decked in oriental deco and stuff but the staff were all Indian... Well in Malaysia nowadays Chinese restaurants all have workers from Myanmar or Bangladesh... so its ok... well i dont know what we ate but it sure wasnt chinese food... it was a good try i guess... Well i havent been to China so i cant really complain right.... cos all im comparing it too is Malaysian Chinese food...

But when in Yindia!!! just stick to wonderful Rawa Tosai with all the chunney and sambhar to match ...wokay!!!!

PRESS!!!.....

Yindia!!!!!!!!!! Day 1

2009-11-14T17:00:00.011+08:00

I was truly excited about visiting India.... couldnt wait to get there... and thanks to Air Asia it was only a 3 hour flight from LCCT to Trichi Airport....otherwise we would have had to take a flight from KLIA to Chennai ...then take half a days journey by train to get to Trichi... which is short for Trichirappali.... the fourth largest city in Tamil Nadu...

It was the first ever afternoon flight to Trichi by Air Asia.... and it was pleasant and without much turbulence... i was fairly surprised with the food because it was good...

That wasnt the only surprise i had on the plane.... When the captain introduced himself over the intercom... The name sounded familiar .... after much thinking and an hour or two later when he came out of the cockpit... i finally recognized him,... Captain Warrin was a schoolmate and we were also in the scouts together... We havent seen each other in ... 17 years....

I got real excited when i got the first glimpse of India... glimpses of the Cavary river from the plane gave me such a rush... kekekeke...

When we finally landed we where greeted with two fire trucks on either side of the plane... and the captain assured us that everything was ok and this was just a way of celebrating the flights maiden voyage...

After experiencing india's infamous bureaucratic management... we finally got outside to the arrival hall where we were greeted by my father-in-law's brother and cousin brothers... I last saw them at my wedding... I remembered Uncle Mani's infectious smile... He gave us all a big hug welcoming us to YINDIA!!!!!

After bundling ourselves in two Ambassador cars and a motorcycle... we headed to father-in-law's sister's house which is a short drive from the airport.... The drive there was err...interesting.... it was organized chaos.... its amazing how traffic weezzes around ...lorries ...cars.. motobikes... cows... and people.... Vehicles honking the hon and overtaking even when there was on coming traffic.....making every inch on the road a close call ... it was truly amazing that we didnt get into an accident... Organized chaos, ...thats just putting it lightly....

Once we turned of from the main road to the service road that lead to the house i felt a little better because there was less traffic but.... the tar road quickly disappeared and was replaced with laterite ... and it was becoming more and more challenging for Uncle Mani to drive... the car was old you see... and it was a stick shift... it looked like the clutch was hard to operate which is why the car stalled many times... but for most parts of it i found that Uncle Mani was always one gear too high...Anyways we reached the house in one piece ....

As most of you know my Tamil is slightly better then my German... So i was like half guessing what everyone was saying... There was a lot of laughter and some joyful tears... but i kept to myself most of the time... giving a little nod and a smile from time to time... sometimes giving a 'yes' or 'no' answer in tamil... hehehe.. ofcos then grandma talked to me ... and i could not make head or tail of what she was saying... of which my mother-in-law explained that i knew very little tamil ... and hardly can speak tamil...... Then there was alot of oooooooooohhhs and aaaahhhs and hahahas... (somebody shoot me now)... luckily i had my camera to hide behind...

Ofcos when they saw my camera ... i kept hearing them say in tamil "@#@%%^* Press??!! ahh?".. and i say, "No no hobby hobby!!"... and they go "ooooooh #$^&^&*&@" which translated is "ooooooh any nice pics"... then i show them a pic on the lcd "werrry nicce ah" while shaking their head side to side...

We didnt stay long and promised to come over for lunch towards the end of our stay in India... we bundled ourselves into the cars again and headed to father-in-laws house ...which was closer to town...

Before Uncle Mani could get the car moving, i asked him if i could drive the car... he immediately said "ooo wofcos can.." but then hesitantly switched places with me... ofcos both wife and mother-in-law said please be careful.. and off we went, thru the bumpy laterite road .... My god this clutch was harder then my old vw beetle... now wonder Uncle Mani was struggling with it... When we reached the junction to the main road, father-in-law who was in the other car asked me if i wanted to switch places with Uncle Mani again... I said no worries lets just continue our journey and give Uncle Mani a break from driving...

... since i was in India, I did what the Indians did..... I was HONKING and over taking those cows and vehicles like my life depended on it.....

There is alot of work being done to the roads in and around Trichi... which i guess is a good thing because the roads were terrible... but there is so much of road works being done everywhere which causes horrendous jams.... We worked our way around the city and made it to Keelaputur by dinner time...

We unpacked and made ourselves comfortable... then visited my father-in-law's auntie... yup... Auntie... theres actually two aunties or the proper term i shld be using is grand'aunties who were still alive and kicking... and the one thats actually still kicking it is the one fondly known as the Cooking 'Parti'(Grandmother). She cooked for us for most of the days that we were in Keelaputur... She was the most lively person I've ever met... and boy can she cook!!....... mmmmmmm the food was delicious... i fell a sleep satisfied

I LOVE YINDIA!!!!!

APM retreat 2009 - Cameron Highlands

2009-10-13T17:13:00.014+08:00

After coming back from Kuantan... i had just a few hours to rest ... Early the next morning wife and i packed up ... and joined the gang for the APM retreat to Cameron Highlands....

Amazingly our 6 car convoy was on the road by 6.30am. Stopped at the Tapah rest stop about 8.20 for breakfast. Then proceeded towards Cameron's thru the old Tapah road... As usual I took position as 'sweeper' (Belakang mari) ..taking up the rear of the convoy....

We took another break at Latar Iskandar (waterfalls) on the way up to Tanah Rata.............

From APM in Cameron's 09

Took a slow and easy drive up the twisty roads without any problems.... but somewhere before Ringlet town i drove over something on the road... looked at the rear view mirror and saw a small plank but thought nothing of it... until i noticed that the car was a little heavy on the left side when making the corners around the bends.... found a safe place to stop to check ...and found a nail in the left rear tire.... Alamak!!!... So i radioed in to Gerard and told him to meet me in Ringlet town......

We all met at the Ringlet Shell station....checked on the tyre again. ... but didnt find the tyre any more deflated then it already was....so I pored some soapy water on it to confirm that there was no air leaking.... We continued the convoy towards Tanah Rata without anymore hiccups....

From APM in Cameron's 09

We managed to reach IJ Convent in Tanah Rata before 11am.

From APM in Cameron's 09

The weather was cold and crisp... and windy too........ We checked into our dorms and unpacked........ The dorms were very decent but i noticed that the blankets give were really thin.... it was close to noon and it was so chilly .... i wondered how cold it would be later at night...

From APM in Cameron's 09

...the caretakers took care of lunch....... they will also manage breakfast too

From APM in Cameron's 09

...After our tummies were full ...we then had praise and worship and general briefing for the retreat.... Then we headed out to the MARA institute of agriculture/english garden????...... it was ok only lah.... they had everything in camerons in one area.... but if you are advanturous and have the time... i would suggest you drive out to individual farms in camerons to get the full experience..

From APM in Cameron's 09

After visiting the 'English Garden' we drove to Boh Plantations.... the road leading there was very tight and in some stretches two cars cant pass along side.... there were many cars coming from the opposite direction... and only half way there did one of the people in those cars inform us that the BOH plantations closes at 4pm.... it was half pass 4.... it was very tricking turning around on that road.... as usual there were drivers who were clueless and couldnot manure around that road... causing a hell of a jam....

From APM in Cameron's 09

....made our way out of there... informing every other car heading to BOH that it was closed.... and when we got to the exit to the main road we saw a huge sign with the opening hours of the plantation.... kekekeke whose the clueless once now??....

From APM in Cameron's 09

Headed towards Brinchang town in Camerons to visit the night market... which is said to be the highest night market in Malaysia.... You can get really cheap vegetables and flowers..... oooo and the steamed corn was very nice....

From APM in Cameron's 09

Took a short walk to the main street and had SteamBoat for dinner.... its amazing to see so many Seafood and Steamboat restaurants around this area.... We ate at Silver Fish.... and the food was fresh and delicious.

From APM in Cameron's 09

.......waiting for our charcoal burner steamboat pot thingy..........

From APM in Cameron's 09

... couldnt resist taking a shot of G' taking a shot of the food....

From APM in Cameron's 09

...the steamboat pot thingy has arrived!!!!....

From APM in Cameron's 09

.... You Hoo streamboat..... kekekeke....... anyway it wasnt Silver Fish... we actually ate at Silverstar Restaurant...

From APM in Cameron's 09

It was really really cold at night and the sound of wild animals (snoring bunk buddies) kept me up most of the night... that thin blanket was not helping at all so i wore two t-shirts and a sweater with a long track suit... brrrrrrrrrr....

The next morning we had the blessing of the chairs ceremony..... kidding im kidding... we had a few 'getting to know each other sessions'....

.....after that we headed out to the BOH tea plantation/tea centre .....again.... this time it was definitely open...

The tea centre was beautiful.... very well laid out and the architecture was amazing....... The cafe over looked the whole tea plantation.... very nice....

The view from the cafe was simply breath taking lah .... you can see the little village on the left where the workers and their children lived, shopped, go to school,played and prayed.... everything is provided for them...

after taking that long walk down to the car park.... we had a lot of time to spare.... so we visited a few shops along the main road.... then went back to the night market ....... it was then that it just rained and rained and rained.... i got caught in this rain when i went to get some art supplies in town.... I wanted to make some souvenirs for everyone... and i also wanted to buy my wife a dozen cream white roses...... I waited for awhile but i knew this rain wasnt going to let up .... so i walked all the way back to the car in the heavy rain.... and found everyone waiting for me.... kekekeke..... i had a jacket, a cap and a dozen roses.... it only helped a little.... brrrrrr cold.......

We had a number of sessions that nite.... and i was in a bad mood... cos i was FREZING..... throat was scratchy too....

I did feel a little better the next morning ...... We went for Mass at the chapel at the IJ convent....

Mass was nice and pleasant and amazingly the sun came out when mass ended... and the sky was this amazing blue.... it was so blue it looked like we weren't in Malaysia anymore..

Above is before Mass.... and below is after......... soooo blueeeee...

Anyway..... after Mass... we rested... then had a number of sessions... Irene's Fruit session and Cathy's music sessions were very very interesting....

Irene asked the question "What fruit do you think best describes you?"..... well i dont know about you... but i thing u all are a bunch of coconuts......!!!!!!!

Above is the retreat committee of 2009.... good job guys..... looking forward to next year.....

The drive back was slow... cos everyone was tired and some even had car sickness.... but we all reached safely back home just before the sun went down......

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END

Talent Hub 4th Anniversary Party with Viva Vertical

2009-10-10T16:24:00.004+08:00

*click on poster for larger view*

Call 016-2858353 or email ask@talenthub.com.my to purchase your tickets!

