By Grace I Live

Sun set!

2012-01-20T12:00:00.000-08:00

Another set of photos! This time sun set. Too bad my DSLR is not with me, if not the photos quality will be better. :(

soon!

after few minutes. :) beautiful aint it?

Happy Chinese New Year from offshore! :)

Sun rise

2012-01-16T12:42:00.000-08:00

I was about to go to bed after finishing my shift at 630am in the morning, but I saw these beautiful sceneries that I couldn't resist to take pictures even by just using my HTC phone. How I wished I had brought my DSLR with me. :(

But then, here you go. :) Thank God for wonderful sun rise!

Waiting on Weather

2012-01-09T12:04:00.000-08:00

The weather was bad for the past few days and the operation was waiting on weather (WOW). We were supposed to install our equipment on the riser, and to do that we need to have man riding operation (having people to be lifted over the sea to connect equipment on the riser). In case of man overboard (people dropping into the sea), we need rescue boat to be standby near the rig. So due to the bad weather and crazy waves, the boat couldn't come by thus waiting on weather in order to resume operation.

Therefore, in the midst of boredom while waiting, I took the time to update my "long outdated" blog with some pictures. LOL. But then, seriously, there's nothing much to be captured out here. -.-....

Helideck! Only water out at the horizon. Nothing else.

More water...

Crane at rest. Anyone wants bungee jump?

Some night view, great lights. haha...

Left one standing.

Alright.Back to waiting, again.

Christmas 2011 and New Year 2012!

2011-12-27T15:52:00.000-08:00

It's raining heavily out there now, and the floor is swaying. Wait, what do I mean by swaying? Yes, I am on a rig again, during this holiday season. The wave is around 2m high and the wind has reached 30 knot while I am here.

So it has been a quiet Christmas for me this year, and I am expecting the "peaceful" New Year 2012 on the rig as well. I am not the only one, there were around 100 others who are having the same fate as me. It is the first time for me and it is definitely a special experience for me.

Surrounded by seawater, and the nearest structure to us is hundreds of miles away. Nothing can be seen except water and the sky around us. The operation is 24 hours continuous, a minute loss is thousands of dollars lost. No one is to lose focus even during this season of joy.

We had small celebrations on the rig. They organized raffles on the rig and the session was divided into two to accommodate the two shifts workers. My colleague won an Ipad and another one won an Ipod, I regretted for not buying the tickets. But then, I never win any prizes during any lucky draws or raffles, so maybe it was a wise decision for not wasting the money. LOL.....

Our team was excited and joyous over our teammates' "harvest" for a while, then we were back to work again. Everyone was happy, but at the same time missing home, especially the three of my colleagues that have kids at home and all of them are from Canada or the States, where the Christmas celebration is highly prioritized.

Nevertheless, work is still work and since they can show high level of dedication, I should be as well. Even though I didn't get to celebrate the season with my friends and family, but I thank God for the day He sent His son to give us the ultimate hope! Let us not forget the real reason behind all the celebrations!

Before I sign off for today, let me sincerely wish you Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2012! Time to get back to work! :D

Australia Trip

2011-12-27T15:29:00.000-08:00

As I was having dinner with my colleagues the other day, one of them asked if we have been to Australia before as the rig we were on was an Australian rig. Out of three, only one had been to Australia before, and I am one of the two.

I really wish to go to Australia one day as it is one of the closest overseas country to my country. A lot of my friends have been studying there and I really regret not going there when they were still there. And since now I am having so much days off after the job on the rigs, I should really plan my trip there. Nevertheless, according to my colleague the accommodation there can be quite cheap if we plan our journey earlier.

After searching through the internet, I found this special accommodation arrangement around the Trinity Beach. From the website, it is located just a short drive north of Cairns City. What really attracted me was it is surrounded with relaxed village like atmosphere and it offers stunning views over the Pacific Ocean and rainforest clad mountain views. Besides, they have freshly decorated airconditioned studio rooms. That sounds like a perfect vacation plan for me! I have to go and book my tickets already! Join me if you want!

Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol Movie Review

2011-12-18T02:00:00.000-08:00

Finally, the one week introduction training is over! It was fruitful and the same time tiring plus exhausting. As one of the sessions mentioned, fatigue could due to extensive training! hehe....So in order to cure my mental fatigue, I went for the movie "Mission Impossible-Ghost Protocol"

It is an action movie directed by Brad Bird, starring Tom Cruise, Anil Kapoor, Jeremy Renner and Paula Patton. Interesting combination eh?

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

The story is about a group of agents trying to accomplish their mission while the whole agency was being disavowed.

I find the whole story a bit predictable, and the impossibility level of the mission was not that high I suppose. Even though the effects are impressive, but then we couldn't really see much of different gadgets being used. So for a gadget "geek" like me, I was a bit disappointed. hahaa...

Nevertheless, the scene on Burj Khalifa, so far the tallest building in the world, was quite amazing, especially when the sand storm was approaching. For the rest of the scenes, I think I will let you all to find out in the cinema. :D

Food for thought
I suppose a lot of things are not as what they seem to be. Sometimes there are things which we couldn't have guessed unless we are the main characters involved. :) Don't judge a book by its cover. hehe...

Puss in Boots

2011-12-06T01:57:00.001-08:00

Puss in Boots! Another movie after so long! This time I went for the animation show. Well, some show about some cat. haha....

If you watch Shrek and Shrek 2, you will be very familiar with this cat. Yes, it is the cat with impossible-to-reject-eyes. LOL.

This time, the show is about Puss(the cat) trying to redeem his name in his hometown after being tricked by his best friend Humpty Dumpty. Along the process, he fell for his best friend's trick once again and went to the castle above the clouds and stole the golden goose who gave birth to golden eggs.

He managed to brought the golden goose back to his hometown, and brought wealth to his people. But a great disaster (The Terror) followed because of the golden goose. The Terror has the potential to destroy the hometown. What would The Terror be and did Puss manage to save his hometown in the end?

Well, that's for you to find out. :) Overall, the movie is very nice, and very hilarious. Worth to go for a good laugh. :)

Food for thought
One's innocence will be proven in the end no matter what happen along the way. Everyone deserves forgiveness and a second chance. :)

Russia

2011-12-06T01:51:00.001-08:00

Russia has always been the mysterious country to most of the Asian countries. The impression that we always have towards the country is the country is forever covered by snow and it is always very cold. Plus, the language is incomprehensible. We always thought it is impossible to understand the language what more to say about speaking the language.

But then, with the help of technology nowadays, it is possible for someone to learn about any language he or she wants, including Russian language. One of the effective ways is to listen to the Russian language podcast and also to watch some Russian movies or TV shows available.

So, who says it is impossible to learn another language? Besides, who wants to join me for trip to Russia in the future?

Edinburgh

2011-12-03T02:29:00.000-08:00

A lot of people probably are bored by my Scotland posts now...but let me assure you, this is going to be my last post on my Scotland Trip! hehe...

The last city visited before we headed back to Aberdeen, Edinburgh!

the street lead up to the Edinburgh castle...full of souvenirs shops...ahhaha

from the top of the hill...

Edinburgh Castle

some structure seen from the castle..

Inside the Edinburgh Castle, quite huge compound though...

coming down...back to the city...

well...time to go...good bye Edinburgh! Goodbye Scotland! :D

Scotland Seaside

2011-11-29T02:36:00.000-08:00

Along the east side of Scotland, they have very beautiful seaside. We really enjoyed the view and sceneries as we drove along the coastal road...

posing...no swimwear ooopppss.

seagull...right over my head! lol...

interesting structure, i heard it was used for transporting water from one place to one place in ancient times...

more beach areas...

Moray Coast Trail! Where i found the human rock! lol...

this is beautiful...and windy as well. very cold in fact. :)

ooppppsss....spotted by coast guards! hahaha...better run! LOL...

Lochness

2011-11-26T02:10:00.000-08:00

Lochness! The famous place where they found monster in the lake! Finally I had the chance to witness it, not the monster of course. LOL.

I find this a bit special? haha...kinda lame though, but maybe that's the way they forecast the weather. hahaha...

we spot the monster! i mean the statue...ahhahaha...

great view, awesome!

very peaceful indeed...

owh, another one by the lake side...ahhaha...

who's that handsome boy?

some very nice views....too peaceful that we didn't want to leave for our next destination. hahaha..

"quek quek"...time to go!

Fort William Scotland

2011-11-24T03:37:00.000-08:00

Another "expired" post on the Scotland trip. haha...

During the weekend, we drove all the way to Fort William to witness the beauty of another part of Scotland. True enough, it was breathtakingly beautiful!

I like this...haha...

Salmon! very tasty, they are famous for good salmon no?

we stayed in Nevis Bank Inn, one of the small hotel near the seaside. It was tourist season so the room was a bit overpriced. This costed around 60 pound for a family suite, one king size double bed and a sofa bed like the picture above. :)

Typical Scottish breakfast, bacon, sausages and black muffin! hehe...

Nevis Bank Inn from outside. quite a cozy small place. :)

special place nearby Fort William city. Notice the way they build the houses?

note the rock shapes

the river bank view...

journey continues....

Blogging

2011-11-24T03:24:00.001-08:00

I suppose blogging has become a very popular hobby nowadays. In my personal opinion, blogging is not only a healthy activity to go by, it has a lot of other benefits to go by such as getting sufficient information, building up personal computer skills, getting to know different people from different part of the world and also to open up our minds!

I started blogging three years ago. At first I just wanted a place to voice out my opinions and record great things that happened in my life. Then slowly my blog evolved into a blog that shares about traveling information, places, cultures, movies reviews, books review and so on! It actually helped me to pick up more interesting hobbies! I started with Windows Live at first, then tried wordpress and now I am with blogger! It was an interesting process and I have learned so much from it.

So, if you are complaining that life is boring and you don't have much things to do, try blogging! All the best.

Fraser Hill

2011-11-19T03:55:00.000-08:00

Before continuing to my Scotland trip pics, lets explore some places in Malaysia. :)

It was a very special weekend and I decided to go up to Fraser Hill for a break. I have been hearing a lot about Fraser Hill but haven't had the chance to go yet. So this time around, finally I was up there! :D

The journey up was very tiring and nauseating because of the windy road. But after reaching up there I think it was worth it! :D It was a very peaceful and green place to be. Great place to relax and chill.

on the way to the waterfall.

Before the waterfall....

Waterfall from above

After the waterfall is another small man made waterfall...to control the water level i guess?

The natural waterfall..

some random pic...haha

view from the room

some scenery from the resort that we stayed in, Fraser's Silverpark Resort, quite a good place.

I like this one. :D

Allan's water...one of the attractions there..

That's me...after growing bigger size. LOL.

More pics of the recreational park...quite serene. :)

That's all from the trip. We stayed in the Silverpark Resort for RM184 per night for a Studio Room, i think good for 4 people. The room came with 2 pax of breakfast, which i think is a good deal. :)

The Galleria

2011-11-16T02:56:00.000-08:00

The place we stayed in Houston is called the Post Oak Boulevard West Loop area, so it was very near to the famous shopping area, the Galleria. And that has become our favourite spot for meals as they serve affordable and huge portion meals. LOL....

