I am so loving my AIFON-TRIJI now after making it "free".
November 30 Moving Dad Part II...
The painting is about done. Bedroom #2 has been cleaned and is now ready for painting. I have decided to change the colour of one wall in the living room and the other wall in the dining room. Why? The current colour came out too light and there's no contrast to make it stand out. Once this is completed, will share the photos of the completed living room and dining room area.
Hopefully the colour contrast will be correct this time.
Over this past weekend, we went to hunt the wall lights for master bedroom, dining room and bedroom #2. Ended up buying an additional light to replace the current hanging light in the master bedroom. I will share the before and after photos once the new lights are up.
In the meantime, enjoy the slide show of the on-going renovation of Desa Bella...
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November 2008 Moving Dad ...
Dad has finally retired and will be moving back to Penang!
So...for the month of November, we are busy renovating the apartment. It needs a new coat of paint. Dad chose Soft Mint for the master bedroom...which will be his room. I chose Wildflower for bedroom #1 and #2. The rest of the place will be in Lavender White - the living room, kitchen and dining room. All the paints are DuluxPearl Glow except for Wildflower which is from the Light & Space catalogue selection. The painting of the place is on-going. I hope the painter will complete the paint job before Christmas. Since the water pipes are old and rusty, we had the whole place re-pipe too.
Check out the initial photos below.
Dad is also getting older, and I didn't want him to climb in and out of the bathtub, so we tore up the bathtub and re-tiled the master bathroom. We also put in a new shower system with a RAIN SHOWER head! I always wanted that...Dad likes it too except he complained that it is not powerful enough. I told him it is called RAIN SHOWER...and not torrential-thunderstorm-flood-causing pelting rain type of shower head. Anyways, there's a hand shower that comes with it, he can use that or replace that with the type of shower head he wants later on. Hahahaha!
The new wardrobe for the master bedroom will be installed (hopefully) this Friday...I am not getting the standard wardrobe. Since Dad is a compulsive horder, we are going with the open concept wardrobe. Hahahaha! I am hoping this will curb his habit of hoarding. Luckily, he liked the idea of open concept wardrobe...more so from his sheer laziness of folding clothes...so he sees this as opportunity to hang all his clothes instead of folding and putting some of them in chest of drawers. hehehehe!
We have also started to dress the main balcony with potted plants and flowering plants...it is looking like a mini jungle already. The balcony is also sporting a new hanging light. Recently, I bought another hanging light for the second balcony from bedroom #1. I also bought a nice-looking wall light for bedroom #1. Sorry, no photos yet.
No furniture yet for bedroom #1 and #2. Since I am not staying there yet, we can furnish these two rooms at a later stage. I really hope Dad will not turn the bedrooms into store rooms! I hope he will be proud of our home and keep it tidy instead of the rubbish-dump of a place he has in KL. Waaa....can really pengsan-lor if you were to visit his KL home.
Click the images below for caption
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October 31 2008 HAPPY HALLOWEEN
Halloween weekend came and went this past weekend. Momo, a club in Upper Penang Road had a halloween make-over competition. It was really good. The horrific contestants paraded up and down the little cul-de-sac where the club is located. The parade was a hit with the tourists and locals...me included. I didn't take a lot of photos since my model, Steffie didn't want to get too near some of them. Hahaha! Now she regretted for not taking photos with all the horrors.
Anyways, the weekend was also the Christian Cheng Beng weekend...All Soul's Day-lah, which causes a minor traffic jam in Western Road, the road leading up to Penang Botanical Gardens. No photos of the christian cemetary to accompany this post since I don't know of anyone related buried there.
Upper Penang Road - Halloween Oct. 2008
Upper Penang Road - Steffie & Nurse Horror
Upper Penang Road Oct.2008 Halloween Have a Baby Horror
Starview Restaurant, Penang
October 12 2008 Changes in Penang ...
The Starview Restaurant in Penang is moving!
Another iconic food joint is moving from it's current location in Jalan Burma to New World Park. This restaurant is very very popular especially if you want to host a dinner function for your family or friends or office workers. Their specialty is the Lay Hoo (Fish) Steam Boat with onion and shallot sauce, and not forgetting their roast duck with jellyfish. If I am not mistaken, their choon piah (fried fat-skinned spring rolls, not those skinny ones) is also quite good.
Hmmm...looks like after the announcement of Georgetown being added to the coveted Unesco World Heritage List, there's quite a few changes in Penang. Let me go take a few more photos to share here on the changes that has been going on in Penang. Are all these changes good for Penang? Will it attract more tourists to the state? I hope under the stewardship of the new gomen in Penang, the Pearl of the Orient will shine once more...and also the mentality of the people of Penang.
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September 28 2008 Penang Bridge Widening Progress...and What do I hate about using my Aifontriji ...
Check out the progress of our Penang Bridge widening project...Goodness, it is really taking a long time to get to where we are now. The result? Well, judge for yourself from the pictures I took from the bus on the way back from a wedding dinner sometime back. Sitting on the executive bus/coach helps, especially a double-decker bus. With the height, I can see the progress of the widening project. As you can see, not much widening is there? Well, hopefully this will turn out to be a dedicated lane for the motobike riders instead of them currently competing for space with the other four wheel or urmm..six-wheeler vehicles, and being a nuisance...