Would love for all of you to be there. Do come and show your support, and please pass the word on to all your friends!

-Fiona-Jane
Talent Hub

Respect Pedestrians In Kuantan

2009-10-04T22:27:00.009+08:00

Finally got an appointment with a client after months of making arrangements to meet, but it was set one day before my trip to Cameron's. I was hoping it wouldnt be on the same week but life is like that sometimes.....

We left the day before the appointment right after lunch.... a smooth drive with a spot of rain here and there other than that it was a boring drive... The new Kuantan highway as my boss puts it ..has no character lah...luckily he was with me.... if not id probably get so bored i might find a tree and try and crash into it or something...

From Kuantan 26-27Aug09

Got there around 4pm and for the love of me i cant seem to remember the name of the hotel we stayed in...(thats what happens when you write about something one month later)....hmmm ,....it looked old but well kept ...under utilized though.... it has so much of potential... Anyway it was ramadan season and becos if puasa they had a whole spread of food for buffet dinner which we enjoyed very much .... there was even a band playing typical irama melayu songs... which very fitting...

From Kuantan 26-27Aug09

My Boss was shocked to learn that i have never ben to Teluk Cempedak .... so he decided to show me around Kuantan town and Teluk Cempedak.... I have always only stayed in Cherating Beach when i go to Kuantan... and to be honest i never really liked the beaches there....only the beaches up north from Dungun onwards are naturally beautiful... so i was really surprised to find a beautiful stretch of sand in Teluk Cempedak.... you will also find The luxurious Hyatt Regency Hotel which sits right next to the Sultan's Palace.... We ventured inside to the lounge and pool area... .... it was indeed beautiful... i wonder what the rates are....

We didnt really stay that long cos it suddenly started raining really heavily... so we headed back to the hotel...

The next morning i managed to get myself up for the sunrise..... im so glad i did.....

From Kuantan 26-27Aug09

The breakfast spread was really disappointing cos there was almost nothing much.... the staff explained that it was fasting month and that only 5% of their guest were non malays so they didnt make a full spread.... fare enough i guess....

Our appointment was around 2pm so after breakfast we decided to go to Teluk Cempedak again to have a look see... but not before taking a detour around a Chinese fishing village....

From Kuantan 26-27Aug09

Well like i said ....Teluk Cempedak Beach was surprisingly beautiful..... didnt really take good photos of the place.... well.... another day perhaps.....

From Kuantan 26-27Aug09

Drove around Kuantan for a little bit before heading back to the hotel to get ready for the appointment.... left Kuantan around 3.30ish....

On the way back to KL it rained and rained and rained lah... and not to our surprise it was so jammed as we got nearer to KL...... sigh....in the stupid jam... thinking about Teluk Cempedak really helped.... but the thing that really got me thinking is this signboard in Kuantan Town....

From Kuantan 26-27Aug09

(Respect Pedestrians)

*Click on the title below each photo to view all photos*

Living out of a suitcase....

2009-09-20T12:40:00.007+08:00

I’ve been living out of a suitcase for the past month …. Now finally over the raya holidays, I will be getting some much needed rest…. I hope… oh and finally go thru my photos of India……

My schedule for the past month was a little like this….

26th August – left for Kuantan after work
27th August – drive back to KL
28th August – convoy to Cameron Highlands for APM’s retreat.
30th August –left cold rainy camerons for hot hot KL
31st August – REST, laundry and pack for India
1st September – YINDIA!!!!!! :D
10th September – goodbye YINDIA :(
11th September – REST, laundry and Sleep
12th September – Uncle’s mother-in-laws funeral :(
13th September – REST, Sleeppppppp… then Donovan’s Birthday do
14th September – Back to work :(
15th September – Rushed back from work for Rose Birthday do
16th September – Drove to Ipoh for work
17th September – left Ipoh at 9pm and got home at 11.30pm
18th September – got to the office late and found out that my boss is driving me to IPOH on a work emergency….!!! Luckily it’s a day trip and my boss drove all the way to and fro with me
19th September – Christopher and Diana’s Wedding
20th September – Writing this post…. :P

Ipoh, Lumut, Sitiawan, Teluk Intan, Bidor Run!!

2009-08-10T17:16:00.000+08:00

Drove up to Ipoh again.... then after lunch visited a client in Lumut ... after the meeting we decided to take the old road back to the north south highway.... Drove trought Sitiawan, Teluk Intan and then we stopped for tea in Bidor... landed up eating some delicious Wan Tan Mee at a stall along Jalan Pangung Wayang....

I only have photos at Bidor because i was driving.... i doubt that my boss who was sitting next to me would be impressed with my multi-tasking skill behind the wheel of HIS car....

The photo above shows the stall where we ate Wan Tan Mee. They also served porridge.

Found this family run traditional biscuits & confectionery shop called Ta Chong..... couldnt resist the aroma of freshly baked pumkin seed biscuits.... yummy....

Then we stopped over at the fruit shop and bought too many fruits... we bought all kinds of fruits except Pomelo which Bidor is known for...

it was getting late....we left with a big smile and a trunk full of fruits and traditional biscuits......

It was a fantastic drive along the old road .... yes the traffic sometimes is heavy... and it can get a little tiring..... but it sure is alot more interesting then taking the highway.....

Shld have just continued throught the old road from Bidor all the way to Sungai Buloh....

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Maybe next time.....

Heritage Garage

2009-08-08T16:56:00.004+08:00

My Cousin and a few of his friends have opened a Garage specialising in modern classic as well as classic cars and bikes.... They are located in Ara Damasara....

J-G-9, Jalan PJU 1A/1

Taipan 2, Ara Damansara,

47301, Petaling Jaya

Sanjay 016-Six Six Six 0249

JB run!!

2009-07-20T23:08:00.005+08:00

As some of you know i hurt my left shoulder some time ago and it was really difficult to drive.... especially a manual car.... so when it came time to drive to Johor Bahru (JB) on business a few days after that... i had my colleague drive us there.... Thats when i realized how much i hate being a passenger... especially on long drives.

We headed down south after 6pm and so i was so bored.... so what do you do once the small talk is done.... you wipe out the old camera...... thats what you do.....

Set the timer real slow.... and let the lights do their thing....

After two days of work i joined a few of my JB counterparts for a Karoake session....

My colleague Izwan drove me around JB on the last day i was there.... Its an interesting city but i didnt have much time to explore it further.... caught a bus back to KL.....

The shot below shows how dirty my camera lense is.... i really need to invest in a lense cleaning kit.

The not so creepy Kellie's Castle

2009-05-17T15:13:00.006+08:00

... have been drive up to Ipoh often on business.... and on one of those drives... my boss asked me if i had been to Kellie's Castle... i have not... so we both decide to drive down to Kellie's Castle in Batu Gajah....

Apparently it has been cleaned and some parts painted.... even the grounds have been cleaned up and groomed.... causing it to lose much of its ghostly eerie sense which i have long heard about...

forgot how much it cost to enter the area...

The mansion as it stands on its hill at across the river....

The corridors which are said to be haunted....

The older original wing of the mansion which Kellie lived in.... taken from the roof top of Kellie's Castle...

a closer inspection of the roof.... which have these ingenious air vent windows.... which would have been perfect for those hot days ...before air conditioning

My boss remembered that there was an entrance to a hidden underground chamber which he visited on a school trip when he was a kid.... but apparently the caretaker informed us was sealed in the 90's........

it was a fascinating stop and i would definitely visit Kellie's Castle when i have a chance and more time to explore it.... and of cos photograph it better... ... not forgetting my EMF Meter, Infrared Thermometer and Rosary....
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Satria 0 - X trail 1

2009-05-09T23:32:00.005+08:00

This happened way back in January 2009.... got into a little fender bender on the KESAS.... so kids... remember .... do not drive too close to the car in front of you........

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VS

Dungun Panorama

2009-04-18T12:33:00.002+08:00

Played around with an autostitching/panorama software with some of my photos taken during my Kenyir-Cherating trip. here is two of my favourite which is a combination 7 or 8 photos taken at a reststop in Dungun beach.......

From Kenyir 2009

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END

Kenyir and Cherating without colour

2009-04-13T21:50:00.005+08:00

Last January..., Rose and I took a road trip to the east coast.... first it was two nights at Kenyir Resort, Lake Kenyir. Then we drove to Marang and continued down the coastal road to Cherating, Kuantan..... anyway i havent been in the mood to blog lately so i thought i'd put up some photos i took on our trip.....

click on the photos or the links next to it to go to my picasa page for more photos of this trip...

KENYIR

From Kenyir 2009

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CHERATING

From Kenyir 2009

My Beetle is finally painted!!!

2009-03-19T23:37:00.004+08:00

Im terribly sorry i have not updated anything on my blog but i have been really busy with work and blah blah blah...... but i was also preoccupied with updates on My 65 VW Beetle ..... for the past 3 months it was slowly being prep'ed for paint.... and today it as finally finished.......

From Mo's Beetle

next is the engine.....the transmission.... the breks.... the wiring.... the upholstering ....arrggghhh when will it end.......

Pricilla's Wild Wild West B'day Party

2009-02-18T22:32:00.006+08:00

Last December 2008 Pricilla had a Wild Wild West themed Birthday party..... the following are some random shots of that nite...... (sorry ....just havent been in a blogging mood .....but i have been blogging more on the beetle blog )

From Pricilla's Wild Wild West Party

ok.... if you want to view all the photos... just click on the pics above or on the link title below the pics above.....

i didnt go as a cowboy.... (if you were wondering)... i went as a mexian photographer Paparazzi Perez...

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END

The Historic City of Melaka

2009-01-26T22:56:00.009+08:00

First things first.... Breakfast!!.... before our drive to Melaka.... APM had their 2008 retreat at the Seminary in Melaka last Nov 08. We convoyed in 5 cars. G only had 2 walkies ...so it wasnt as fun as Ipoh.

We managed to get there in one piece. It wasnt too bad. the rooms where cosy and neat and had attached baths with hot water.

After unpacking and getting everything sorted, we had lunch which the caretaker had prepared.

Meet Hadi, one of our latest APM members who also loves photography. He takes some awesome photos. Its funny seeing him in action... like the pic above... it was like seeing how others see me going around taking shots of them.

We had a number of games after lunch which got everyone to work together and had fun. One of Dono's games had a pile of old and new photos of APM dating back to errr 1995.... God it was funny going thru those photos.

We had dinner at the Portuguese settlement.... had some sea food and some portuguese food (dont ask me what cos i cant remember but i do remember that the sea food was not as nice as what we get in Klang)

Below is a photo taken by Hadi at the edge of the waterfront at the portuguese settlement.

Ofcos we cant leave without taking a walk along the houses there as they are famous for going all out with their christmas deco....