The Galleria

cool...i don't think i can go up there, the thing will surely break.

Not very huge though, but I like the roof design. :)

Things there are quite expensive if we convert, but if we don't convert, i think it is the same as the living cost in KL.

Houston Downtown (Night time)

2011-11-12T02:54:00.000-08:00

After sharing with one of my asian colleagues that I took the bus to Downtown, he asked if we could do it again before we left the city. So here i went, another bus trip down the city centre. :) But this time we stayed until quite late and these were some of the pics taken.

Night view of the city. Quite nice...

That's me before I grew bigger horizontally. LOL.

The convention centre. Look like a factory to me?

Some interesting statue in front of the centre.

The Minute Maid Park night view. There was a baseball game going on when we were there, but didn't go in in the end because we didn't know which team to support. hehe...

Another view of the stadium..

Ah, we don't see this in Malaysia i suppose?

A pic with the Old Market Square Monument.

Being very "sakai", i took this pic, the newspaper vending machine. haha...we don't have it here in Malaysia though...

some city night views.

Ah! Hard Rock cafe! one of the must go place! hahaha...

Glass Pyramid? Are we in Paris? LOL...

Don't worry, we arrived back in the hotel safely even though it was a bit late. hehe...

Houston Downtown

2011-11-04T02:51:00.000-07:00

I know this is a very very late and procrastinated post, but I think it is a good step to keep my promises in posting up the pictures. hehe....

These were taken during my last trip to Houston, Texas early this year.

upon arriving Houston, big city eh?

one of the shops. Taken from a bus to Downtown.

a house, next to the main road!

A baseball stadium, called the Minute Maid Park.

city centre. >.<

Pavilion

Yeap, train in the city centre. You can use the train to go to any part of the city centre instead of bus/cab/car.

One of the train stations.

the railway...just in the middle of the city. haha...

the ticketing machine, kinda simple eh? but not many people are using though...

Houston Pavilion. Smaller compared to KL? :D

Finally caught the train. Notice the guy sitting on the bench, it's that near to the pedestrian walkway. haha...

Owh, a church next to the railway in the middle of the city. I wonder how the cars drive inside?

Yeap, a cross junction for the train and the cars. haha...we don't find that in Malaysia eh?

the concrete jungle.

Took this pic when I was lost in the city trying to find the bus back to my hotel. hahaa...

The small cathedral...

One thing very interesting though, when I told my colleagues in Houston that I took a bus down to Downtown the other day, they were shocked that I did that. One of them even expressed that he would drive me around rather than having me taking the bus in the city. I guess people don't take bus that often there?

Nevertheless, it was a great adventure taking a bus alone to the city in a new city. hehe...

San Francisco

2011-11-04T01:28:00.000-07:00

During my last trip to Houston early this year, one of my travelling colleagues was an American. Because of him, I got to know a bit more about the states and the attractions that were available in the country. The more he talked about it, the more I felt like exploring around and staying there for a month or two to explore the whole country. One of his recommendation was San Francisco. He even provided details of vacation rentals san francisco to me.

According to him, there are so many places to see in the state and the city life was really overwhelming. He said I should really experience the culture and lifestyle there. It would be a different experience for me.

I guess I should put this in my to do list next year. Time to travel to the state for some new adventures. Hope I can utilize the vacation rentals san francisco details he provided soon!

In Time Movie Review

2011-11-02T00:17:00.000-07:00

I can't remember how many movies I have watched in a week, but this one will be one of the best ones that I have watched so far in this year.

This time around, it is the "In Time" by Andrew Niccol starring Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

Basically it is a science fiction movie that talks about time being used as currency and people stop aging at 25 years old. Time has become something you can gain and something you can lose. The more time you have, the longer you can live. So people basically trade time instead of paper money. And there are different time zones where in each zone, there are different amount of total time available to the citizens. And as usual, some of the zones are being discriminated so that people in the other zones can live better, or rather live longer.

The story is about Will Salas (Justin Timberlake), who is from the poorer time zone, trying to change the corrupted system after his mother has timed out because of the insufficient time that she had. During his fight, he met Sylvia Weis (Amanda Seyfried), who came from the rich time zone where the rich can live forever, was sick of staying alive as long as she doesn't do anything stupid. Two of them joined forces and robed the time banks thus damaging the system.

Photo courtesy of IMDb

The story was in fact very interesting where they director presented a whole new concept using the old saying, Time is gold. For me it is a good show, inspiring people to value time more. :)

Food for thought
Time is precious, once passed, they can never be brought back. Value present and live life to the fullest. :)

Johnny English Reborn Movie Review

2011-10-27T23:47:00.000-07:00

Another week, another show. This time around, my friend and I opted for Johnny English Reborn, acted by our beloved Mr Bean (Rowan Atkinson). haha...

As expected, the movie is hilarious, especially the part when Johnny English tried to adjust the chair and ended up with super funny stunts, by accident of course. I guess the most funny part about Johnny English was most of the pranks/jokes were done without intention, and most of them happened by accidents. LOL.

The movie was about a retired agent (Johnny English) being asked to complete an assignment, which resulted in revealing a big conspiracy that was related to the humiliating assignment that caused him to be "retired" 5 years ago. Well, as usual, it is for you to find out what's the conspiracy. :D Have fun watching! and have a good laugh!

Food for thought
Things are not always as what they appear to be. :)

Real Steel Movie Review

2011-10-16T21:00:00.000-07:00

It was 13 Oct, 2011 and it was the release of the movie "Real Steel". Guess what? I was there during the first day of the movie release in Malaysia! Real Steel was a futuristic scientific movie starring Hugh Jackman and Dakota Goyo, directed by Shawn Levy.

The movie is about an ex boxer, Charlie Kenton (Hugh Jackman), who had a great passion in boxing but got frustrated and addicted when boxing was replaced by Boxing among the Robots. Because of his addiction to getting robots to win in the boxing games, he was in debt and even got separated from his son Max Kenton when Max was born.

When Max's mother passed away, Charlie "sold" him away to Max's aunt, who wanted to have Max as her own child. But because the aunt and the husband had to go away for a vacation, Max was sent to Charlie for few weeks. And the story of the long lost father and son began.

Throughout the journey, Max brought back the boxing passion in Charlie. Max also discovered his own talent in controlling and modifying robots for combat. Both of them made a great team. With a modified Gen-2 training robot that they discovered accidentally in a junkyard, they managed to enter World Boxing Robot league and eventually fighting against the defending champion robot Zeus. Did they win in the end? That's for you to find out. :)

Food for thought
Sometimes we don't need to do a lot of great things for our loved ones, they might just want to know that we are fighting for them or being on their side. We don't need a lot to show our appreciation to the people that are precious to us.

The Smurfs Movie Review

2011-09-22T18:17:00.000-07:00

Another Wednesday night! Movie attack!

This time around, the famous "Smurfs"! There's only one word to describe, AWESOME! Before I watched the movie, my friend told me, it was his childhood cartoon show and he is the same age as me. I was wondering how come I never encounter these characters during my childhood? Where was I when I was a kid?

Picture courtesy of Smurfs

Anyway, back to the show. The show was about the Smurfs village being attacked by the wicked sorcerer, Gargamel and a group of them, including the Papa, accidentally ran into the waterfall during Blue Moon night. The waterfall brought them to the human world where they met Patrick and Grace. Then the adventure of escaping Gargamel in the human world began!

Picture courtesy of Smurfs

Of course, throughout the journey, Papa and the group helped Patrick to realize the importance of family. And Patrick managed to secure his job because of the Smurfs! For more details, visit the cinema and watch the show now! :) Ohya, i like this character in the show. hehe....sometimes it reminds me of myself. LOL.

Picture courtesy of Smurfs

All in all, it is a happy show! so much laughter. haha...."Lalaa...lalalala...sing a happy song...". Go enjoy the show.

Food for thought

Certain things only happen once in a while or once in our lifetime, are you able to grab and enjoy the moment? Once in a blue moon, don't miss your blue moon, appreciate present. :)

Cars 2 Movie Review

2011-09-14T20:59:00.000-07:00

It was a Wednesday night, so where would you expect me to be? Cinema of course! This time around, it was a special show, Cars 2!

Picture courtesy of wired.com

The show was about Mater, Lightning McQueen's best friend, accidentally getting involved in a series of spy activities. The agents were trying to figure out all the incidents that happened behind the "World Grand Prix" and the Allinoil, a biofuel, promoted by Miles Axlerod, a green power advocate.

As usual, there were car racing going on, and all the cool cars moving around like human beings. It was a cool show, very funny too, especially Mater.Haha... The animation was great as usual and I like all the animation versions of the places like London, Italy and Tokyo.

Picture courtesy of frenchMax's

I would say it was a great cartoon show, worth a watch with your beloved and enjoy the good laugh. Of course it is kids friendly but strangely I don't see any kids with us in the cinema that day. hahaha....All are grown-ups so who say cartoons are just for kids? LOL.

Food for thought
Just be who you are because you are the "bomb!" You might never realize how important you can be to certain people in your lives. So don't change for others, for some people may never want to lose the real you. :)

Picture courtesy of wikipedia

Glen Nevis

2011-09-11T00:55:00.000-07:00

After spending a night in Fort William (pictures will be posted soon, hehe....), we took off heading Glasgow. On the way, we passed by Glen Nevis, one of the most beautiful routes on earth (According to my standard of course. LOL).

Beautiful aint it?

Can you see the top?

By the way, it was super cold! But I challenged the temperature and stood there for a pic! Challenge Success! ahhaha...

So beautiful...remind me of Switzerland? hahaha....

Edited Picture. How do you think? :D

Apollo 18 Movie Review

2011-09-10T11:30:00.000-07:00

Second movie in a week! This time "Apollo 18" ! A movie directed by Gonzalo Lopez Gallego, starring Warren Christie, Lloyd Owen and Ryan Robbins.

It was a show about the adventure of Apollo 18 to the moon and the reason why the last official recorded journey was Apollo 17.

Picture Courtesy of screenrant blog

Generally it was a creepy movie, with aliens on the moon with the ability to camouflage as rocks and enter human body without one realizing it. The whole movie was done in the way that audience would think the film was made of real documentary footage excerpted from some top secret files. I would say it was superbly done, and the way the director surprised the audiences with flash images was a cool classic as well. My friend and I were shocked few times in the cinema. hehe...

Picture Courtesy of iwatchstuff blog

In the end we didn't really see the clear form of the aliens, but it was creepy enough to see rocks suddenly turned into legged creatures and the astronauts screaming away just amplified the creepiness. LOL.

The movie ended with "800 pounds of rocks were recovered from moon in Apollo 17. Most of them were give out to the foreign countries as gifts and most of the gifts were missing or stolen.". So are you sure the rocks you see on the roadside are just normal rocks? hehe....

Anyway I went to checkout the website they put in the movie, lunartruth.com. Below came out. haha....

Food for thought
How much information that we know are the truth? and how much truth do we know?

Final Destination 5 Movie Review

2011-09-09T11:43:00.000-07:00

Wow! It has been a while since I last posted a movie review. This time around, I watched "Final Destination 5" at 1210am midnight! This movie is directed by Steven Quale, starring Nicholas D'Agosto, Emma Bell and Arlen Escarpeta.