There was some awesome lights and deco but i dont think i did justice with my photos... this place is a must to visit... but it can get a little crowded with visitors and it doesnt help as the lanes are small

This huge xmas tree made of lights......

Ok the next morning was all serious and all.... with some talks from so and so.... and some SWAT report and discussions and all....

Then after lunch and after a few more sessions... we went for the Melaka River Ride which i thought was very lame......

As you can see we are all not wearing any safety jackets... It was in fact all safely tucked under and at the front of the boat......... but there was a handy mop within easy reach..... sigh!!! as if the tioman incident was long forgotten....

(Little Bird,"yum yum... lizard for dinner?")

The little eye on Melaka?

Bye bye melaka river .... smell you later....... I sincerely believe you will see Melaka better if you walked or cycled.......

Anyway, after getting back to our cars... we visited the 307 year old St Peter's Church.... man it was an amazing feeling being in that chruch.... it still had all its original stained glass, doors and even its tiles....... !!! 300 year old tiles!!!.... there are also a number of tombs all over the church which was a little creepy....

We visited another church but it was closed.... cant seem to remember the name... then we took a walk to Main Melak Square.... called Dataran Pahlawan (Warrior Square).... and ofcos paid a vsit to A'Famosa....

I wasnt too interested cos i have been here a number of times.... so while the rest were sight seeing i went and bought a cake for Veron's birthday which we surprised her with later that night.....

Lucky, one of the caretaker's many pet dogs was eyeing the cake but.... nothing doing.... chocolate is bad of animal... so to those who feed their pets cake be warned that it is not good for their health.....

We had some games which i had to move and dance.... good grief.... well it was fun......

....... and we go to see everyone spell MISSISSIPPI............ with our butts.... kekekeke

Then it was a few rounds of TABOO ofcos........

Some follow up sessions and a game or two the next morning....

....then it was off to Melaka ZOO........
but not before stopping at the end of Jonker Street near the red square........ for LUNCH!!

Check out the line where we eat........

SOme of the many nicknaks you can buy along Jonker......
but i was more interested in finding this shop.... Lai Kam Wah Sdn Bhd......

They sell everything about classic VWs..... i thought i die and went to heaven when i walked in and saw this.......... rows and rows of vw parts........

Ok enuff drooling and onwards to the zoo........

It was not too bad lah... Melaka Zoo ..... the snake pit was scary.... we even found that one of the pythons was crushed to death by another python...... squeeze you later.....

The journey back was pleasant and we all (most of us) made our way back to Wai Chan Kok for in PJ Old Town for dinner......

Cheers......!!!

END

Shobanaa's 21st Birthday

2009-01-12T22:50:00.002+08:00

my cousin's cousin celebrated her 21st Birthday. Happy birthday Shobanaa!!

GSC has nice thick comfy carpets...

2009-01-06T11:27:00.001+08:00

It was new years day and I was thinking @#$$%^ what the hell am I doing sprawled flat on the carpet right in front of Cinema Hall 10, GSC Mid Valley. It was the middle of the day on the 1st of Jan 09. I didn’t have a party hat on…. I didn’t have those whistle thingy blower things with the rolled paper stuck to it… I didn’t have a drink in my hand or smelled of stale beer……

The only thing I know was that it was very very dark…sprawled on a reasonably comfy carpet….. my ankle hurt… so was my arm which broke my fall……

Wish I had a drink right now…. Maybe even a party hat…….. its getting brighter as the movie starts…… I can not describe the sound of 200 or more cinema patron’s expression of surprise and exclamation…..

Now I really want that drink…..

My friends soon realized that I had fallen and helped me on up…. I realized that I could not stand but I was very sure that it was only because of the shock of the fall…. So I limped out… errrrr… more like hopped out with my friends in tow….

Did a quick check to see if anything was broken, fractured or twisted…. Apart from an apparent mild sprain I was ok…. Lifted my head high and tried to mask my limp… we all headed back into the cinema to watch ‘Ip Man’

…. Before the kungfu movie can start you wanted to do a little kungfu izzit???.......... Shut up!! Alex!!!...

Cant really rate this movie but I will say that I did enjoy it. And if you love kungfu movies… this one shld be on top of your ‘To Watch’ list….

HAPPY 2009!!!!!!! May you fall more gracefully than I did!!!!!!!....

Gloria & Kishore 15th Nov 08

2008-12-08T18:56:00.001+08:00

Harmini & Shanker

2008-12-08T18:54:00.001+08:00

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My cousin Harmini got married last Saturday. Im so happy for both of them. Congrats to both of you....
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Anyway this slide show is her engagement

Antonia & Matthew 24th May 08

2008-12-08T18:46:00.003+08:00

Where do Old Land Rovers go to die?

2008-11-29T22:16:00.003+08:00

They dont..... they go to Cameron Highlands...... to work just as hard if not harder then when they were new.....

Impromptu trip to Cameron Highlands... Self Picking Strawberries Ahead...

2008-11-12T22:39:00.007+08:00

The day after the kids "sploosh" birthday party.... Rose and I woke up and thought... hmmm... it was the raya holidays and we're not doing anything.... There was talk about going to Cameron Highlands for months... thought of going during our wedding anniversary... but... plans... u know lah... they get push around a lot...

Then it hit us that morning... "lets just call this place called Bala's Cottage in Cameron's and we'll see from there!!!"... somebody picks up and says "yes there are rooms available..... So we book two nites and we start hurrying around the house to pack and get ready.... we need to leave by 11am...

We hit the road and hoped that it wasnt jammed..... well.... it was not .... but when we wanted to stop at the Tapah reststop there was a jam almost 500 meters before the entrance .... we slowly diverted back on the highway........ cars were parked all over the place.... streams of people packed the stall of shops....

Without a second thought we headed to Tapah town instead and hoped that it wasnt as bad.... well it wasnt ...but the eateries were packed ... so KFC take out it was.....

(Tapah town looks peaceful but the eateries were packed)

As we ate in the car... i noticed this sign in front of us....... now thats something i dont see everyday.....

After our short lunch ... we pushed on towards Cameron's through the old twisty road from Tapah. Sorry no photos of the old road cos it was pretty darn twisty ...so best i have both hands on the wheel.... and Rose was too nervous to take shots...... anyway i was having fun driving...but there were a few blind corners which got me by the balls......

We left Tapah at about 2.50 and reached Bala's Cottage which is after Tanah Rata town about 4.30pm..... it was absolutely gorgeous.... i didnt really manage to capture its atmosphea in my pics.... but trust me ... it was really really cosy....

Bala's cottage from our little terrace chalet....

A little walk around the cottage grounds..... my mum would love the 'English Garden'

Dinner by the fire at the Dinning Area........ comes with a price thought.... and if ur on a budget... eat out yeah...

The next morning we took a drive to Brinchang. Visited the Rose Muzeum near the Rose Valley.... which has such and such number of types of Rose's under one roof.... including the rare Black Rose..... First thing i need to inform you is that the so called Black Rose is just a very dark shade of ....RED... which most people would call Maroon....

Anyway i found the weeds growing around the area more interesting... as the two shots below illustrates.... well there were other intesting plants there too... which u can see in the slide show below this post....

Oh yeah before we visited the Rose Muzium ... we drove up to the Bharat Tea plantation observation cafe thingy at Rose Valley.... which was a waste of petrol... thats why i almost forgot about it....There is another Bharat Cafe that we passed before reaching Tanah Rata on the way up the day before ...looked much better... but we didnt stop cos we wanted to reach Bala's before 5pm.... well maybe the next time then...

After that we took the slip road to Gunung Brinchang... which is the highest paved road in Malaysia.... We get really good views of BOH Plantations along the way..... very nice....

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The roads were very tricky.... it was interesting watching big MPVs like the Toyota Alfard maneuver up these roads..... We stopped at a strawberry farm...to pick strawberries.... not as execiting as i thought it wld be.... But i did find the cherry tomatos very photogenic....

There was a signboard which i noticed while driving but didnt manage to get a shot.... It read "Self Picking Strawberry's... 500 meters"...... kekekekeke...

I was getting tired and hungry... so we headed back to Brinchang Town and had lunch at an Indian shop.... then after that we just bummed at Bala's..... and was looking forward to Tea and Scones in the garden..... at what else... Tea time lah....

Reading a book while waiting for our tea and scones.... it was raining so under the patio will do just fine thank you....

Tea and Scones... worth the wait.... and the cold cold rain....

It rained pretty much the rest of the day and nite...and the next morning..... i was freezing my ass off.... overall the trip was very very relaxing.... apart from the cold.... and that the room for the amount we paid was pretty small and old (it is one of the oldest in cameron's) ... but it felt so cosy and and relaxing....

We drove a little bit more in Brinchang that morning and visited the Big Red Strawberry Park which was a little touristy and then after that bought lots of fresh veggies.... we then headed home...... but instead of using the old road back to Tapah.... we used the new Simpang Pulai pass.... very very nice two lane road which you can cruise at 80 to 90 kph with ease.... Top Gear kind of road.....

The Simpang Pulai Road.... a little longer but way less taxing then the Old Tapah-Ringlet road...

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Sploosh...!!!!!

2008-10-29T00:00:00.001+08:00

My niece had a birthday party last month and the kids had a good old water fight..... with water ballons and water guns....and a littel splish splash in the pool.... some of the adults (im one of the kids... so im not included in this category).... well they didnt want to be left out too....

I dont think i have ever had this much fun with a water gun before......

END

Not so trigger happy in Ipoh

2008-10-28T00:00:00.000+08:00

Took my in-laws to Ipoh to attend a relatives wedding... errr... some time around the end of September..... It was a pleasant drive all the way there and we spent the night at the Heritage Hotel. It was like dejavu cos i was driving the bimmer in Ipoh town like the last time i was here. But one thing was different for sure,... Ipoh was a lot cleaner this time :) .. Now this is the Ipoh i have hear about when growing up.....

For some reason i wasnt trigger happy with my camera on this trip. .... but i did however manage to snap the sunrise after breakfast...

Yes'days Sunset

2008-10-26T17:10:00.003+08:00

On Adrian's advise... i invested in a new lense..... A Nikon D80 kit lense. 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 ....... for we normal folks... That just means it has a longer zoom range than the D70s kit lense which is only up to 70mm...

anyways.... here is the first sunset ever taken by this lense......

Where Did September GO....???????

2008-10-24T23:13:00.007+08:00

Woah... before October comes to an end ... i better put up a post about September... hmmm,... oh yah... september as always... is about birthdays.... it was non other then Dono and Rose's Birthday.....

We took dono out to a place called Oasis Garden... is that correct ah?.... its that place at the open car park opposite Sunway Lagoon Hotel... The food wasnt that great but the ambience was nice... still couldnt figure out if the place had a tropical theme or African theme... or was it both..... anyway... they had the Liverpool ManU game live on the tele... so the boys were happy...