The movie was about the "Lucky 8" that survived a bridge disaster. It was a natural disaster due to the strong wind (I guess because of the natural resonance huh?). The main reason they survived was because one of the "Lucky 8", Sam, saw a sort of vision before the incident took place. He panicked and managed to drag 8 of the passengers from the bus out thus surviving the incident.

picture courtesy of Celebrities blog

However, the worst was still yet to come. The "Lucky 8" died one by one in terrible deaths. As one of the coroners warned them : "Death doesn't like to be cheated, you all be careful now."

picture courtesy of Celebrities blog

The deaths seemed to be purely coincidental, or as someone might call them "freak accidents". Well, if you wish to know, do find out from the cinemas nearby on how they all died! For me, I surely will think twice before I go for a LASIK surgery next time! LOL.

However though, my friend that went with me commented :" They died too fast, should let them die slowly then only will be fun." Well, beat that! haha.

Food For Thought
We can plan our futures however we want them to be, still we can't determine our futures. Appreciate now and leave tomorrow to God!

Glenfinnan Scotland

2011-09-04T04:20:00.000-07:00

Gosh...it has been like 2 months since I last touched my blog. haha...my "blogging career" has failed terribly. LOL.

Anyway, since I am rotting away in the hotel in Labuan at the moment, I might as well upload some photos from my previous trips. :)

One of my favourite places in Scotland will be Glenfinnan. It's a small place at the east side of Scotland, near to Fort William. But for me it's a great place with breathtaking scenery. :)

If you are a Harry Potter fan, this might look familiar to you. It's the Glenfinnan Viaduct, it appeared in the movie Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Go check it out. :D

Another view from top of the hill

In order to appreciate the beautiful scenery, I had to climb a small hill and this is the top of the hill.

Yes, the trail I "trekked" through...and yes, that's my bag "abandoned" there. LOL.

Beautiful eh? wait until you see.....

THIS! can you see the layers of the mountains? so cool right? I spent some precious quiet time up there alone, admiring the awesome creation. hehe...very good experience, but was very cold. LOL.

Yeap, Glenfinnan conquered! LOL.

Old Aberdeen and University of Aberdeen

2011-07-10T01:24:00.000-07:00

The first day I was in Aberdeen, the sun set at around 9pm. LOL....Well, at least i spent my time walking around to discover the city nearby my hotel.

Peaceful road in the Seaton Park

nice little house in Old Aberdeen

Saint Machar's Cathedral, i think a bit too peaceful? hahaa...

Somewhere near University of Aberdeen! so nice right?

King's College Chapel in Old Aberdeen

reminds me of a Disney cartoon show...haha..

why didn't I study in such beatiful place? :(

Aberdeen May 2011

2011-07-09T00:41:00.000-07:00

I am trying to fulfill my promise of updating my trips here. hehe...Since today is a Saturday and Bersih 2.0 is going on, i shall stay at home and wear my yellow shirt. :D

Here's some pics on the Aberdeen Trip last May ( i know it's very late, but at least the pics made their ways up here...haha)

the road not taken... (nearby Bridge of Don)

a lot of walkways like this around the city, very easy to walk around and feel safe too. :)

Towards the Brig O' Balgownie

Brig O' Balgownie (It's a 13th Century Bridge spanning the River Don)

Brig O' Balgownie

a house just next to the 13th Century Bridge, a good place to retire i guess? :)

River Don

Bridge of Don

Old Aberdeen

Aberdeen City Centre

I heard this is a college now. lol.

Castlegate!

city center

City centre, Union Street

inside a bar, don't tell mom! :)

good beer, Best Belhaven, recommended by a Canadian friend. :)

bread with something, can't remember already. hahaha..

Haggis, neeps, and tatties, local Scottish food. :) It tasted quite ok for me.

Delayed Updates

2011-06-20T06:35:00.001-07:00

Yo people, I think i am going to say the phrase like most of the bloggers do, "I haven't updated my blog for a month!". aih...

haha....but i am thankful to God that He gave me the chance to be involved in a project from the beginning to the "middle" now. Hope the project will end smoothly and I will have more time to update on my Scotland and Houston trip! Have been looking back the pics and all of them bring good memories. I hope i can go back to travel again one day! :)

Here's a peek view. LOL.

Houston Post Oak Boulevard

2011-05-29T01:27:00.000-07:00

Finally some posts after the trips. haha....apologies for the terrible procrastination.

Here are some pics I took around the Post Oak Boulevard and Post Oak road in Houston, Texas.

peaceful pathway...

nice designs? :)

owh, Pavilion! I think KL's pavilion is erm....more grand? :D

twin towers? >.<

spotted some apartment along the way.

another luxurious apartment? looks good to me. LOL.

the shops...more like a shopping village.

notice the ring in the middle of the road? it's everywhere in every roundabouts. maybe it is used to replace roundabouts. :)

another view

different side...kinda big huh?

and yet...it's eco-friendly. :)

more are coming up. :)

Back again!

2011-05-23T14:00:00.001-07:00

Once again, I am back! Thank God the jet lag wasn't too bad this time. :)

Again, I shall post up the photos soon! too many! hehe...

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short and simple update from Scotland!

2011-05-14T14:56:00.001-07:00

I'm fine here!have been enjoying my weekend here,thank God for friends that we drove all around Scotland covering the north part today! Going to conquer the south tomorrow! Praise God for beautiful places.

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Another flight

2011-05-06T16:30:00.000-07:00

I have just come back from the states, and guess what, I am leaving again in 24 hours! very exciting adventure. lol. :)

going through the long hours flight again...wonder what food do they serve this time? :)

and yea, I haven't packed yet! or rather, I haven't unpacked yet! LOL.

I am going to see you again!

cool, one lesson learnt, unpack faster next time! See you all soon! Hope i can clear all the photos debts soon. lol.

Back!

2011-05-03T18:01:00.000-07:00

After one week of "vacation" (with training of course), I am back in my home country!

How i hope the trip was a bit longer. haha....

Top view of Houston from plane.

can you see the fly over? :) The city is full of it.

shall post up some more pictures soon!

Dubai

2011-04-24T11:57:00.001-07:00

Yeay!I'm in Dubai....airport right now...Haha...waiting for my connecting flight to Houston.long hours!

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Snack

2011-04-22T04:17:00.001-07:00

Something to pamper myself.Haha....lol. it's the dried grape biscuits. :P

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Random

2011-04-20T05:36:00.000-07:00

fire that burns

I am traveling to another country soon, and yet I haven't packed anything. Can't believe I am traveling back to the place (same country, different place) again after 2 years. hehe...can't wait for it, but also stressful as I need to learn well in the training! By God's grace I can! :)

Peaceful Evening

2011-04-15T09:36:00.000-07:00

Time flies, I didn't realize that another week had passed and I didn't update my blog for a week! There were just so many things to do in a week. :)

For now, I couldn't help it but to think of a light snack and drink to chill out.

soya bean milk!best when it was still warm. :)

and fried oil sticks (you cha guai) with sesame seeds!

finally some short walk around the pasar malam (night markets) that you might bump into something nostalgic! :P RM1.30 per candy, not cheap huh?

I need a break! :P

I-City, Shah Alam, Malaysia

2011-04-08T22:47:00.000-07:00

Had a quite busy week and practically I didn't have any time or strength to blog after work. Work is picking up and stress is building up, i guess more and more responsibilities and expectations will come after this, hope i can cope and perform! by God's grace. :)

Nevertheless, last weekend, I had the chance to sneak out and went for a half day photos shooting trip. :) This time around, we went to I city, in Shah Alam, Malaysia. :) It was a good place, decorated with beautiful lightings. :) If you wish to park your car inside the building, it's going to cost RM10 per car. of course, you can always park outside the area and walk inside but the parking spaces are going to be limited. :)

one of my favourite shots. :)

nice no?

i think should be flying deer...hmm...

bamboo trees...

another favourite shot. :)

cactus!

snow? :)

It was a good place to be though, a lot of crowd when night falls. A lot of activities going on too! There's a snow house in the place too, but I didn't enter. hahaha.....I would recommend to go during evening before the sun set as you can see quite a beautiful sun set there, and the pictures look nice with blue sky background in your cameras(just like the first pic I took)! hehe...

World Invasion - Battle of Los Angeles Movie Review

2011-04-02T07:15:00.000-07:00

I went for my first movie after coming back from offshore! and this time, I watched the "World Invasion: Battle of Los Angeles" directed by Jonathan Liebesman starring Aaron Eckhart, Michelle Rodriguez and the others.

The movie was kinda cool whereby the action was non-stop from the start until the end. Almost every second was making my heart skip a beat and yea, it was thrilling.

Battle of Los Angeles was actually about aliens invasion to the earth unexpectedly and the human military trying to defeat the alien troops with all that they had. When the rest of the cities in the world lost to the aliens, the Los Angeles troops didn't want to give up.

The Marines lost the city to the aliens as well and their airstrike plan didn't seem to work. However, they still didn't want to give up, especially Michael Nantz. His never give up spirit motivated the new rookies, and he and his team took the suicidal decisions to infiltrate the enemy's headquarters. Will they succeed? That's for you to find out in the cinema then. :)

Food for thought

When things go wrong, and after we have tried whatever possible, it was always easy to give in and let the situation lead the way. In the movie, Michael Nantz taught us that even if it seems impossible, press on and never quit.

I suppose he is right. In a tough situation, besides moving on, what else can we do? Just keep on trying. All the best people. :)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

2011-03-27T21:43:00.000-07:00

Another Harry Potter movie was out earlier. This time, the movie was divided into 2 parts directed by David Yates, written by Steve Kloves and based on the novel of the same name by J.K Rowling. I guess the special part of this movie was the two parts that the director intentionally planned.

The movie depicted the last chapter of the Harry Potter stories. This time, Voldemort came back with more power and allies to murder Harry in order to use Harry’s blood to regain his full strength. In order to prevent Voldemort from fulfilling his evil wish, almost the whole wizard world rose against him to help Harry to find the solution to defeat Voldemort for good. Throughout the journey, a lot of truths were revealed and plenty of doubts were clarified. Nevertheless, the first part did not tell the full story and the readers had to wait for the second part of the movie in order to comprehend the full story. What is the ending of the story? That is for us to find out in July 2011. For those who missed the first part in the cinema, try to get the DVD before watching the second part, or else you will be quite lost while watching the last part of the movie.

Food for thought

I guess the loyalty and selflessness of Severus Snape in this movie impressed me a lot. IN the effort of bringing down the evil lord Voldemort, he sacrificed his life and also his reputation by becoming a spy in Voldemort’s camp. When everyone else was accusing him, he persevered on with his duty risking his life so that one day the evil forces could be wiped out from the world.

Living in this world that focuses so much on reputation and status, that kind of noble and action is rarely found. I suppose most of the people would rather die for good reputation than die of no reputation. In the process, it was bad that a lot chose the deviated path in order to gain their so called “prestigious” reputation.

Chopper chopper

2011-03-23T17:31:00.000-07:00

I was back on land on Monday, and rested in my hometown for 3 days.

Chopper chopper bring me home!

yay, here we are, one step closer to land. LOL.

in 3 more hours time, I am flying again back to KL! I don't want to leave! hahahaa......see you guys in KL. :)

"I am number 4" movie review

2011-03-19T07:41:00.000-07:00

A friend started calling me movies fanatic after my university years because of my so called "passion" for movies in the cinemas. I didn't think it was something offensive or demeaning, but until my manager mentioned a saying that goes like this, " You could do some self learning on the weekends to improve yourself, instead of doing something useless like, watching movies.".

ouch. that hurts. But then of course, he wasn't referring to me at that time as he was just talking to a big group of us. :)

Nevertheless, I still watched a movie before I was called up to the offshore. :P I am that stubborn huh? who says habits can be changed overnight? LOL.

This time around, I watched "I am Number Four" by DJ Caruso, starring Alex Pettyfer, Timothy Olyphant and Dianna Agron.

The movie is about a group of aliens gifted with special abilities hiding among the humans in order to wait for the days to revive their lost planet, Lorien. All these aliens had the human appearances and they were 9 of them and each of them were protected by their guardians against Morgadorians, the evil forces that destroyed their planet.

Of course, the evil forces found them and because of a charm on the gifted aliens, they could only be killed in sequence according to their numbers. John Smith was the fourth after three before him had been killed. He was believed to be the strongest among the 9. So the story of discovering his gift and his journey of fighting against the evil aliens began.

Food for thought

It's a science fiction movie, which is something I like when I was in high school and early years of university. But as I grow older (ahem...), I think I prefer some other types of movies.

Anyway, in the movie, something that worth a thought was the phrase that John's guardian Henri mentioned before he died. He said, "You have no idea what you are capable of." I think from time to time, we need to be reminded of what we are worth, how much potentials that we could have if we could believe in ourselves more and don't lose faith. With the world revolving around us so fast, and so many unhappy things happening around us all the time, most of the time we tend to degrade ourselves and fall into the thinking that "nah, I am not that capable, forget about it. "

Like someone i know said the other day, "It is not stupid to make mistakes, but it is stupid to make the same mistake over and over again." I have to agree with that, it is fine to fall down once in a while, but remember to stand back up and don't stumble at the same spot every time!

Surrounded by sea

2011-03-16T07:22:00.000-07:00

During the Japan 8.9 earthquake few days ago, I was still on the rig. Even though we were at the South China Sea, we could feel the effect as well. That night, the sea was very rough, and the waves were higher than usual. Due to the big storm and also big waves, we had to slow the operation down.

Nevertheless, we were alright and everything went back to normal after few hours but not the Japanese crew onboard. Some of them couldn't contact their families, and the captain couldn't contact some of the crews that were having vacation at home in Japan.

But thank God after one day or two, all of them managed to contact everyone. :) Now we are just hoping things will be fine for Japan after all the explosions and aftershocks happening even until this moment.

Well, with that, let's see some pictures from the rig. :)

sun set...beautiful eh? haha...

the borderless deep blue sea..

the lone ranger

ah, night time is coming. but the operation never stops.

time to go bed? :) looks nice? it's really comfortable with the cooling air cond! :)

*yawn*...I have just started my shift. long night ahead! :) Good night everyone. hehe..

Offshore again

2011-03-12T04:22:00.000-08:00

Seems like there's no rest for me, after the training I was called again to the offshore for job. But something to thank God for, that I was able to be back in Miri to spend some time with family and friends before flying off to the rig.

And this time, i brought along a camera! :)

another production platform nearby...other than that, deep blue sea...

see any whales or dolphins? mermaids perhaps? :)

Hope I can post more photos soon!

Engineering Training

2011-03-07T02:51:00.000-08:00

I have just come back from the engineering training in Batam. Even though intensive, it was a fruitful training. I guess after this, most of us would have a better idea of what's going on on the rigs and what we need to do by then.

Of course, thank God for the opportunity that I was able to participate in this training even though I have just joined the company not long ago.

class going on

me during the final project presentation. cool? :P

group members, stood still and ready for all the shootings and bombings (questions and answers). haha...

who is the cool guy? lol.

a group photo for memory. notice the wires on the table...too much? hahhaa....

Thanks guys and girls for the great discussions and sharing of knowledge! Let's do our best for the future!

Golden Prawn Restaurant, Batam

2011-03-01T06:45:00.000-08:00

After 4 months, I am back in Batam, Indonesia again for another training. This time was an engineering training and it wasn't as relaxing as before. So during the weekend, all the engineers took a break and enjoyed ourselves at one of the famous seafood restaurants, Golden Prawn Restaurant in Batam. :)

Welcome to Golden Prawn.

whole bunch of us. the boss must be thrilled with the money coming in that night. lol.

BBQ fish. looks burnt, but tasted quite ok. :)

another fish. wait, the fish was looking at me? -.-

soft shell baby crabs.

deep fried seawater prawns

fried baby kailan (a type of vegetable)

mixed vegetables (chap cai)

fried squid

shell fish

happy crowd. guess how many countries they are inside the pic? and...can you find where I am? :P

Thank God for great dinner and good companions. Hope we will stay in touch after the course! see you all on the rigs! haha...

Home Cooked Food

2011-02-24T05:20:00.000-08:00

I wasn't back at home for long during the past Chinese New Year due to sudden assignment from the company.

But I was and am very thankful for my mother for willing to prepare great food for me while I was back. Still, home-cooked food is the best! :)

red fish? steamed, my favorite way of cooking a fish. I like steamed fish though, regardless the type. :) hehe...

sweet and sour pork. nice!i was stealing to eat some while my mom was cooking them. hehe...

dim sum!

one of my favorite dishes, mixed vege. I don't know why my mom can always make it taste so nice. hahaa..

fried eggs soup with mushroom and minced meat. :)

this is the lunch I took before I left. Mixed vegetables with prawn, again, it tasted fabulous. haha..

and yea, chicken steamed in white gourd. the soup is fantastic. :)

steamed fish! too luxurious huh? hehee...

so you have known my favourite dishes? :) anyone needs some recipe? haha...

The Mechanic Movie Review

2011-02-20T21:00:00.000-08:00

After coming back from the rig, the first thing I wanted to do was to catch a movie at the cinema. Even though I had been watching shows on the rig, the experience at the cinema with pop corn at hands was totally a different thing.

This time, I watched "The Mechanic" by Simon West staring Jason Statham, one of my favourite action actors.

The show was about the life of a hired assassin, Arthur Bishop (Jason Statham). Arthur's job was to kill the criminals who had escaped the hands of law. He liked his job very much and he had been doing it well under the guidance of his mentor, Harry Mckenna (Donald Sutherland). However, things changed when he was tricked to murder his mentor. He didn't hesitate when he did it. But when he found out he was fooled by his employer, he took revenge with the help of his mentor's son, Steve Mckenna (Ben Foster). Arthur had been coaching Steve after Harry's death. He did it out of guilt.

Arthur's preparation for every assignments was almost flawless, even when he was against his employer. Nevertheless, things got complicated when Steve found out Arthur was the one who murdered his father and he decided to get back to Arthur. Did Arthur manage to escape the fate? That's worth finding out. :)

Food for thought

Indeed, as one of the scene portrayed, "Victory loves preparation". I personally think that also applies to even things that we have been doing over numerous times. A lot of times we thought nothing would go wrong with things that we have done so many times, but complacency kills.

Things that we feel most confident with would always be the only thing that brings us down. Being confident is one thing, being over confident is another. It's always best to prepare, and keep on preparing even after we have achieved victory, just like Arthur in the movie. :)

Seeds

2011-02-18T05:43:00.000-08:00

During one of the days that I was attached to Batam’s base for equipment training, I was invited over to the base supervisor’s house for weekend dinner gathering. He was an American and it was kind of my first time attending a dinner gathering like that. Of course, I was excited and looking forward to going to the dinner with my other colleagues.

When I arrived at his house that night, I was taken aback by his ability to decorate his house and most of all, his passion for planting. His knowledge of plants was substantial and he basically knew everything about the green creatures. Besides he had the gift of describing things in an interesting way which had caught everyone’s interest. So the dinner turned into a big discussion about plants.

At first we were asking about the tropical plants, the house plants that we could plant in our homes. We talked about the types of plants available, necessities for the plants to grow effectively, the soil types and so on. It was really interesting and I did not know planting could be such a cool hobby until the night.

After a while, someone jokingly asked about the cannabis seeds and marijuana seeds. Surprisingly, the host knew about the plants as well! He even knew how to plant them and it was no easy task. All the while my impression about cannabis was it was a drug that could cost harm. Little do I know that cannabis seed was used for medicinal purposes as well since long time ago. I suppose, everything when used in extreme context, they are going to be harmful in anyway. It is just like drinking not enough water can be unhealthy, but drinking too much of water at once could be lethal as well.

Death Race Movie Review

2011-02-10T10:24:00.000-08:00

It was 12am at night and I had just started my shift. Since we were on standby, there weren't much things for me to do. So i took a break and went in to the TV room and watched "Death Race" by Paul W.S Anderson, starring Jason Statham.

picture courtesy of wikipedia

The movie was about an innocent guy, Jensen Ames(Jason Statham) being framed by an infamous prison warden-Hennessey (Joan Allen) to the murder of his wife. He was brought to the prison and soon asked to race in the Death Race. Death Race was a TV live show broadcasted live from the prison. The actors were the real prisoners that raced to death. If the racer won the race for 5 times, he would win his freedom.

Thus, Jensen were asked to mask as Frankenstein, who had won 4 races but died in the last race. So Jensen were told by Hennessey to live the legend of Frankenstein again. Being forced, Jensen had to play by the game.

However, climax began when Jensen was about to lose the last race. He, together with his partners did something out of the blue. What was it? That's for you to find out. :)

Food for thought

The prison life reminded me of the life on the rig offshore! We are being surrounded by seawater here and there's no way out! Kind of similar huh? The difference being we are being paid working on the rig while the prison doesn't? haha.

Anyway, the story reminded me about how cruel and inhuman a human can be in order to achieve what he/she wants in life. In this case, Hennessey. She misused her power and ordered someone to murder Jensen's wife in order to bring Jensen in to the prison to race for her. That's sad.

But Jensen was brave enough to fight for his rights, and also for his fellow inmates. Sometimes, the right thing to do isn't always the lawful thing to do huh? :)

Work

2011-02-09T12:20:00.000-08:00

Thank God for good weather these few days, the wave is bearable. Currently the equipment are on standby and I am helping out to service and clean the equipment. :)

work, and more work.(pic was taken in the yard)

The work has become a dull routine nowadays. I wonder that's what I am going to do for the coming 5 to 10 years? hmm...

Life on rig

2011-02-07T08:08:00.000-08:00

When I started with this job, a lot of friends started to ask how is it like to be on a rig? Especially on an offshore rig?

I have to admit, most of the time I can't help but to wonder as well as I have heard so much about it and yet haven't got a chance to experience it due to the trainings and preparation that I have to go through.

Let's start with the chopper part. Yea, most of the offshore rigs are accessible via chopper. Of course one can choose to go on a crew boat, but the journey is longer and the sea is rougher! So yea, chopper saves you all the seasickness. Nevertheless, it's quite dangerous to go by chopper as well especially during bad weather. Fortunately for me, the day when I took the chopper the sky was quite clear and the journey was quite smooth that I dozed off few times during the one hour flight (which is not a safe thing to do).