We only could order our food at 9.30pm only because the cooks were out to break fast (it was the Muslim fasting month)... they break fast at 7.30pm... so i didnt know why they need two hours ....... nyway, we started with the drinks first. but like i said... the food wasnt that nice... but the ambience was nice and the band was pretty good too...

Since Dono and Rose birthdays are a few days apart, the girls brought in 2 cakes.....

After the game ended we decided to head over to Republic...... It was full outside but inside was almost empty...... The DJ was sucky and the JD tasted funny.... but hey ...when youre with good company... it doesnt matter...... we danced and had fun..... yup... this lazy bum got his ass on the dance floor....

There was this Indian chick putting her best RnB moves on the dance floor.... that was amusing and got us in stitches ... but hey,,,... i think she deserved some respect for having the nerve and courage in making a fool of herself... besides... she looked like she was having a ball of a time...

Interesting enuff the place became more lively after 2am...... time just passed by so fast that the next thing we knew it was 4am...... way pass my bed time!!!

Then 3 days later we got together again to celebrate Rose' s birthday... we had dinner at an italian restaurant in TTDI.,,... the one at the shops facing the main road near TTDI plaza. The food her was much much better.....

After dinner we convened to Waikiki 2..... ah!!! nice 80s and 90s music was on the airways and companied by its music video on the tele..... The band that played later was really entertaining too.... very nice.... the keyboardist was like a one man band.... he had an interesting and versatile voice. He was accompany by two other singers...

After a couple of beers and 3 tequila shots.... it was a wonder how i was still standing.... i think this was the most i had drank since christmas last year....... the next day i felt like crap........ im getting too old for this shit.......

End

PS- sorry about the format of the photos.... was trying out Picasa 3 Beta.... no, im not going to correct it.... will just do a better job in my next post/..... :P

Merdeka Camping trip...

2008-10-05T22:16:00.007+08:00

Woah!!... I better put in a post before September is over…. (yup…too late!!!) I cant remember if it was a week after???… yeah it was a week after I returned from Sydney that the gang planned a camping trip in PD…. I was a little shocked because I was very sure they weren’t the camping type…. We planned to go on Saturday 30th August since Monday was a holiday for Merdeka (Independence Day) ……. So I thought we will spend two nights camping on the beach but I find out later that week that they had booked an apartment suite for the second night… I thought we could go early since we had only one night to camp there but some of them wanted to help out for the Assumption Family Day…. So by the time Dono, Alex, Shanti, Rose and myself left KL ..it was .,… hmmm I cant remember lah… well… it was late and I believe we reached PD about 12:30am I think….

No surprise PD was packed with people… since it was a long weekend holiday… and also all Muslims will be starting their fast for Ramadan the next day….. PD was like a circus… There was a bad crawl leading all the way to Teluk Kemang was packed with people…. We drove to the 10th mile stretch (Blue Lagoon) where I initially planned to camp but it was filled back to back with tents and holiday goes…. ..

Was not sure what to do next…. So we took a gamble and drove further and explored each exit to see if we could find a nice stretch of beach to setup camp…. After a few U-turns, 3-point turns and a heck of a lot of huge speed bumps… which wasn’t good for a car packed to the brim .. we finally found an interesting, almost deserted stretch of beach…. The sand wasn’t very nice …actually it was more like tiny pebbles…. But hey… it was empty and it was only for a night…. Hmmmm my only worry was how am I going to give directions to Sheeven and Kat who were on their way here… Well …. They did get lost for a bit but after a few phone calls they finally reaching us… By then we had setup the 2 tents and were relaxing on the beach looking at the awesome lightning…. It looked intense and the wind was picking up… we thought for certain it was going to rain heavily…. Every time the sky lit up with lightning, we got a glimpse of the menacing clouds…. It was our very own natural National Day fireworks parade!!!.....

(our merdeka day fireworks parade)

I think it was about 4am when everyone decided to get into the tent… Alex offered to stay up for security and I kept him company… about an hour later I convinced him to sleep and I would take over ….

Woke up with the sound of children playing and shouting … and alex looked at me and said Ooii!! U slept off ah??!! Kekekeke… yup I slept off … kekeke… anyway … the noisy bunch of kids were with two women which I assume were their mothers. They had spread out pages of newspaper on the sand to sit on…. Then suddenly they all just got up and left in their Toyota Wish…… they didn’t even bother to pick up the newspapers…. Such pariahs!!! they looked educated and well-off… oh well… I guess wealth and education does not equate to being civilized….

Rose, Alex and I got up and decided to start making breakfast… So I bring out the portable stove (Yup!! pampered peopel we are…) and… that’s when I realized that I had left a bag back home which had 2 butane gas canisters and a sheet of canvas which I normally use to make a covered area for cooking… … hmmm I didn’t think we had enuff gas … but just when we start cooking…. It starts raining…. Heavily!!!… the three of us scrambled to our feet and took whatever was cooked and got into the car….. kekekeke… we continued to eat while it rained to glory…. hmmm i cant remember why we ran into the car and not the tent,,,...

After the rain had settled down which by then everyone was up… we finally got some coffee going… the gas was just enuff to boil water for coffee… kekeke… luckily we had enuff bread and chocolate peanut butter and Nutella to go around….. After breakfast we brought out Taboo and played a few rounds until I noticed something crawling under Rose’s feet…. I almost panicked but stayed calm and said DON’T PANICK… (normally when you say DON’T PANICK… everyone starts panicking and shouting and running… kekeke) luckily everybody stayed calm and looked at me waiting for an explanation…. As I motioned everyone to stand up slowly …I then ordered them to move away from the mat… Thats when everyone noticed the big ass centipede on the mat…. It was HUGE!!!…. I guided it away from the camp site ..much to rose dissapointment as she was hoping I would kill it….. kekeke…

Played a few more round of taboo then just bummed on th beach for while and also took a walk around the area. Then just before lunch we broke camp… packed and headed out for lunch at a Chinese restaurant near Guoman….

After lunch we checked into Ilham Resort which is at the 10th mile or Blue lagoon Beach. I must say I was impressed… it was a very pleasant place… looks like it has been newly renovated. The only complain i have with the place was that the food was bad ....The food was cheap though...but very bad..…. the buffet breakfast the next day was even worse… but other then that it was a pleasant stay…

PD was pretty much deserted onMonday morning. Such a difference from Saturday night… eventhought Monday was a holiday.... After a walk on Blue Lagoon beach and a popcical stick ice cream... we headed home..... :(

here's too sand between our feet.....

So much to see So little time... Sydney 4th and last day

2008-09-09T23:07:00.010+08:00

....Woke up just after 5am and dragged myself out of bed freshened up… grabbed my gear and caught a cab to the opera house… There was loud squawking sounds coming from the trees at the park near the opera house… it sounded like cockatoos… anyway, I walked around to get some nice shots of the opera house but thought that the best view was still near the waterfront restaurant… So I walked all the way around the Circular Quay and got into position…. The opera house is such a beautiful building lah…

(above taken from a cab at around 5am.........)

While looking through the lens of my camera I notice a flock of birds flying around the Opera House… It was what I suspected… Sulfur crested white cockatoos… They were so noisy I could hear them from where I was standing…. The flock broke into two with one bunch flying across the Harbour Bridge and the second bunch flying across to where I was standing… It felt so strange seeing these wild birds in the city… so cool lah… but they are one noisy bunch…. Made my way back to the hotel to meet Fiona for breakfast…. We didn’t have much time because Fabrice wanted to meet us for a debriefing and discussion… So we walked towards Chinatown but didn’t find anything open yet… we walked an extra block and found a crowded café… The food wasn’t good at all …. I guess it was crowded because it was the only one open…… after breakfast we continued our walk and found Chinatown. Most of it was closed but we suspected that it would all slowly open towards lunch time. I witnessed the strangest thing on our walk back to the hotel

Spent about an hour and a half with Fabrice at the hotel lounge ….. then we had the rest of the day to ourselves… It was about 1pm and our flight was at 8.30pm….

So we went back to Chinatown to eat Dim Sum. Yes, you guessed it… I have never eaten Dim Sum before….. and I really liked it. Fiona explained that the shop we were in was very much a Hong Kong style Dim Sum…. But it has been westernized a little cos they were serving fried chicken wings too…. Kekeke.. actually that was so funny… what was funnier was that we found a shop called Mamak… and they were selling typical Mamak food like Roti Canai, Roti Sardin, Roti Telur and other variation of Roti Canai. Of cos Nasi Lemak too and nnot for getting Mamak Mee Goreng…. Ok so it’s a Mamak stall but there wasn’t a single Mamak fellow in there …. The whole place was run by Chinese dudes… It was hilarious seeing a Chinese Dude twirl roti canai…. Fiona and I could stop laughing as I took a few shots of him making roti canai… The shop was pack though and people were queuing up waiting for their food. They were looking at us probably thinking what’s wrong with us… kekeke…

We took a cab to the Opera House because Fiona hasn’t seen it up close …. And I cant get enough exploring the Opera House… The atmosphere at the Circular Quay was so much more different. The place was so lively and buzzling with people. We went inside and visited the gift shop and then walked around looking at this fascinating building…

It was getting cold again so we stopped at a café to get a hot drink and also sit down to rest and take in the scenery around the Harbour…. … After awhile we went back towards the hotel and walked around Pitt Street to get some souvenirs… Standard lah… we are tourist after all…

…. Sigh!!... it was time to go home….Walked back to the hotel and got our bags, then took a cab to the airport... After eating McD’s (yuck!) and visiting the Duty Free shop where I bought perfume for Rose..… Interestingly they asked me to pick it up once I pass security…. Maybe that should have got me thinking hmmm would I get into trouble for the duty free liquor I had in my hand luggage??!... All I can say is I made a mistake of buying duty free liquor coming into Australian then carried it in my hand luggage while getting out of Australia… yes yes im sure u frequent flier people would be slapping your palm on your head… and saying Bodoh punya orang!! (stupid fellow) … made our way to security…..

Well actually I got into trouble even before passing the metal detector. The security guy was like very curt towards me .... TAKE THE LAP TOP OUT!!! …. Then when I passed the metal detector …it beeped!!... GO BACK IN LINE!! ..EMPTY YOUR POCKETS!! TAKE YOUR JACKET OFF!!... then I pass thru and it beeps again!! WHAT ARE YOU CARRYING!! ….I said it might be my belt??!!... GET BACK IN LINE!!... REMOVE YOUR BELT!!... by that time they were announcing last call to board the plane… finally after removing my belt… I passed the metal detector without setting it off… My things where all over the place… my bag was on one end of the line …. WHOSE BAG IS THIS!!! WHOSE BAG IS THIS!!... its mine, I replied… MAY I GO THROUGH IT!! (Said a Security lady like as if I had a choice)…. She takes out the bottle and slams it on the stainless steel counter…. YOU CANT TAKE THIS IN!! YOU HAVE TO CHECK IT IN…!!!... (well its too late now)… I explained that it was duty free and that I had the receipt but to no avail…. Then Fiona gets into the negotiation but I think that kind of pissed her off even more… Then she starts taking everything out of my bag and then shoved it back in… but withheld the bottle… sign!!! Oh well… so much for Bundaberg Rum….

We board the plane and find out that there’s still one more passenger that hasn’t boarded… then as I sat in my seat I suddenly realized that I didn’t pick up the perfume after the security check…. Fiona suggested asking the flight crew if I could go and pick it up… And when I asked them they then asked me to ask the boarding officer… … and when I asked him he tell me that I have 10 seconds to pick it up so run!!... funny chap… When I get to the pick up counter there isn’t anyone there… so I get behind the counter and start looking for it… my taught were racing and thinking what if they arrest me for being behind this counter… … they will interrogate me and will miss my flight … and im going to be jailed … the adrenalin rush was making me giddy….

As I got into the plane the boarding guy shouted CHAMPION!!!... … what an embarrassing night… I just want to go home!!.... but unfortunately it was a transit flight with an hours stop over at Brisbane....

It was turbulence all the way to Brisbane.... and while were landing there... the plane was swinging side to side..... i kid u not!!!.... i swear one set of the plane's tyres touched down before the next set did.... ...arrrggghhh!!...

The flight back to KL wasnt any better either.... turbulence!!! turbulence!!! and more turbulence!!!... i tell you... it was so good getting home.... dumped all my bags and got into bed............... WHAT?? Anwar caught for sodomy? Permatang Pauh? Government take over?... Imigrants??? ISA????... sigh!!!!!!! theres no place like home.........

END

view pics HERE
or view the slide show below

Freezing in Sydney - Days 2 & 3

2008-09-09T22:03:00.008+08:00

… it was a lovely morning lah… even though it was freezing even with the heater at maximum… I think it was the best sleep I had had in a long time…… Wanted to wait for Fiona to arrive at the hotel then go for breakfast with her but I was way too hungry to wait …Went down to the lobby and found out that the buffet breakfast is 17 aussie … looked at what they had and thought…nope…im venturing out…. Went into a nice cozy diner not too far from the hotel and had a lovely English Breakfast for only 10 aussie… superb breakfast with real bacon…. Luckily I didn’t wait for Fiona because the taxi she took from the airport took her to the wrong Travelodge Hotel…. what a stupid cabby…he even had a map…. Well anyway… once she got to the hotel I gave her the bad news that check-in is only 2pm. Dumped her things in my room and I waited in the lobby as she freshened up. Then I took her out for breakfast.

(the worse panorama pic ever... we'll just call it creative shall we... nyway this is the view from my room)

Fabrice picked us up around 10am. As Fiona chatted with Fabrice, I took in the scenery while we drove to the office. They don’t have as many highways as Klang Valley but their tolls are not cheap (Dollar to dollar) but then again most Malaysians have to pass a few tolls a day which I guess would come up to the same amount. Anyway the jams are just as bad over there.

(My shiny self, Fiona, Jack, Andy and Fabrice)

Lunch was nice but I cant seem to remember what I ate… oh oooh… hope I can remember the rest of my trip… We had lunch at a café at a public golf course not too far from the office. After lunch we had a few more sessions at the office then we took a drive with Valerie and Fabrice to visit ‘HYstandard’, a forklift dealer about an hours drive from the office. When we left HYstandard it was bout 5.45pm and it was starting to get very cold. As usual it was the wind that was the culprit…. Valerie took as back to the hotel because she lived nearer to the city. She took us through the main roads instead of the highway to show us what the suburbs look like in Sydney… she also took us to Balmain, at the edge of a river which had a fantastic view of the city. We also got to cross the ANZAC bridge as we got into the city…

(Fiona takes good pictures of me.... heres me in Balmain with the Harbour Brigde as background)

After getting back to the hotel, Fiona wanted to go to for sushi at a Japanese restaurant recommended by a friend of hers which was along Oxford Street. We walked 3 blocks but didn’t find it… so we decided to back track and have tapaz at on a Spanish restaurant … This would be the first time I am eating Tapas… (yes…am adventures but im not adventures with food)…. I loved it… especially the prawn dish which were delicious and so fresh… After dinner we thought of walking to Chinatown but the wind was starting to pick up… it was getting really really cold… even the locals were saying it was exceptionally cold for winter… the weather is screwed up I tell you!!... We decided to just head back to the hotel and call it a nite… we needed to be in the office early the next day anyway…. And I was also extremely tired too… otherwise I would have ventured out to Darling Habour near Chinatown…

As I lay in bed I looked at my finger nails which looked so blue… pulled up my socks and snuggled into my comforter… … damn ‘Chasing Cars’ is still ringing in my ear…. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Day 3.......…

We decided to save time and take a cab to office so that we could start early…. We had sessions lined up back to back and the day went by really fast… Andy, Jack, Val and Fabrice took us across the street at a University campus… walking there and back I hear strange bird sounds in the trees …. Found colourful parrot looking birds high up in the trees.. (did a google search; they’re called Lorikeets) … nope sorry didn’t have my zoom lens with me…

After lunch it was more sessions… it was tiring… We finished nearly at 6pm. Fabrice then treated us for dinner at the Waterfront Restaurant at the Circular Quay across the Sydney Opera House. Fiona and me were just blown away by the view… it was so lovely lah… Anyway the restaurant had an open air concept but because it was winter, there was a canopy put up with outdoor heater lamps put up everywhere… I tell you … if you every want to woo a girl in Sydney… this would be the most romantic place ever… with its ambience and view of the harbour. The seafood was so so only (Malaysia still better :) but it tasted so fresh lah… especially the prawns…

Walking back to the car after dinner was very difficult because it was so freaking cold!!!!. The drive back to the hotel was interesting because we noticed all the nightclubs where packed and the city looked lively….compared to other nights….. The girls were all in their sexy outfits which puzzled me because I really wondered how they can wear skimpy outfits while waiting in line to get into the club…in the freaking cold!!!!... I really wondered….. but of cos I wasn’t complaining lah….…

went to bed early cos i wanted to take pics of the sunrise ........ which is at 5am!!!!...

to be continued.......

view pics of Day 2 and 3 HERE

or view the slide below;

Leaving an Impression in Sydney.... Day 1

2008-09-06T12:49:00.008+08:00

When i heard that i was being sent to Sydney for training i was like... really ah!!! yeah!!... then i thought woah!! sure or not?? im i ready ?? Training for what you ask??... well i am in training to be a product specialist in Hyster Forklifts.... So if you're looking for a forklift be it from pallet movers to container handlers... give me a call...

So... how do you prepare for Sydney in winter.... A bunch of assumptioners did go down there for world youth day to hangout with Pope Benedict... so i asked around.... and all they cld say was awesome and it was cold but bearable.... Well they were right about the awesome part and the freezing part but the bearable part i dont know lah..... ...

It was quite a rush after work last Friday (obviously not last friday) to collect a few things before going to the airport......by the time i got home i only had 25mins to get ready and do some last minute packing.... the cabby had to wait 10min .... The drive to the airport was filled with thoughts of whether i had taken everything or not....

Checked my bag in and then headed to my standard makan place (food place) in the airport, Burger King..... Sitting there eating my fries...it felt strange... This is the first time im traveling alone… so it was a bit strange for me… Actually another colleague of mine was supposed to join me on this trip but she had some issues with her visa.

Hmmm anyway I went around the satellite city a little bit before getting on board the 747-400... got a window seat next to the wings…yeah!!...hmmm.. Got some interesting pics but at the cost of not being able to go to the loo... The ‘uncle’ next to me drank whisky like there was no tomorrow. I stop counting after 5 cups. I tried waking him up during flight but he was out like a light bulb and only woke up during landing in Sydney.

The flight we had a lot of turbulence so it was bumpy...I had difficulty sleeping... I think I had about 3 hours sleep out of the 8.5 hour flight.... But I had the moon as company (seen in pic on the left) ... Watched a few episodes of Smallville but I got bored so I just selected a few songs and just kept playing them over and over,…. Had the song ‘Chasing Cars’ stuck in my head for the rest of the week…… Landed at Sydney airport at about 8am and got out into 13 degrees Celsius without my jacket… like hero like that… interestingly I was ok… but while i was getting my jacket out of the bag… wind started blowing and I could have sworn that it went right through my bones…and out the otherside... The thick shirt I was wearing on top of my t-shirt obviously wasn’t enough…. On went the jacket and a hippidy hop into the taxi and I was off to my hotel, Travelodge Sydney.

(the view of Sydney City from the plane as it was taxing)

The taxi driver started chatting with me asking a lot of Qs… When he found out I was Catholic he asked if I knew about the World Youth Day in Sydney a few weeks ago… blah blah blah blah… I was like woah this cabby is chatty… He also explained that he was a Falun Gong practitioner and how it has improved his life…. Then he went on about how in China his fellow Falun Gong followers are persecuted and even killed. Well im sure we all have heard how people in china are forced to follow everything the communist government forces on to them…. They are not free to practice their fate and beliefs freely and are treated inhumanly. Anyway you can google about it or go HERE for more details.

Well anyway I was really really tired and zombified and it didnt help that when I reached the hotel to check-in I was informed that the room will only be ready at 2pm … it was 9.30am and my pick up to the office was at 10am... sigh,... i cldnt even freshen up properly...... So I put my luggage in storage and just lightly freshened up (yes I brushed my teeth too)… … and then waited in the lobby…… for almost two hours…!!!

(The AMP tower and St Mary's Church)

I only met Fabrice at about noon after some problems with the receptionist who didn’t pass me my messages from him …The worst part was the receptionist kept telling him I hadn’t checked-in yet … OFCOS lah I didn’t check-in yet when they themselves know nobody can check-in before 2pm!!! What was the point of me signing the receipts and giving security deposit and my handphone number for then….Bodoh betul lah!! And I was there all the while just across from them… Stupid fools!!... they don’t allow me to check in then say I haven’t checked in AARRRggggHH!!!... anyway Fabrice called the Malaysian office and got my number… then got a hold of me and was confused with the whole receptionist thing and not to mention pissed…. Anyway he informed me that he will take about 40minutes to reach the hotel…since i was fed up of waithing in the lobby and bored to hell ..i took my tiny map booklet thingy andwent out to explore explore a little bit lah… then when I was headed back to the hotel, I took a wrong turn and got lost …… then it was Fabrice’s turn to wait in the lobby :P

… Anyway… Fabrice supervised my training in Sydney. So after he picked me up I was pretty much in the office for the rest of the day.