There isn't much difference between taking a plane and taking a helicopter i guess, except the part that helicopter lifted up vertically without you knowing it. :) It was like one second I was on land, another second I was on air! I didn't even know it until i saw the buildings getting smaller. And throughout the whole journey everyone was very quiet, all you could hear was "Chup Chup Chup", so it was kinda rhythmic and for me it kinda serve as a lullaby. hmm... :)

Upon landing on the rig, a safety induction was necessary. Each one of us was given a bed in a either 2,3 or 4 persons sharing room. All the rooms were air con equipped and all the beds have curtains around them. The curtains are for you to close around your bed when you are sleeping because normally the people in the room will have different shifts. So most of the time, only two or sometimes one person in the room, normally you don't get to see your roommates though unless you come back to the room during your shift. :) The room came with a TV as well, with Astro channels such as HBO, Star Movie, Discovery and so on. Not a bad life huh?

The toilets were shared of course, and oh yea! everyone was given a tower and soap as well. Laundry services are available as well for free and they worked real quick! They could get your clothes ready within 5 to 6 hours and the clothes were cleaner than those commercial laundry shops out there in town.

Food wise, guess what? It's too luxurious. 6 meals a day-Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Supper and two breaks. the main 4 meals they serve all kind of good food, steaks, lamp chops, fish and chips, salmon(yes, whole big salmon for you to cut and they will top up once the salmon was finished), chicken, ducks, noodles, pasta, soups and so on. Besides, they served Japanese food as well because on the rig was basically owned by Japanese Company. :) So yea, I am gaining weight everyday.

Besides all that, the rig had a TV room with 60 inch TV (yes, the big plasma TV) equipped with surround sound system. Awesome huh? Yes, it was wired with Astro service. :)

Well, of course, that's the life part, let's go to the work. Basically everyone was on 12 hours shift, mine was from 12 am to 12 pm. The containers and the work site were just beside the accommodation compartment, so if we just opened the door and we could hear all the machineries and engines running. Surrounding us, of course, were the sea water, nothing could be seen at the horizon except waters. Deep blue sea. It reminded me of the movie, with sharks under the water. *shivers*

Guess what, my company's equipment was mounted on top of the deep blue sea (on the well), we could see the seawater waving and rising below us. and one of the job description was to "manride" the equipment and fix or unfix the joints of the equipment. That sent a lot of chills down my spine. *gulp*

I would say it was a heavy industry work going on here. So a lot of attention were given to the safety of the personnels. I suppose that's the price to pay right? :) Currently the operation is a bit delayed and I guess I won't be back home anytime sooner. :(

Ohya, did I forget to mention I was swaying every single minute? :) It's a semi submersible, it is supposed to sway. haha..hopefully I don't get any motion sickness when the waves get stronger.

Cheers people. :)

Flash Drives!

2011-02-06T07:01:00.001-08:00

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of PhotoFlashDrive by Pexagon Technology. All opinions are 100% mine.

For those photographers out there like me, I am sure one of the main concerns during your photography trips or personal events and traveling trips is the storage of the photos you took everyday. Some are using flash drives for photographers, some are using external hard discs, and some just bring more memory sticks during the trips.

No matter what storage devices or methods we use to keep our photos, the purpose is to make sure that we have enough space to store the precious photos we take. I am very sure none of us want to choose between photos to delete while we are shooting photos for important events or occasions. The worst thing could happen is when you are about to press the shutter for a very unique moment, the camera display screen flashed "Not Enough Memory", I suppose one would regret forever for that once in a life time .

Therefore, be generous in spending that kind of money on your photography flash drives. I am sure you will need those extra space sometimes in the future and you will never know when you need them so it is better to prepare extra in advance! Have fun shooting.

CNY on Floating Rig

2011-02-02T23:23:00.000-08:00

It's the first day of Chinese New Year and I am here on a floating rig (Semi Submersible), floating and swaying.

an example of semi submersible. picture taken from here

But it was kinda cool though, new experience and more things for me to learn. The food here is great, lamb chops, fish and chips, chicken chops and so on everyday. I am so going to gain some weight! and the crew here are so funny and friendly, so far are enjoying myself. LOL.

Nevertheless, hope the operation can be over fast and I want to go home! :)

Anyway, Happy Chinese New Year! :)

Happy Chinese New Year 2011!

2011-01-31T08:08:00.000-08:00

Happy Chinese New Year everyone! Finally after one year I am back in Miri again. It has been a while since I last saw this town/city! hehe...

Met up with some secondary school friends just now, can't believe the last time I saw them was one year ago. Time flies indeed! and everyone has changed, some little changes, but some changed quite a lot. Hmm... :)

Quite a relaxing season, how I wish I can stay here longer and enjoy the atmosphere more. :)

The girl who played with fire Book Review

2011-01-29T20:36:00.000-08:00

After nearly one month of obsessive reading, I have finally finished the second book of the Millenium Triology by Stieg Larsson-The girl who played with fire.

picture courtesy of here.

The story is the continuation of the 1st book - The girl with the dragon tattoo. Lisbeth Salander is still the main character and after her successful assignments with Michael Blomkvist in the first book, she stopped any kind of contact with Michael and went overseas to travel for a year. Well, she was rich enough to do that.

When she got back, after "catching up" with her "friends",especially Michael, by hacking into their computers, she slowly got herself into something big. She was accused as a cruel murderer to 3 victims in the end. Since then, she disappeared from the world and can only be contacted through the cyber world.

Michael together with others like Boxing King Paolo Roberto believed that Lisbeth was innocent and they tried to find out the truth about the murders. In the end, they discovered a great truth about the Sweden government and also the shocking background of Lisbeth. In the end, is Lisbeth guilty? That's for you to find out. :)

Food for thought

As I read the book, i was thinking, if I could have half of Lisbeth's intelligence and photographic memory, I would be able to do pretty well in things that I am doing now. :)

Nevertheless, as depicted in the story, the background and the upbringing of a person very much would decide the future of the person. How the parents introduce and impose the right values into the children would determine the future route of the children. Therefore, parenting is a crucial contribution to the direction of a society, whether to the downhill or to the glorious civilization. Whether you like it or not, parents play an important role in influencing the next generation. :)

All in all, the storyline of the book is rather fascinating, just that sometimes I find the elaborations are a bit lengthy and in a way draggy for the unfold of the whole storyline. But then, it is still a recommended book to read. So, go grab one today and it is not that expensive either! (Probably around RM30 per copy). Cheers!

"The Brotherhood" Book Review

2011-01-26T04:00:00.000-08:00

"The Brotherhood" is a Christian novel written by Jerry B. Jenkins. If you are familiar with the author, he is the writer of "Left Behind" series and his work has really stricken and enlightened a lot of people, christians and non christians alike including myself. Many of his books have entered the New York Times Best Sellers, and yea, his productions are definitely worth a read.

This time around, "The Brotherhood" is a cop story that talks about a young and excelling policeman, Boone Drake, losing his family to a horrible fire while he was on the peak of his career. He was devastated and he was angry with God that he refused to talk to Him at first. Nevertheless he didn't go for the destructive side in his life but rather he created routine in his daily life to protect him from getting hurt again. God is always wonderful that in the end, through persisting brothers, friends and also chances in the department, he found his way back to God.

Food for thought

Personally, I find this book rather fascinating. The doubts and anger that Boone had were depicted so strikingly realistic in the book that they actually resonated with mine sometimes. I suppose there's no disagreement that we doubt and get mad at God at times in our lives, especially when things go wrong or things just don't go our ways. We resolved to numbness (like what Boone did), anger, outbursts, tears, and even rejection of care and love from people around us while allowing ourselves to be drown in sorrow.

But then, the author reminded us that God allows us to "have our temper" and He waits for us to come back to Him no matter how or when. He cares, that's all that matter. As long as we choose to seek Him, He accepts. I suppose the author also suggested one thing, that it's alright to be "human" with all the weaknesses. God didn't expect us to be perfect since the beginning right? He accepts our weaknesses and flaws all the time. So especially to the Christians, there's no need to put up the "holy and strong" mask, it's alright to receive cares and love from other brothers and sisters sometimes. :)

I received a complimentary copy (ARC) from Tyndale House Publishers.

Takehana Mont Kiara

2011-01-25T04:40:00.000-08:00

It was a fine Saturday and a long lost (not that long though, just that she just came back from Europe. :P) friend called for lunch at one of the Japanese Restaurant in Plaza Mont Kiara.

So off we go together with her cousin sister. :P

the fried dumplings, one of the best I have tried. tasty and lots of filling(meat, vege etc).

Bento Set (with fried prawns)

interesting Japanese pickles, taste quite nice. two different taste. hehe...

my Bento Set, cost around RM20. not bad. :)

the brinjals. very nice! I like it.

one of my favourite dishes, the fried Mackerel fish, they called it Saba. :)

the red colour bottle is the Chili sauce, spicy stuff! :)

the sake...i am sure most of you will be interested? LOL. now they having 15% discount. :)

in front of the restaurant.

nice bamboo? :)

do visit someday!

The restaurant is quite clean and it has very peaceful environment, definitely a place to sit down with friends and family for a good meal. The food is good too, big portion as well. :)

It is located at D-OG-03A, Courtyard Level, Plaza Mont' Kiara, Kuala Lumpur. :)

Home Coming Movie (MANDARIN) Review

2011-01-20T18:41:00.000-08:00

Since it's going to be chinese new year soon, one of my UTP friends suggested to watch a CNY movie in the cinema. I didn't have any objections to that and besides, it is a movie by the famous Jack Neo. I thought that would be interesting and the fact was, it was! :)

The movie is by Lee Thean Jeen, starring Mark Lee, Ah Niu, Jack Neo, Jacelyn Tay, Rebecca Lim, Huang Wenhong Koe Yeet and the rest.

The "Homecoming" show was about the journey of family members, Karen Neo (Jack Neo) and Ah Ming (Ah Niu), going back to hometown for the reunion dinner. And also a guy, Chef Daniel (Mark Lee), that is quite successful in his career as a famous chef that he neglected his time with his family during the new year eve.

The story was quite touching at some point, and of course some scenes super funny (acted by Jack Neo, who won't expect some humour?). For me it was a good touching comedy though, relaxing yet educational.

Food for thought

One thing that stroke me in the movie was the point when Karen Neo (Jack Neo) was willing to let go of S$8000 (RM19000) just for a flight ticket for a pitiful girl, Mindy, that he/she just met in less than 24 hours so that she would be able to go back to Singapore to have the reunion dinner with her dad, Chef Daniel.

I mean, it was kinda rare to find this kind of kindness among the society nowadays that people would give up RM19000 for someone you have just met? The naive trust and generosity were just not there anymore in our society and we should be thanking God if that genuine trust was found even among our own friends. :)

All in all, quite a nice movie. If you haven't watched it, make sure you find the time to watch it before CNY and go back on time for reunion dinner! :)

First time at work!

2011-01-17T04:29:00.001-08:00

Few weeks ago, when I was told to be the "representative" to the client office, I was super nervous and didn't know what to do as it was my first time.