You know, for some reason…. I was really hyper… must have been because of lack of sleep or something… I was just not myself… I shld have know I wasn’t myself when I got lost in the city even with a map..(even if it was tiny)… and while in Fabrice’s office… I walked right into his glass wall…. Not only was it embarrassing… with everyone including the GM coming out of his office to investigate the loud BANG!…. it hurt like hell…. My forehead and left cheek was inflamed… my glasses got bent and a little scratched….. There was a nice round smear on the glass wall… What a way to leave an impression …sigh!! Everyone was shocked and worried if I was ok or not…. I just kept saying im ok!! im ok!!… while trying to bend my glasses back into shape… Actually … I wasn’t too sure if I was ok… my head was spinning but after awhile the room stopped moving and I stopped holding the table for balance……I was embarrassed and bruised but I was ok. Felt even better after a late lunch with Fabrice… then continued with the rest of the training.. I did get some good news during lunch. My colleague Fiona got her visa sorted and was booked on the flight to Sydney that night and will arrive in the morning the next day…

Finished around 5pm and took a taxi ride back to the hotel. This time I got a Lebanese taxi driver who was very inquisitive about where I was from… and wondered if I was born in India or Malaysia… He seemed more interested in India then Malaysia… . As we chatted away…the sun went down really fast. The journey from the office is about 40 minutes to the city, so by the time I got back to the hotel it was about 6pm. … everything was closed or closing… and it was dark…

First think I did when I checked-in was to take a nice long hot shower…. Oh I did ask the reception if I had any messages just to spite them….pandis!! The room was pretty decent and clean and according to the map I had, the location was not too bad. After sorting my things I decided to take a walk and find something to eat….. but after looking at the map… I sort of thought… hmmm Sydney harbour seemed near… maybe I will walk over there and take in the scenery. I walked passed a 24hrs pizzeria along Liverpool street and decided since I wasn’t really hungry I would eat on the way back from the harbour.

First thing I noticed is that Sydney was quite hilly… and I was doing more downhills then I was doing uphills. That wasn’t good because that meant I will be doing more uphills when I walk back…… everytime I reached a landmark I would think hmmm shld I just head back to the hotel… but no… I went on… determined to reach the harbour. I cld have taken a taxi… but im cheap that way… besides its very expensive ok….. Town Hall looked nice… and The Queen Victoria Mall was like wow… Too bad I didn’t have my tripod lah…especially when I reached the iMac shop which was really nice… It was like a glass box filled with iMac products which you can touch and feel and even use…. Too bad the photos I took of it didn’t come out well.

(The interior of Queen Mary's Mall)

I can’t remember how long I walked, all I remember is that it was freezing….. I reached an area called The Rocks. I had read that it was the oldest part of Sydney… that’s where I caught a glimpse of the Harbour Bridge……. checking with the map I decided to walk down to the pier and there she was….. The Sydney Opera House… a white marble ship floating on the water across the harbour…. (if only I had my tripod…sigh!!... I managed to brace myself on the lamp post and railing to get a few shots…)

(a tall boat docked at the restaurant after a day of sailing)

(The Harbour Bridge from across the Circular Quay)

I then decided to walk around the Circular Quay to get to the foot of the Opera House. It was quite a walk but when I got to the steps of the Opera House… a silence fell over me… it actually felt so peaceful being there…I just sat there looking up at her… wow!!... maybe because there wasn’t anyone around except maybe one or two people around braving the winter wind like me…. The wind was really getting to me…. The camera felt cold against my palm as I took a few shots…. Hmmm I should have brought gloves… I then went up close to the arch and touched the marble tiles that covered the famous structure …. Her construction looked so simple yet it was so amazing…... just amazing….

Well it was getting late… actually it was only 9.30pm but it felt like midnight... I was really cold and hungry so I took the long walk back to the pizza parlour and got two huge slices of pepperoni and a nice cup of hot chocolate and headed back to the hotel… snuggled into bed after a nice hot shower ................what a day.... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

TO BE CONTINUED…

Go HERE or view the slide show below for pictures from my first day in Sydney.

Why sooo SERIOUS!!!!!!!!!!

2008-08-30T09:32:00.007+08:00

i must say Hellboy wasnt as good as i had hoped it to be... it did have its moments...but it just sizzled off without amounting to much... 6/10 for me because the story was interesting even though it didnt play out as good as it sould have..

Next up was Dark Knight...... i was blown away from the start till the end... Every single aspect of this movie was amazing... everything.... this movie amazingly manage to stuff as much charactor and storyline into it beautifully.. which put other movies like Spiderman 3 and X-men 3 to shame...
And god, they pitted Joker and Batman together on all levels of seriousness ... and they did it well.... i was held to my seat listening to every word.... it was intense.... even the music score was intense...... 10/10

....if there was one thing i wanted to complain, it would be batman's love interest.... i dont think Gyllanhaal did any better then Kathy Homes... oh well thats ok ...since she was just a pawn in the complicated web triangle of Batman, Two Face and of cos Joker... Arrhhhggg!! this movie was so good i watched it twice.... I might even go again.

Hancock was very interesting.... and i must say intriging .....but after coming out of the cinema i wasnt too impressed with it.... mayb i like it because i had low expectations of it an just sat and watched it without thinking about it too much... Well i can tell you one thing... its somewhat an original and fresh take on a new superhero.... 6/10 ...

My wife and i went an watched Sex in the City..... and i was fairly surprised at its very down to earth storyline... i guess thats why so many women out there can relate to the story and charactors, and they woul keep them dear to their hearts. Some movies are better of watched on DVD even if it is good, but I feel SC was still worth the 22 bucks ticket price we paid total.... it was differnately a very good follow up on the hit series... I dont rate girlie movies but if i did...this would get a 6.5/10

yes yes... i know i owe you guys more then a movie review.... bah!! :P

The Will to Blog and Peanut Sauce

2008-08-04T22:49:00.012+08:00

wow... is that been how long since i actually wrote something on my blog.... well the last few dont count because its just a slide of my recent assignments and a titter-tatter on one of my paper creations ....

hmmmmmmm where do i start.... .... Summer is upon us all... ok i guess it doesnt apply to us in malaysia but it does so to many of our friends over the seas who are studying .... so most were down for their holidays.... but if youre studying in the land down under then u'd be down for winter. Ok now im confused ....where am i going with this... oh right... friends ...down for the holidays... yeah so it was catch up time .... The two D'Rozario sisters, both studying on opposite corners of the world were back after a long long time apart... 2 years i think... so we had a small do at our place... i tell you those two ah so sweet lah... such loving sisters.... really missed veron's facial expressions too lah...kekeke so funny one... we where supposed to watch a movie on the telly but we landed up just chatting the night away....

Its started off all sane and all,... but then it all went insane after that...

Veron won the body arching competition but.......... donovan won the funny face competition...

...others were getting hungry.........

Next was Miss Karen...i mean Dr Karen whom i also havent seen in two years..... ah miss giggles is still the same but im sure now she would be the only one in the room who cld save me if i had a paper cut.... maybe its just me but its funny how we only realize how much we miss people when their back.....

We took an impromptu ride to PD because Karen hadnt seen the beach for yonks.... Been a long time since i went on a spur of the moment long drive...... it was just like old times when G and myself would hop into our cars and take a drive to wherever with whom ever who wanted to follow us.... if you ever saw a white kancil and a mustard yellow vw beetle driving along a lonely road... well that would have been us....

We reached there in time for dinner where we settle in to eat at a place called El Rancho.... it was a nice place more so for its ambiance.... u can even hear the sea even thought its across the road.

managed to catch up with a few rounds of pool....

Check out the two chinese dudes at the head of the table.....

Awe..... this little fiat 500 has seen better days........

taking a walk on the beach ........ its hard to hold a camera still for 30 seconds to take this shot....

wokay... time to go home......... try not to get sand in the car yeah....

ok i wrote the above like almost a month ago.... still havent had the mood to write .... and my internet line is still like shit.... calling the Streamyx, Telekom Malaysia help line is like Bruce Banners short cut to turning into the HULK if he ever had trouble doing so....

Customer Service in Malaysia.... is one of a kind lah..... out of the six times i called in a span of one and a half months only once did i get someone who made sense and i had spent the lease amount of time explaning my problem with him........ but it doesnt help when got him on my very first call to Streamyx........sigh!!! .... every other call just got worst and worst.... I am thinking of going to the counter get it solved .... hopefully my blood pressure wont be affected this time...

Shanti is back for three weeks...... and she insisted on good Sea Food and Satay... so we headed to South Pacific for dinner... I must say i enjoyed the dinner too... They serve up some nice prawns and the Satay was pretty good too ...Although it was a bit strange that they dont serve it with the peanut sauce.... When asked they said that it is marinated with the sauce..... Interesting... although it would have been nice to dip it in more peanut sauce...

Dono bought a new board game, Betrayal at House on the Hill....yes thats what its really called.. anyway, Dono and Shanti came over and we had a game….. it was interesting but complicated .... even thought i was sleepy ..I still enjoyed myself.... well maybe because its something different from Scene It, Risk & Monopoly....

Caught a number of movies these couple of MOvies .... like Hellboy 2 and Dark Knight.... the latter being for me the best movie of 2008... oh well im gettinig sleepy.... i better just click Publish before i forget and another week just passes by......... nite..

Poovarasi & Gobinathan Wedding Dinner 08Jun08

2008-07-20T16:27:00.003+08:00

a cute couple celebrating their union with friends and family. congrats to both of you! for enquiries and bookings email me at pixelatedmo@gmail.com

mo

Paper Clutch Handbag

2008-07-03T09:52:00.006+08:00

Here is the custom made birthday card i made for Melissa. She loves handbags so i thought i'd make a clutch handbag out of paper which will open to reveal birthday wishes and notes inside, signed by all her friends. Its just folded paper block laminated with gold textured wrapping paper. The inside i cut and pasted printed card which i got from the craft shop.... Took me a few attempts and ideas to figure out how to keep the bag closed. in the end i used leftovers to make a button.

The bag (ok ok its a glorified box).......

Release the button....

.... and open.... I glued the card inside after everyone had signed it.

Looks like plastic

2008-07-01T16:00:00.007+08:00

Even when the trailer started showing i was very very suspicious about Indy 4. After what George did to Star Wars 1, 2 & 3 i was thinking the worst but since Steven Spielberg was also on board i though maybe just maybe George cant ruin it.... i was wrong... its worst then i thought....... from scene to scene it was just getting worst and worst..... ok stop reading if you havent watched it yet.... I was so worried about George Lucas that i didnt see it coming..... Spielberg had infused his obsession with aliens into this movie.... why... why whyyyy!!!..lah!!

The characters were forgettable and seemed like a waste of talent, while the reuse of familiar script from past Indy movies were just lost in this pointless movie..... and didnt those crytal sculls look more like plastic......... its a very sad 3/10...... or shall i give it 1/10 just for pissing me off.....