Even though I followed my manager few times to the client office before, there are (yes, even until today) still a lot of unknowns to me. Besides, I have to go to the office ALONE! That's the most nerve cracking thing that can happen right?

After few weeks of attending, everything was smooth and there weren't much things going on (actually nothing happened throughout the two weeks). So I was pretty relaxed and cool.

But things changed over the weekend! Some equipment failure happened and today was a super happening day in the client office and my own office! Plenty of emails and calls and yea, plenty of angry expressions as well! (from the client of course).

And WOW! What a day! There were so many things going on (for example making international calls and answering my cell phone at the same time? and also completing a report in a day!) and I suppose the same thing will go on for few days until the whole operation was over. Dear Lord, I need strength, but also thank God for the precious chance for me to learn.

Plenty of first times. How about you? How was your first responsibility at work like? :)

Gulliver's Travels Movie Review

2011-01-14T04:30:00.000-08:00

Another movie in a week, it was a movie day (Wednesday) and the ticket only costed RM8, so decided to go for another show. hehe...

I watched "Gulliver's Travels" by Rob Letterman, starring Jack Black, Emily Blunt and Jason Segel. It was a very funny comedy (with Jack Black in the show, it is expected. ahha)

In the movie, Jack Black acted as Gulliver, the guy from the mail room. Although he liked to talk big and joke like he was the big boss, he was afraid of coming out of the mail room and pursue anything else bigger, such as the girl he liked (Darcy).

During one occasion, he took up a challenge from Darcy and explored Permuda Triangle Islands. And he ended up in Lilliput, the small size human beings island. Being a giant among the small beings made Gulliver feel proud of himself and all the funny adventures began.

Things turned sour and challenging when the rival country of Lilliput, Blesfuscu attacked and took over Lilliput after defeating Gulliver, the giant. From there, the real adventure for Gulliver began. :)

Food for Thought

Even though the story was funny and good for laughter, I think there was a meaning behind it.

Let me share another story that I heard from the bible study group. There was this king from a kingdom and he had a younger brother who was superbly fat and unhygienic. In several occasions this younger brother humiliated his brother, who was the king, in the banquet, meetings and so on.

So one day, the king built walls around his younger brother forming a special prison around the brother. The different things about this prison was there was a open door for the prison, but it was of the smaller size than the brother. So the king told the brother, "One day when you slim down and able to pass through the door, you are a freeman.". The brother never made it and he died in the prison. It was the attitude that caused the brother's death.

Same with the Gulliver's Travels, it was the attitude of a person that decided the path that the person could take. If you dream big and trust that you can do it, you can do it and vice versa. So, trust in yourself and God has made you for a great purpose! :)

The Tourist Movie Review

2011-01-11T04:32:00.000-08:00

It has been a very long time ever since I last watched a movie in the cinema, and it's very torturing for me (in fact it was just for two weeks I didn't step into the cinema, LOL). So last weekend, finally I broke the "chasten". hehe....

This time around, I watched "The Tourist" by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, starring Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie. If you know "Pirates of Carribean" and the female actor, I am sure you have already guessed this is going to be a good movie.

In fact, it is. At first the story started off with a girl(Elise) was "summoned" by her lover (Alexander Pearce) to meet him somewhere in Venice, Italy.

And unfortunately, Elise had been under surveillance by the police because Pearce was a wanted criminal by British government for eluding taxes up to 744 million pounds and also a gangsters' head, Shawn, for stealing 3 billion from him.

The whole meeting process was very complicated and confusing. Elise was told to pick a guy that looked like Pearce in the train to Venice in order to distract the police. She did and she chose Frank, a guy seemed innocent and naive who worked as a Mathematics teacher.

Then the whole exciting journey began. Frank acted so naively and foolishly that he was always in the way of the police's operations and also Elise's plans. In the end, when Shawn caught Elise and threatened to kill her if Pearce never show up with the money, Frank interfered.

Surprisingly, the story ended with an unexpected ending. I am not going to spoil the movie here but please do go and watch the movie. It's going to be exciting.

Food for thought

I was very impressed by Pearce understanding of Elise's taste and preference even in her likings of a guy. He understood very well what kind of guy she would pick up in the train and he had a lot of faith that she would pick the guy he had arranged to be in the train, thus the whole story unveiled. I wonder how many people we could find in this world that can understand us or how many people in this world we can understand fully just like how Pearce understood Elise's likings and choices?

It's going to be great huh? Imagine if you going out with a friend, and without you explaining, he/she would know what food you going to choose and what places you want to go? :) That would sound kind of cool. hehe...

Another thing as well, if we look from another side of the coin, that kind of understanding can be used for adverse effects. It is just like how Pearce used his understanding of Elise's trust, likings, and taste that he was able to carry out Frank the way Elise would like him and yet Elise didn't know Frank was actually Pearce (ooops, I leaked the spoiler!LOL). Kind of spooky in a way as well huh? But I think that kind of drama rarely happen in our daily lives? :)

Cheers people. Have a nice day. :) Remember to watch the movie in cinema!

Dessert Time

2011-01-09T21:46:00.000-08:00

After the lunch the other day in Cheras, we proceed on with our desserts! guess where we went?

the mini tart in Prince Garden Neighborhood (Tai Zhi Yuan)

any idea how the egg tarts are made? It's made of flour and egg yolk.

the end result. RM0.60 each. not bad huh?

this is the original egg flavour

this is with coconut fillings

coconut fillings

and of course, cendol! RM2.50 each!

Ice Kacang, RM2.50 as well.

It's delicious, next time if you are going, look for this stall for the Ice Kacang and Cendol! :)

So much for just an afternoon huh? :)

Used Cars

2011-01-09T21:44:00.000-08:00

Two of my friends went to Italy to stay temporarily for job and also for internship. Italy is a beautiful country and the culture is so fascinating. My friends really enjoyed themselves that they make me feel envy about working or staying in Italy.

Throughout their stay in the special country, they have been travelling around the states and all the pictures posted are just so breathtakingly beautiful. I really wish I could just book a ticket and fly there immediately and stay for one or two months there.

As my friends were staying there, they were looking for auto usate milano as they plan to travel to other countries around the region as well. And with a car available, it is easier for them to travel around the places, especially those places that can’t really be reached by public transport. They are quite adventurous I would say. Hope they do not get lost somewhere!

After hunting for vendita auto usate for few weeks, they came across a professional and reliable dealer that offered them good price and good service too. They are very excited and grateful of the result. Since it is a used car, I am sure they can sell it off soon enough as well when one day they decided to return home from the country. I think they might apply for permanent residence and stay there forever. Well, that will be good for me as I will be having some friends to turn to when I am travelling there one day! Perhaps by that time I would need to compro auto usate as well if I wish to see the whole country thoroughly. In that case, I think I should get all the details of getting a used car from my friends before they forget all the necessary information!

Outing to Cheras, KL

2011-01-06T05:27:00.000-08:00

Very sorry for the absence for the past few days, the office was quite happening this week and I had to finish up some work. Here's the new post. :)

Last week, some friends came from Johor to visit, and we decided to go out for a day outing around KL.

We dropped by this special restaurant for lunch. I ordered the set lunch and they gave me these.

soup of the day, with vege and chinese red dates. I quite like it, typical chinese hot soup. :)

Tomyam Fried rice with egg. really not bad.

jasmine tea.

The set lunch came with another scoup of Ice Cream (which tasted very good) as well, and total cost was just RM9.90. Isn't it cheap?

Quan Ice Cream and Coffee House, Desa Pandan, Cheras

If you are around in KL, should really go and try it out. :)

Ipoh Town

2011-01-02T00:05:00.000-08:00

Ipoh is the capital city of Perak State in Malaysia. It's located towards the north of Kuala Lumpur city with bus ride of approximately 2.5 hours and train ride of 3 hours. A bus ride will cost around RM23, while train ride will cost from RM12 to RM22. :)

The city is full of many old yet nice buildings. During the last trip to Ipoh, I took some of the pics for you all to see. :) hehe...

the train station, quite a nice building right? :)

the Indian Town, full of Indian shops and restaurants.

one of the abandoned shop lots. quite old design.

old shop. beside it is the trademark tall flat, which you can find a lot of good restaurants beside it. Refer to the post here.

notice the staircase? it's different. hhehe..

behind the shops, along the dark streets. :)

the bridge that connects the old town and the new town.

owh, the Kinta river? :)

Next time shall take more pics of the Ipoh surroundings. hehe...

Happy New Year 2011!

2011-01-01T04:55:00.000-08:00

First of all, Happy Belated Christmas and Happy New Year 2011! :)

Hope you all had great celebrations last year (2010), and have a great and blessed year ahead!

My celebrations were quite blessed. thank God for good friends and CG members that gave me so many presents. hehe...and also blessings from the Father Himself. :P

Happy New Year! huhu...nice presents.

yeap, all kind of wonderful presents. Thank God for them all. Don't worry, the camera is from myself. hahahhaa....just a simple gift to reward myself for the year? hehe...

God bless! Have a great year ahead!

Ipoh Day Trip

2010-12-29T04:38:00.000-08:00

During the Christmas weekend, I decided at the very last minute to go to Ipoh for a spontaneous day trip. I think mostly was because I missed the Ipoh food! hehe...

So, took a morning train at 925am with the cost of RM22 (economy was RM12, but sold out) from KL central station.

my bag and the railways. lol.

after 3 hours, I reached at around 1230pm at the Ipoh train station. While waiting for Aaron to pick me up, I decided to take a walk around the town while looking for my lunch. hehe...I think I know a good place nearby!

yeap, I was looking for the tall flat! (I think is the tallest in Ipoh?) :P

why the flat? That's because there are good restaurants besides the flat! hehe...easy for me to remember. :)

I went to Nam Heong, the genuine original Ipoh Old Town white coffee shop. haha...

The original Ipoh Old Town White Coffee! tasted more or less the same, I have to admit I am not a big fan of coffee. :)

they have plenty of food choices there though, but in the end due to sudden cravings I settled for this one, the prawn mee hun. :) taste good! but portion a bit little, barely scratch my belly. LOL.

Owh, while walking around the town, I took some pictures of the town. Shall post them up in the next post. Well, I am actually missing the Ipoh food again now, hope to go again soon! :) Ohya, then I came back on the 6pm train, cost me RM12. So the return trip was RM34, cheaper than bus huh? :P

Post Christmas post - The girl with the dragon Tattoo Book Review

2010-12-27T20:00:00.000-08:00

A lot of people asked: " How did you spend your Christmas?"

Well, for me this year, I didn't really celebrate it in "bigger" scale, neither had any fancy dinners or lunches, but rather just spend some a quiet evening at home during Christmas eve and also traveled to Ipoh as the "acting" Santa. hehe...

Anyhow, I did finish a book from Stieg Larsson during the Christmas weekend! It's the first book of Millenium Trilogy - The girl with the dragon Tattoo.

picture courtesy of wikipedia

The book is generally a thriller fiction, took place in Sweden during winter and summer time. It started with 3 different stories about three different people in the beginning, then it ended with these three people had their stories cross linked with one another's. It's about a journalist-Mikael Blomkvist, a genuis hacker who was a sexual victim- Lisbeth Salander, and Hendrik Vanger-CEO of Vanger Enterprises.

Mikael lost his libel case of damaging the reputation of a billionaire Wennerstrom. He had the solid proof of the billionaire's wrong doings, but because of his carelessness, he fell into a trap of publishing another fake evidence together with the real evidence. He wanted to fight back and he retreated to Hedeby working for Henrik Vanger under his invitation and employment to solve a mysterious case in the Vanger family while gathering more info on Wennerstorm.

Henrik lost a great-niece that was very close to him, Harriet 40 years ago but he still received a pressed flower frame every year during his birthday, which was sent as the last gift by Harriet before her disappearance. Harriet's disappearance intrigued Henrik a lot and he had been spending the past 40 years investigating and looking for Harriet, refusing to believe that she was already dead.

And when Mikael was researching the case for Henrik, he came across some clues that were not discovered in 40 years. Soon, he came across Lisbeth and her great gift was soon discovered by him. He requested for her help and she agreed. Together two of them discovered a great truth about the Vanger's family and also Harriet's disappearance.

The whole story was full of twists and suspenses, and the author wrote it with simplicity yet breathtaking story line. Brilliantly written, as one of the reviewers said.

Food for thought

Even though it was a fiction, but the author brought forward a great truth in today's society. There are countless girls or even boys being sexually violated nowadays and the numbers are not decreasing as the days go by. Everyone in the society plays a role in preventing all these cases, as well as helping the victims to stand on their feet again. But how much have we done? Or do we even know all these cases exist? Do we even bother about it? It's time to look at it in a different way.

All these victims are most of time ignored and neglected as they tend to keep quiet about their experiences. Some they get over it and start a new life, but most of them fail to do so and they continue to live in the dark and rejected world of their own. and undeniably, some of them are blessed with great gifts but because of their miserable experiences, they hide it and sometimes misuse it.

So, do you know anyone personally that has become the victim of sexual violence? Have you done anything about it yet? :)

Dental Care

2010-12-27T10:00:00.001-08:00

This post brought to you by Toms of Maine. All opinions are 100% mine.

Long lasting fresh breath is always something very crucial especially during the morning. A lot of times even though after brushing teeth, the morning breath is still smell horrible after one hour or so. Thus most of the people will take candies or mouthwash from time to time in order to keep their breath fresh and presentable.

Ideally, a good toothpaste or mouthwash should be able to provide lasting fresh breath as the toothpaste should be able to provide protection to the teeth for longer periods. Therefore, after searching and trying, I think Tom's Of Maine is one of the toothpaste products that can provide the solution. It may not be all day long but definitely can provide longer lasting fresh breath. So there is no need to worry about talking to your boss or friends in the office on early mornings!

I remember there was once I woke up late and I did not take any drinks or food before going into the office. All that I did was just to brush my teeth with the Wicked Fresh and my breath was fine and I was able to talk to my boss and in a morning meeting freely.

Another good news, there's a contest going on which you can find out more on That's Wicked Fresh contest page. If you wish to know extra more, join Tom's of Maine on Facebook or you can follow them on Twitter @TomsofMaine. Let's find out more!

Labuan Island

2010-12-26T10:28:00.000-08:00

Labuan is quite a nice place though, very quiet and i would say not much happenings especially during the day time. During the night time....hmm....i am not so sure. :P

One thing about Labuan is it's tax free! everything is cheap here from chocolates to alcohols. Imagine you can get 6 Toblerone (100g each) for RM26? and a Barcadi rum for RM50? think about it again! hehe...

Well, besides that, i think some of the sceneries are quite nice as well. Especially this particular restaurant i went for lunch with my manager and a client, it's the Mawilla Yacht Club Restaurant.

the view from the restaurant. :) just beside the beach, how convenient?

the beach, not so clean i know. haha..

the view isn't that bad, as long as you are not showering in the sea! :)

yeap, the restaurant! hehe..i mean the signboard. lol.

Grand Dorsett, Labuan

2010-12-22T22:03:00.000-08:00

Grand Dorsett Labuan Hotel is a 4 stars hotel located at 462, Jalan Merdeka, Labuan. For me i think it's quite nice, and the location is quite strategic where it is near to the town as well as on front of a shopping mall called the Financial Park complex.

Here are some pictures of the room I stayed in.

small "hallway" when you enter the room. Notice there's a minibar on your left. :)

the bathroom, the bathtub is on the left.

the bed, it's a king size double bed. lol.

the small living room. lol.

overall, it's quite a nice place to stay in. relaxing, and quiet. good for a holiday getaway. :) and yea, i like the swimming pool! ahaha..

Labuan

2010-12-20T05:56:00.000-08:00

Just some quick update. Now I am "disappearing" to Labuan for a short term assignment, shall be back in KL soon. hehe...

staying in Grand Dorsett.quite a nice hotel, definitely a place for honey moon? hahhaa...quite relaxing. hehe..will blog more about it in the next post. :)

Tron Movie Review

2010-12-17T06:46:00.000-08:00

Yeap, watched "Tron Legacy" by Joseph Kosinski, starring Jeff Bridges, Bruce Boxleitner, and Garrett Hedlund. Again, it's a science fiction, a second movie this week. :)

yes, I watched it!

The graphics of this movie were terrificly, superbly awesome. I like the way the motorcycle and jet planes was conjured around the rider. It was just purely beautiful. haha...I don't think i mind to watch it again just to watch the animation again. :)

The storyline was quite interesting, it's about a warfare in a virtual world where the creator of the virtual world is threatened by the creations. Somehow it's more like the fight between the humans and the digital beings. But at times the storyline can be a bit confusing if you are not concentrating. :)

Poster picture courtesy of en.wikipedia.org.

Food for thought

Striving towards perfection is always a good thing, but being totally obsessed about being perfect like CLU in the movie will have adverse effects. So quote from the Confucius, being moderate is good!

Have a nice day people. Overall it's a nice movie, worth a watch in the cinema, especially the graphics and animation! I just like the illuminating lines! hehe...

Salmon

2010-12-15T05:00:00.000-08:00

I always have a thing for salmon, as in cooked salmon rather than the raw ones. Whenever I am in a restaurant, I always tend to order the grilled or baked salmon. But then, i always try to control as they are quite pricey as well!

Recently i went to taste the salmon in Chili's and IKEA's food court.

Chili's Grilled Salmon with Garlic and Herbs, cost RM 37.95

Chili's SMOKEHSE (I think is smoked something something, LOL) Salmon RM37.95

IKEA's Herb Baked Salmon RM 16.70

Frankly speaking, I think I prefer the Chili's SMOKEHSE ( that's from the receipt, I really forgot the full name...). i think it came with more taste, maybe was because of the sauce. hehe...

others, erm...the grilled salmon was ok, good texture and quite big portion although not as thick as the SMOKEHSE salmon. :) IKEA's Herb Baked salmon was so so, but it's cheap though. :) hehe...and you can actually buy back the raw salmon at the store downstairs and cook them yourselves at your own likings. cool huh?

So, next time when you are bringing me out, you know what to order for me huh? :P

Inception Movie review

2010-12-15T02:05:00.000-08:00

One of the movies that impressed me a lot was "Inception" written, produced and directed by Christopher Nolan, starring Leonardo DiCarprio. It's a science fiction, which happens to be one of my favourite genre of movies.

Picture courtesy of en.wikipedia.org

The movie was about mind games, or to be more specific, mind wars which the characters in the movie discovered the method to create a warfare in human minds while the host of the minds were sleeping. Dominic (Leonardo) and his partner Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) were one of the elite teams in the mind wars business. They were specialized in extracting information (often classified information) from renowned or rather important people's minds.

In one of the cases that they got into, they were forced to perform "Inception" which involving planting a total new and foreign idea in a person's head. That was another level of mind wars business and this time they brought in more people to enhance the team.

The whole story unfolded in a very intriguing manner that the moment I entered cinema until the moment I left the cinema, I was in a very tense and alert mood as the storyline of the movie was all the time on the climax. I really wish to watch it again, and hearing there is Inception on DVD pleases my heart. Let's get them now!

Food for thought
The storyline of the movie prompted me to think about one thing that happens in our daily lives. A lot of times, we tend to choose the "reality" that we want and trick ourselves in believing things that we choose to believe. For example when things are too troublesome or painful, we tend to choose to force ourselves to believe that they aren't there or they never happened.

Running away from the reality is not the way we should deal with things. In fact, even we run away, the problems will still be there and the real reality is not going to go away. Therefore, face them and confront them!

Have a nice day people. :)

Confucius Movie (Mandarin) Review

2010-12-13T20:20:00.000-08:00

This movie has been around for quite some time and I found it in one of the DVD stores. So decided to buy it and watch it at my free time.

"Confucius Movie" is directed by Hu Mei, starring Chow Yun Fat as the ancient chinese philosopher Confucius.

Poster picture excerpted from here.

The movie talked about the life of Confucius in brief, in fact i think a bit too brief that certain important history in Confucius' life weren't really portrayed.

However, the movie was a mediocre production and it's suitable for those who are interested to know about Chinese history (especially during Confucius time) and no idea where to begin with. The movie gave the rough idea of how it is like during the time in ancient Chinese empires.

Food for thought

In the movie, one phrase struck me though.

"If one can't change the world, one ought to change the condition of the inner heart. "

Indeed it is quite true, sometimes during the time of trials and tribulations, we often trouble ourselves over things that we couldn't change and bury ourselves with grievances. Instead of giving up just like that, one should change the way he or she thinks and perceives of the world thus changing the way he or she reacts to the surroundings. In another word, adapt to the surroundings, to the culture around us. That doesn't mean we should conform to the bad things, but instead change the way we could adapt ourselves without being overwhelmed. That will make our lives brighter and more fruitful. :)

If you have the time and resources, do grab the movie and watch! Have a nice day people. :)

Chronicles of Narnia: The voyage of the Dawn Treader Movie Review

2010-12-12T03:24:00.000-08:00

"Movie?" smsed Mr V.

"What movie?" I replied.

"Narnia." Mr V smsed back.

"I'm on, what time and where?" I agreed.

"Time Square and 7pm." SMS received from Mr V.

So, I watched Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of Dawn Treader directed by Michale Apted, starring Ben Barnes, Skandar Keynes, Georgie Henley.

Picture excerpted from here.

The show this time was about Edmund and Lucy were called back to Narnia to help the kingdom. This time around, they accidentally brought their cousin, Eustace along. Eustace was quite a pain in the neck for them before this, but things change after the journey to the Narnia.

When they landed in Narnia, they were in the middle of the ocean and rescued by The Dawn Treader, which was under the order of Prince Caspian. This time around, they were going to the Lone Islands to look for the 6 Lords, which were the close and trusted friends of Prince Caspian's father.

During the voyage, they discovered about the existence of the mysterious mist, which was from the Darkness Island. The journey to the Darkness Island and the route of exterminating the Darkness Island wrote up the whole story.

Picture excerpted from here.

Food for thought

In one of the scenes, Aslan appeared to Lucy telling her that "Do not lose yourself, believe in the values of you.". I find this part quite true and meaningful. Sometimes in this world we tend to look at other people and the things or blessings they have, we envy them and we forgot about the values that are in us. We forgot that we are valuable ourselves and we have different kind of blessings or roles than other people. We are important too, in another way.