They better not piss me off again because..... you wouldn't like me when I'm angry!!!........ well i hope im wearing my stretchy pants if that happens..... hmmm ok ok lets start with Hulk 2.... never liked the first one so as usual i thought the worst this time around... but Edward Norton was taking the lead this time and i like his work... actually he did do a good job with Hulk 2 and it was green for go from the get-go... non stop action back to back and i was like woah.....cool!! then half way thru the movie i think it lost steam.... and i still think they didnt show HULK's full potential as the most unstoppable force in the MARVEL universe.... oh well.... i guess they are just saving it for next time....i hope......and as like Ironman... this movie hints of an Avengers spin off. The Incredible HULK is 6/10 for me...........

ok before you go saying im a closet girly movie watcher'.... let me just say i went out with my wife for a day of shopping, dinner and a movie. Wife wanted to watch the movie because of Patrick 'McDreamy' Demsey...... to be honest i dont see him as McDreamy.... i see him as 'Jimbo', that dude that let that Ibola infected monkey go free in the movie Outbreak...... Anyway i went to go and check out Michelle Monaghan .... but for some reason she looked a little strange... dont know how to explain.... just weird looking....... well if you're waiting for a rating... all i can say is My Best Friends Wedding was better...... No! im not a closet girly movie watcher'

I dont know why i bother watching his movies lah.... i hated the first one and watchin it a second time only turned me into the HULK.... so why ...why did i go watch National Treasure 2......
0/10 for all his movies from now on....nuff said....

Jacinta & Christi Wedding 18May08

2008-06-28T16:34:00.000+08:00

a lovely wedding with a lovely couple.....

email me at pixelatedmo@gmail.com for inquiries and bookings.

BUGgers do Cyberjaya

2008-06-27T15:52:00.002+08:00

Woah... the BUGgers club is picking up well.... and our forum is lively... so if you know anyone who has a classic volkswagen be it a beetle, Ghia, Kombi, Rabbit, Thing or has a passion on them, get them to join us to learn and share knowledge on the 'Peoples Wagen'.. On behalve of our founder Shawn, i wld like to welcome you to our forum Volksriders

Below is a slide of our 5th G2G held in Cyberjaya last month....

Mel's Burpday

2008-06-26T15:32:00.003+08:00

It was Mel's B'day a week ago and her family threw her a BBQ party. A number of friends who are studying abroad had come down.... so it was also a good opportunity to meet up with everyone... APM got together and bought her a diamond necklace and i made a custom Birthday card in a shape of a clutch handbag.

Jacinta & Christi Registration 10May08

2008-06-13T12:03:00.000+08:00

I finally got together a few (less then 100) photos of Jacinta's & Christi's Legal Registration at SFX Church last month. Next i need to get a few of her wedding photos together ....

Sorry Cinta ;P

Meera & Gopal Wedding 23Mar08

2008-06-10T09:59:00.000+08:00

The Petrol Conundrum

2008-06-06T16:00:00.005+08:00

hmmm... where do i start.... since everyones talking about the fuel hike... mayb i will just start there then....

Now first up i want you all to know that i am all for the abolishment of government subsidized petrol which according to 'them' is about RM56 billion... now if you abolish this then maybe the money saved can be reverted to develop a world class public transport infrastructure... no not the 'after thought' system that we see being done now... i mean a total rethink and MEGA infrastructure for public transport be developed, be it proper walk ways, cycling paths, bus, MRT, LRT, otherRT's ....subways, byways, proper overhead bridges...... a person must be able to walk at least a 10KM radius without any kind of stupid obstacles....like the lack of a proper crossing....

Maybe something like Europe... why go far... how about something like Singapore.... yes i might make fun of them... sometimes i dont even know why ...other times it even seems appropriate but GOD!!! you can walk the whole Island without problems... why is that they can get it right while we are still in the dark about public transport????

So yeah... i say abolish it... completely... cos even now its still subsidized by 30sens... and if you have a smaller CC car you get a rebate every year...... I say abolish it!!!!!!!!!.... then maybe then, car prices will come down drastically and we will not have issues on AP... or missed used import taxes... over or under estimates on value for personal profit and so on and so forth...

Damn!!....i need some Chocolate Crispy's.........

On the very day the announcement of the increased petrol price went out... the skies opened up and poured in protest... or was it just tears of laughter.... Well it was truly a serious thunderstorm which was quite scary....a flash of light and next thing i know... the main switch in my hse goes off and i was in darkness... only the laptop screen illuminated the room as im editing some photos.... i move apart the curtains to get some light in but decide not too when flashes upon flashes of lightning streak across the sky while cracks of thunder follow almost immediately.....

I decide to leave the mains off too while i continue to edit the pixs... Rose calls to say shes stuck in jam and as i look out at the LDP i can see that nobody is getting home fast... it was at a standstill... same as the NPE... my sister who was heading into bangsar also was stuck... but then i realize ...maybe the jam wasnt because of the rain... maybe it was because everyones jamming the petrol stations trying to fill up on petrol before..... well maybe it was both.... i am certain that not everyone was so kiosu to go out in rush hour jam to get petrol.... those who did had selfishly caused a jam so bad it lasted till almost midnite ... thats when the new price of RM2.70 starts... i say selfishly because im sure some off you had seen that they were hogging the roads and junctions that lead into petrol stations causing others to get stuck in unwanted jams... people who just wanted to get home after a long day at work... those who weren't kiasu enought to want to fill up and save maybe RM40 for a full tank of petrol (for americans or think they are americans, petrol means gas or gasoline) ... and may i ask how much of petrol was wasted while waiting in your cars stuck in jam??? if you where stuck in an hour of jam thats almost RM20 gone......not enuff you waste so much of petrol ... you make other non kiasu people waste petrol too by getting everyone stuck in jam...

Well i hope you are proud... so proud that you saved RM40... oh wait you used RM20 of petrol being stuck in jam... so yeah... i hope you are proud that you saved RM20 :P

ok lah ok lah.... i will stop rambling :P

Tioman 08

2008-05-21T11:18:00.001+08:00

Man... it has been a hectic and fast week.... last friday my cousin got married... congrats bro..!! then on Saturday i documented a fellow blogger, Jacintha's wedding . We met on
Sabrina's blog. Then the next day the vw buggers had a fun drive to PD..... well other then that i also felt the tremor last monday at around 10.40pm... looked at rose and said "woah, did u feel that?" rose just had this 'poor mo... long hard weekend!' look.....

well i guess all that in my next post......

ANyway i wrote the following on tioman a week ago but only just had the time to put in a few photos...

Although it was a 5 hour drive, it felt very quick and was a surprisingly pleasant drive to Mersing with only one stop at Kluang for breakfast. We set out in two cars about 5.30am without any delays... surprisingly... :)

We reached Kluang about 8am and G took us to a famous cafe which was located next to the train station but it was closed on that day... so we took a drive around Kluang town and settled in a corner shop which had a variety of chinese and Indian food... the roti canai wasnt that good but the rest of the food especially the ' yong tou foo' was very nice... and the surrounding post war buildings set a nice appeal to the whole place...

The road got interesting after we passed the Palm Oil Factory.... very twisting with very badly maintained.... the patch work tarring along the sides of the road keep us in the middle of it... so we seriously needed to look out for on coming traffic.... but I guess only G and I can appreciate it... so while G and I were having fun with the driving, some were gritting their teeth at the corners but most of them were sleeping....... sleeping!!

As we entered Mersing, it was apparent that the whole world was there....

(foot note: interesting fact; Mersing is about 360km from home, thats like driving to the Penang Bridge toll gate at, but we used less petrol to get to Mersing... mayb bcos of the hilly terrain on the way to Penang)

........the jetty ofcos was packed with people from all over the world..... We only cld get tickets for the 2.30pm ferry but the resort lady told us if we waited at the counter they wld inform us if there is place on the boat... So as G and I parked the cars the others got the bags out and waited at the jetty.....

it was absolute caos at the jetty .... talk about dissorganised... and ofcos all this is made even more worse by idiotic people who see the incompetence as an oppotunity to get on an earlier ferry to Tioman ,..... and the ferry officials are either really dumb or just too lazy to be bothered about it...... i was really getting sick of watching this circus... felt like shouting at them to get their act together......

But instead,... i had a drink at a bar called PORT which was near the jetty... as time passed by rather quickly, it was time then to wait for our ferry..... we started queuing up ...but as the ferry docked ...suddenly everyone was forming their own line into the entrance... what the FU^K !!!!!!!..... caos... arrgggghhh... fu>king animals lah!!!... and when we finally got thru the gates ...one guy took my ticket, tore the stub and gave it back to me, then another guy shoved a laminated piece of paper with numbers on it and said "Boarding Pass".... then about 3 meters away another guy asked for my boarding pass... so i gave it to him..... all this in less then 15 seconds after stumbling out of the gate....

Rose was ahead of me in the line. When she managed to get through ...she didnt get a boarding pass... so the third guy who is collecting the boarding pass asked her to go back all of 10 feet (bout 3 meters) to get one... if not he wont let her pass..... !!???!!!!! WHAT THE FUKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!! what was the point of the stupid damn boarding pass.... pls someone tell me!!!!!.....

Finally we were all in the ferry..... but I really wonder how many people on it actually had tickets for the 2.30pm ferry .... and i seriously hope that everyone who were scheduled for this ferry managed to get on... sigh!!

So yeah we were finally on our way to Tioman.... and thats when i knocked out and slept thru the 2 hour trip to the Island.....woke up just as we reached Tioman.... it was a welcomed sight after almost 7 hours of travelling and 4 hours of waiting.... PANUBA INN RESORT here we come...yeah!! yeah!!..... time to kick back and relax........

By the time we checked-in and unpacked and bath, it was already time for dinner. The food at panuba was nothing to shout about but their desserts were decent..... beer was cheap, i guess because Tioman is duty free.

After dinner we bummed on the beach for awhile before heading back to our rooms for a round of UNO!!!!!!! dose tres.......... chakotay!!!!!!!!!!

The next morning at breakfast i was... i mean ....we were totally disappointed to find the buffet breakfast which comes with the room consisted of fried mee hoo (2nd day was fried mee and 3rd day fried Kuey Teow) and plain bread of which u can toast ... oh and free flow of coffee, tea and yellow colour water which is supposed to be juice..... !!?? and thats it.... everything else on the breakfast menu you will need to order and pay for it separately...... so every morning i ordered scrambled eggs.... with toast ofcos and coffee... pleasant breakfast with the sound of the waves crashing on the shore.... hmmmm nice....

Well after breafast we planned to take a boat ride to Tekek Town (where the berjaya airport is and all the duty free shops).... We stocked up on liquor and cheap beer.... Suprisingly there was hardly any kind of chocolates.... there was only one shop which had chocolates but it was quite sad... actually the duty free shops in Tioman are a far cry from the ones in Langkawi. After lunch and more liquor purchasing, we made our way back to Panuba .... spent the rest of the evening snorkeling and teaching Rema and Saro how to snorkel since it was their first time ever. Even Rose tried snorkeling but got too scared and st....