So, while admiring other people, learn to look into the mirror and admire ourselves too. Who says self praise is a bad thing to do? :P hehe...

The movie is definitely worth a watch in the cinema, full of interesting twists and special discoveries! :) Have a nice day people.

Glutinous Rice Chicken (Nuo Mai Kai)

2010-12-11T07:12:00.000-08:00

It was Saturday late morning, as I was thinking of what to have for my lunch, suddenly someone knocked on my room door.

It was my landlord (landlady to be exact) and she passed me this.

guess what's under the bowl?

yeap, it was the glutinous rice chicken(Nuo Mai Kai)! home made version!

The best thing was, she made it herself! Another home-made dish! She added chicken, marinated sausage (lak cheong) and mushroom! It tasted superbly wonderful. The best lunch ever. :)

Thank God for a wonderful landlord/landlady. I am so blessed. :P

Invasion Book Review

2010-12-10T18:16:00.000-08:00

"Invasion" by J.S Lewis is a science fiction, suitable for the young adults and the teens. I think it is quite well written in terms of the language, it's casual and easy to understand.

Invasion

The fiction is about a young boy, Colt losing his parents in one night and surprisingly discovered during the funeral that his parents might be murdered instead of killed by accidents.

A series of events unfolded and Colt soon to realize the world he had known before was totally different from what the reality really was. There were aliens involved in the process, and his family was involved in exterminating those vicious aliens from invading the Earth.

As he was trying to avenge his parents, he was soon to be drawn into the CHAOS, helping them to fight against the biggest threat on Earth.

The story was nicely told in a simple yet clear language usage. However, I personally think that the author could have added more twists and climax into the story line. The introductory part of Colt's life and his family was rather too long thus causing the fiction to be dull in the beginning. The real action part towards the end when all the aliens appeared was rather a bit short I suppose.

Nevertheless, it's a good book to read, especially for the teens. Definitely a healthy book to keep them occupied.

Food for thought

The part in the fiction where Lily started sharing to Colt about her real background touches me in a way. Lily never shared with anyone about her background until she met Colt. The reason that she trusted Colt so much was because Colt had the same background as her "Because you are the only person I've known could understand".

We always like to listen to our friends sharing about their deepest doubts or pains, and expecting them to trust you as they are willing to share with you. However, that's not the case always. There are things that people might not want to share with you, not that they don't trust you or treasure you, just that sometimes they didn't think that you could understand as you might not have gone through what they have experienced. Not that you wouldn't want to understand, just that you couldn't understand. :)

Have a nice day peeps! :)

Tuesdays with Morrie

2010-12-09T06:22:00.000-08:00

As I was browsing through the books in the Times, Pavilion last Tuesday, the title of this particular book caught my attention.

It was the book "Tuesdays with Morrie" by Mitch Albom. It's about an old man, a young man, and life's greatest lessons.

After going through the book, I figured it is going to be the book that I would like to recommend to most people, especially my friends. :) It wasn't a thick book though, just a small book with less than 100 pages? If you are focus enough, you can finish it within one afternoon.

The book basically is about Mitch Albom, the author, spending quality time with his professor, Morrie Schwartz during the last moments of Morrie's life. Morrie used to teach Mitch during his college years and they always hang out together after the class, particularly during Tuesdays to talk about everything that was happening in their lives. It was sort of like mentoring sessions for them.

So, as Morrie was dying, during the last moments in his life Mitch came to visit him and had regular sessions with Morrie to learn from him about life lessons. And what not, they meet up every Tuesday until Morrie passed away.

For me, i would say it is a good book, worth the time reading, don't miss it. :)

Books

2010-12-08T07:22:00.000-08:00

It was the Awal Muharram holiday on the 7th of December, 2010. So, there was a holiday for me! hehe...

Waking up at 1230pm (very "early" huh?it's a holiday in the middle of a week, i can't help it!hehe...), i decided to visit the bookstores in Petaling Street and also in Pavilion.

So I went, and I bought 3 mandarin books from the Shang Hai Bookstore in ChinaTown (Petaling Street). All of them cost only RM50.10 after 30% discount! that's so cheap!

Thank God for good books, including the "Hot deal" of the decade, Millenium Trilogy-The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. Thanks Tze Yang for the intro and book! So i guess these few weeks I will be dating these books then. :P

Social Network

2010-12-07T18:09:00.000-08:00

Unless you are living up in the mountain and in the cave as a caveman, you are connected to someone in certain ways. I find it quite true.

I went and watched The Social Network the other day. It is a film directed by David Fincher starring Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, Brenda Song, Armie Hammer, Max Minghella and Rooney Mara.

It is a film that talks about the forming of the social network called "Facebook" and the lawsuits that the creator, Mark Zuckerberg faced after creating the Facebook.

theatrical poster excerpted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Social_Network

Yeap, if you are interested of how Facebook got into the phase like it is now today, go watch the movie! I am sure you will be amazed and enlightened! and by the way, if you still don't have a facebook yet, SET UP an account now!!! ahhaa...

I have got mine, how about you? hehe...

Food for thought

Somehow, when comes to business and profits sharings, best friends can also end up in lawsuits against one another to get back own share of money. As the old yet precious saying goes, money is the root of all evils, thus it is always wise to avoid the money matters with good friends. :)

Besides, we are community beings, and we need and have to be connected to others, don't we? :) Facebook helps us in that matter, but it is not necessary the only method to be connected to the people around us. So, what is your way of staying connected? :P

Home-made rojak

2010-12-06T21:11:00.000-08:00

Being away from home for quite some time will always cause us to miss home cooked food all the time. That happens to me from time to time. hehe...

But I really thank God for His blessings that He gave me this wonderful family that is willing to rent me a room, and sometimes they bless me with homemade snacks or desserts!

so cool huh?

This time around, they made some rojak, and they blessed me with quite a plate! nice!

homemade rojak, with taufu, vege and bean sprouts. not bad! quite nice actually! hehe...

Thank God for His blessings. :) Sometimes it's good to count our blessings huh? It makes life happier! :D

TGIF special tradition.

2010-12-05T00:32:00.000-08:00

One week ago, I discovered something new about the restaurant TGI Friday. They have a special tradition in celebrating birthdays for the customers.

Uponi arrival at the restaurant, you can just tell them one of your friends is having his birthday on that day, and they will arrange the things for you.

the whole restaurant stuff will come and celebrate for your friend! of course the cake you need to buy and give to them la. hahaa...

the staffs were very friendly, they even came and talked and joked with you while you ordering and waiting for your food. of course, they helped to "prank" your birthday boy as well.

poor KK, had to stand on the chair for some pranks. hehehe...

the friends just sit down and relax. hahhaa...

the whole restaurant even sang together for the birthday boy! so happening! haha..

kinda cool tradition huh? I wonder any other restaurants are doing this as well? :)

Unstoppable

2010-12-02T05:18:00.000-08:00

Second movie in a week, haha... this time watched "Unstoppable" by Tony Scott, staring Denzel Washington and Chris Pine.

The movie started with very normal daily routine in railways companies and also a bunch of kids getting excited to board the train for their educational tour. However, because of a small minor egoistic and ignorant mistake, it snow balled into a history making disaster. Even so, two ordinary men, one newbie and one about to retire engineer, saved the day despite the world was laughing at their genuine fighting spirit and guts. Even the word "Extraordinary" can't stand on its own without the word "Ordinary".

Food for thought

Despite the management and the so called experts were proposing another solution and opposing Will, Frank and Connie's suggestions, they pressed on to what they believed to be the right thing to do according to their experience and moral.

Sometimes, things we think that are right aren't right until we prove them huh?

The American Patriot's ALMANAC book review

2010-12-01T04:23:00.000-08:00

People say History is boring and it's hard to finish the historical books. Well, I would say it's different with The American Patriot's Almanac by William J. Bennett and John T.E. Cribb.

It's a book with 365 days of historical stories happened in the American History. Everyday, the writer would relate to what had happened in that particular day or duration in the history. Besides, on each day, there would be another 4 to 5 events listed in the page that happened around the same time of the day.

I would say the way the writers organize the American History into story telling in 365 days is something very creative. It kept someone like me, who didn't do well in the history classes, interested in the history again! I would suggest to the parents to have one of these books in the house for the kids to read them. Alright, I shall check out what has happened today in the history! Have fun reading!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255

TGI Friday!

2010-11-30T05:19:00.000-08:00

Anyone up for western food?

I just went for TGI Friday last Tuesday with a bunch of friends for birthday celebration and year end dinner. It was fun though, despite the food price. hahhaa...but overall, it was alright considering the portion of the food we got. :)

S/W Mac and Chez pasta. RM 23.90

Salmon pasta, RM26.90

Tenesse Chicken, RM29.90. Very yummy, the sauce a bit sweet, but taste just nice with the chicken and the mashed potatoes. I love it!

Tenesse Burger, RM24.90

LA Almond Salad, RM24.90

BBQ Burger, RM21.90

The food was excellent, the atmosphere was great as well. It was very relaxing, quiet and just nice for catching up with friends. The staff was friendly and they even chatted with us for a while, some jokes and so on. I would say i will go there again sometimes soon! :)

The Next Three Days

2010-11-29T02:35:00.000-08:00

Watched another movie last thursday in TGV KLCC (For RM11, during Wednesday is RM 8). It was "The Next 3 Days" by Paul Haggis staring Russell Crowe and Elizabeth Banks. I would say it was a good show, a successful thrilling movie.

The movie is about a husband, John trying to prove the innocence of his wife, Lara, who was accused of murdering her boss in the movie. He was a community college teacher and he had to raise the son, Luke by himself. After 3 years of trying to appeal and finding evidence to prove Lara's innocence, his efforts were in vain. At the verge of giving up and collapsing, he opted for another way out to get his family together again. So he planned for "kidnapping" his wife from the prison and escaping to another country.

He spent 3 years trying to plan for the escape by studying the prison's routine and trying to find the "key" to the prison that his wife was kept in. But due to sudden notice, John suddenly had 3 days to execute his plan before all his efforts went futile again as his wife was going to be transferred to another prison. So he tried everything he could to bring forward his plan. He tried to get falsified documents and even killed a mafia to get whole load of money for the escape.

In the end, did he succeed? That's for you to find out. :)

Food for thought

From this movie, the part that touched and kept me pondering was the part where John fully believed in his wife that she was innocent even though all the evidences were pointing against her. And he tried everything he could to bring his family back together again, even though that meant going against the law and jeopardizing his career and life.

In the end, true enough, his wife was indeed innocent but the flaw of the law enforcement accused her of an act that she never committed.

Besides, from this movie, John's perseverance and mental strength were vividly presented. He planned and pressed on the plan all by his own. He had no support at all from his friends, nor his family. In the end, he did what he believed was the right thing to do.

Overall, it was a good show, worth a watch in the cinema. :) Go watch it man. hehe...

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Lunch @ Klang

2010-11-27T19:35:00.000-08:00

Yeap, if you are wondering, the lunch cost around RM400++ due to the "enormous" amount of crabs we ate. hehe...

ohya, if you are interested to go there, here's the map. :) Enjoy!

Seafood seafood! huhu....