The next day only G, Rema and Saro and myself took the snorkeling trip to Coral Island, Monkey Beach and a lunch stop over at Salang which was on the northern tip of Tioman. Coral Island is still as beautiful as the last time i visited 4 or 5 years ago.... but i still dont get why the boats are still allowed to be driven (u drive a boat ah is that correct) over the corals... hmmmmm

Crystal clear waters..... myriad of fishes and coral.... sigh.... it was heaven.... but it was really really hot... the sun was unbearable.... but im sure the mat sallehs all loved it....... Food in Salang wasnt that great but believe me... if you really want to 'cuci mata' (wash your eyes) this is surely the place... for men and women.... wink wink....

Once we got back to Panuba we found that the rest were lazing on the beach and some were swimming and so I joined them to snorkel some more....... i even managed to teach Rose how to snorkel...... finally...... yeah!!

After dinner i was a goner... while the others played cards... woke up the next day and realized it was going home time.... :( we managed to catch an earlier ferry back to mersing....

Well... here are some sunsets i captured in tioman... Sab these are for you...

Check out the slide show or click on the picasa sign to go to my tioman album...

Ironman's Italian Connection in Germany

2008-05-15T10:38:00.006+08:00

Went to watch Ironman last saturday at the Curve. We only managed to get tickets for the late night show so we decided to go have dinner at the German Bierhous.... naturally we got Paulana beer (oh, make sure you ask for the drinks menu... they seem to have more then whats listed on the main menu) but ...well, as usual i cldnt decide on what to eat... and i wasnt too keen on anything on the menu... interestingly they had two or three Italian dishes too.... So i ordered the Cabonara .... strange but true... and i must say it was the best Cabonara pasta i have eaten... ... then i tried a little bit of everyone's dishes and i wasnt too impress though......

well after our expensive dinner it was onward to watch Ironman... heard alot of good things about the movie and i must say they were all justified..... it was very well done... beautifully played and the under rated Robert Downey Jr, was perfect as Tony Stark.... Hope you all waited for the bit after the credits... its just a taste of whats to come... but Samuel L Jackson... hmmm lately his been in sucky rolls and lame movies.....well we just need to wait and see. Hey u know what...., in the middle of the movie i hope you all got the hint of War Machine... but i guess that was more for comic fans... google it if you want... IRONMAN 9/10

... im still here...

2008-05-05T17:02:00.008+08:00

... yes, i still have been blogging... its just that i have been blogging on my 65vwbeetle blog .... been slowly dismantling my vw engine... I also met up with a few members of the BUGgers club as we had our 4th gathering this time held in Klang... managed to get alot of info on the vw engine.... and of cos lots of photos.

We also when for Cat's birthday party.... that was fun... it had a retro rock theme.... dont ask me what that means... i didnt know what to wear... so i ripped the sleeves off an old shirt and slapped on some jeans...

Ofcos.... a party isnt complete without a few rounds of TABOO..... we even had a few rounds of charades..... My team lost terribly in Taboo but we blew away the other team with Charades...

ANyway i just got back from Tioman last Sunday.... more on that in my next post...

Gold Coast, Bagan Lalang?

2008-04-12T20:25:00.000+08:00

Did you know that Bagan Lalang is now called Goldcoast????... sheesh!!! how original wan......

Anyway a bunch of us vw beetle owners and a few other classic car owners took a drive to Bagan Lalang last Sunday.... oh wait do you guys even know where Bagan Lalang is? :) Well, if you dont,.. it is a coastal area just after Sepang Town.... Dont know where Sepang is? ... You know F1 Sepang Circuit right?...... aaaaaa thats right! its some what a whiles way from there...

It was such a hot day... but of cos it rained like nobodies business later in the evening... luckily i was already back home by then....

i have visited Bagan Lalang almost a decade ago.... and boy has it changed.... it used to be a nice quiet place .... the beach wasnt that great but broad ...and the water was not too nice either.... but it was a great place for a picnic...... there was a restaurant there which was famous for its 'Ikan Bakar' (Grilled Fish) and the sea food wasnt bad either....

So yeah ... now ...almost ten years later.... they are calling it Goldcoast.... and they are building a stretch of water villas on stilts...... there goes the neighbourhood lah.... the place was packed with visitors .... the roads are alot better now but its jammed with cars... maybe it was packed because it was a sunday...... there are alot of new stalls and food courts along the stretch.... but the food really sucked!!! this is according to others lah because my food never came... but somehow i wasnt to hungry even thought i didnt have breakfast either... .... .... sigh!!! it was sad lah... i really hope this place is not ruined further by stupid humans who only know how to leave rubbish wherever they go......

I only noticed that plastic bottle after view this on the screen...sheesh!!

The piling being laid out for the Palm Tree Resort.... sigh!!

There was something serene but disturbing about watching this kite fly.... i cant seem to pin point it........ but it sure did remained me of someone........ Fi.... this one's for you....

an illustration of the The Gold Coast Palm Tree Resort once its completed.... hmmmm doesnt look like that Dubai thing right.....

below is a slideshow of the BUGgers & AMC club drive to Bagan Lalang.......

ZOOM

2008-04-11T09:02:00.009+08:00

Bren just got himself an entry level SLR (Nikon D40) and since he is on a break from class we went out for a photohunt at the parks in TTDI.....

It was also the most shots i had taken with the 70-300mm zoom lense .... got many good shots with it... Bren pretty much had the zoom lense on (thats him on the left with it).... thing is you really really need to keep a steady hand while using it....

To those who are using a compact camera, 300mm is about 10x zoom...

Here are some of my favourite shots taken that day with this lense....

Here's a shot bren took... this little fellow sure runs fast...

Lukeisha's Baptism 19Jan08

2008-04-03T00:24:00.000+08:00

Arent baby mittens so adorable!!??!!...Was going through some old pictures and found a few of a baptism i did for my friend's baby.

For enquiries and bookings pls email me at geraldmc8@hotmail.com or pixelatedmo@gmail.com.

Lucky to get some Sunshine on the 3:10 to Yuma

2008-04-02T00:00:00.007+08:00

At last a good western... i havent seen a good western since Tomstone and Unforgiven ... 3:10 to Yuma was interesting and it kept me on my toes but glued to my seat. The cast, all of them...were excellent in their roles... 7.5/10 for me... It was well made

Talking about well made... Eternal Sunshine of the spotless mind was well made.... I felt that The Idea of the movie (Story) was very well filmed... simple yet complexed... just like life.... and luck has nothing to do about it... 7/10

You know, i really loved the new James Bond movie Casino Royal ... it was an excellent movie actually... but there was one thing i didnt like about it and it is how they filmed the main poker game in the movie... i didnt have a sense of the game... of cos u could say the game was not the main focus.... hmmm but i think it shld have been a little bit more meaningful .... There are good movies which show poker in its best form... one of the best was Maverick ... but last year i did watch Lucky You, a poker movie with a romantic twist... it was pretty much formula filming but bit different.... good for a Saturday afternoon tv viewing... but somewhere in the middle it was a abit of a tug of war between romantic movie and poker rookie coming of age movie.... but good anyway 5.5/10

END

Poovarasi & Gobinathan 09 Mar 08

2008-04-01T00:00:00.000+08:00

Hindu ceremonies seem to be filled with vibrant colour. That's one of the many things that makes it so engaging. For bookings or enquires please email me at geraldmc8@hotmail.com or pixelatedmo@gmail.com

Mo

Ray of Hope

2008-03-20T11:15:00.003+08:00

I was bored with surfing the net, ... it had rained pretty much the whole morning.... and when i stopped i went out to stretch my legs and was greeted with rays of hope..... ok that sounded a little corny...

Been playing around with imaging software .... so after fiddling around with the cloud image above i came up with this.....

this one is for you pri......

Desert or Dessert

2008-03-18T16:47:00.008+08:00

My sister was in Dubai a few weeks ago and she showed me a number of photos she took during her trip there..... As seen in many documentaries i have watched on Dubai and its expanding development... its just amazing to see Dubai's over the top ambition of reality.... stretching the engineers to their limits to achieve remarkable results... im sure we all have seen the famous Burj Al Arab Hotel right?...

well...,... meet its taller in-land cousin the Burj Dubai... which once completed will be the world tallest building... and when they set about building it ...they weren't kidding about it being tall......

My sister and her colleagues took a tour up the the Barj... all the way up there... since it is still under construction the lift is on the perimeter of the building and its an open lift.... with just a perforated metal cladding around it..... ,,,,,,, ...im guessing that they all dont surfer from the fear of heights ........

I'll leave you with a silhouette sunset of the ever changing skyline of the dubai ......

......... nice pictures CJ, very nice.... u are my sister afterall :P

mo

Just because.....

2008-03-17T09:04:00.001+08:00

Well… im sure everywhere you go everyone talking about the new dawn in Malaysian politics ….a 50/50 control between BN and Opposition parties….. Call me a sceptic … but I really need to see it to believe it…. So lets see how things go yeah…..

I have no idea why BN is shocked of the lose of full or majority control and its even worst when all BN can say is how bad its going to be and that the Opposition shld be careful with their new found power…. And many Ministers,… I mean former ministers keep trying to scare us with impending doom as the opposition now have a hand in administrating the country….

I sincerely hope that the opposition will prove otherwise… So for the next 4 years they have got to prove to all of us if not…. BN will just have another landslide win come the next elections…….. hope is all I have for a better Malaysia… where all that talk is not just a façade ……..because for some reason these past few days I have been thinking what if… we, the minority race are still denied unanimity and must still give way to the majority…

The best not given a chance just because ……….…..
The minority still marginalized just because………...

So im going to wait….. wait and see ….to see what the new ‘gorvment’ has to offer us ‘Malaysians’… as a whole and not just as Malays, Chinese, Indians dan lain lain (and Others)

mo

Help carry what???

2008-03-13T14:04:00.005+08:00

Imagine what my friends would have first thought when i asked their help to carry my vw engine out of the boot of my Proton Satria..... their first reaction was ... "your what...??!!!"... then the next question was ... "how the hell did you get it in there in the first place?"... and my answer was.... an Indian, an Indonesian and a Bangladeshi (the indian being me ofcos) carried it into the boot of my car.....

Yup... we managed to get my vw beetle engine into the boot of the satria... ofcos with the back seats folded down and you can fit alot of things in there.... but please be warned that overloading your car is dangerous... because your car will handle differently while driving it... not to mention ruining your back absorbers... shorthening its lifespan or even breaking it!! so please ... dont try this yeah...

So... next problem is getting it out of the car...... but with the help of Dono, Alex, Sheev and Gab, ... it was a breeze... sort off... carrying it straight was easy ..... but the witdh of the store room door was too small .... and so we had to turn the engine on its side so that the exhaust pointed up... slowly but surely... we got it into the store room and so as to not damage the floor... we placed it on a stand i made out of 2 x 4 lumber...

Thanks guys, ... i really appreaciate it....

mo