What do I hate about using my Aifontriji... 1. Cut-and-Paste functionality - there's no feature available to perform this task. Shocking, isn't it, for a state-of-the-art phone. 2. Bluetooth functionality is crippled! There's no way you can transfer photo to another BT-enabled phone. 3. No way to forward SMS. 4. No way to send MMS...I am not sure if I can receive MMS either, but this feature is no big deal for me, since I can use Wi-Fi. 5. No way to make video calls either since there's no application to perform this task. 6. Not able to display my contacts by category 7. Not able to have preset sms text messages, like I am in a meeting, I will be there in 10mins... - saves typing mar.
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September 18 2008 Bus Trip, Wedding Dinner & Aifontriji ...
Solly no update until recently. I was busy mar...got new toy gadget. Check it out below - unboxing of my much-in-demand toy gadget, especially in Malaysia ... my Birthday present lar from my sister, ML, who came back from Singapore.
Wooo Hooo! Love her v.much !!! This trip back home, she not only bring my present but she became an amateur papparazi too!
BUS TRIP & Wedding Dinner I went on a bus trip over the weekend...well last weekend. The bus trip was down to KL to attend my ex-colleagueS's wedding dinner. Yeah! ex-colleagueS with a capital Sssss at the end. You see, both the bride and groom are my ex-colleagues...well the bride, MK (see picture below) was reporting to me but not the groom (not in picture, you can see him here), but all of us worked for the same company once. Well, I am still working for the same company since then but not the bride and groom now... Hahahahaha.. so chong-hey, right? Never mind lar...this is my web diary mar. I went down on the Plusline coach (see picture below) and came back on Aeroline...well I took another coach/bus company, because it had rave review from my Mum. Hahahaha, so must try lor.
Waaa...the Aeroline-ah, comes with cabin crew ler, just like flying...their motto is The Convenient Way To FLY, Serious! Their service is like flying lor - got cabin crew ONE coach/bus steward, got seat belt, got light meals - provided by Subway Sandwiches! Got announcement....Announcement for pit pee stop - 10 minutes. Hahahaha, but as usual lar...the pit pee stop is slightly longer than 10 minutes...because got old elderly citizens mar. Oh yah...got in-flight in-bus entertainment somemore - they show movie lor, but the second movie cut short - arrived in Penang bus terminal before the second movie end. They were screening Troy.
CHOooOP! It is late, I am tired. I am going to bed now ... To Be Continued ...
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September 04 2008 Pulau Tenggol Dive Report ...
I am back from diving Tenggol. It is still one of the best dive site on the peninsular! The corals are in excellent condition. I saw a cascading patch of cabbage-looking corals which was breath-taking. Just beautiful, the patch was not broken! Anyways, diving @ Tenggol is excellent...until you come ashore to the accommodation and food. The condition of the rooms, especially the bathroom badly need to be renovated. There's no hot shower, except for one of the rooms. Electricity is only available from 7pm until around 7.45am the following day. So, if you wake up late - no hot toast! If you want to charge your camera batteries, you can only do so during the alloted time. There's not enough power outlets either in the room. As for the food...this is one area that needs a LOT of improvement. What to do, the establishment is malay-owned and run...
Prior to getting to the island, I was having sinus problems on my left side of my head...I found it hard to equalize. Went to see the ENT specialist just before the road trip to the jetty in Dungun. He did not give me good news - fluid in my ear and I have an ear infection! Woe is me. Thank goodness he said I could still dive but not to push it if I cannot equalize. Pleasantly, by the time I got to the island and when it came to diving, I was able to equalize eventhough I was having this on-off equalizing problems on land.
Anyways, I have managed to dive all 6 dives. Wooo Hoo! Oh yah...before I end, during one of the dive, at the end of one of the dive, there's another boat near the vicinity claimed they saw a whale shark. So, when my boat came around to pick us up... some divers already on the boat you see...heavy breathers...hehehehe...we were all scrambling back on to the boat as fast as we can since catching sight of a whale shark is like getting a bonus at year end. Alas, the elusive whale shark eluded me yet again. DAMN!
Check out the awesome photos below...this time I didn't take too many photos cause of my ear problem, which I am still suffering from. I need to go see the ENT tomorrow :(
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August 26 2008 A visit to Tenggol...
I am going to dive Tenggol from Aug 30th to 1st Sep (3D2N) with 6 Dives...over the Merdeka weekend.
Happy Birthday Malaysia!
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August 13 2008 Hungry Ghost Month...
Only in Malaysia, especially Penang, my hometown, you will see the following scenes being played out. This year with the petrol hike causing everything to be expensive, many setup such as these are not as grandiose as in previous years. The chinese roadside play which tells stories of old are getting very rare these days...In time, I think the following scenes will become a rare sight, or extinct. Oh yah...as the hungry ghost month comes to an end...we will be celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival where mooncakes will be served and exchanged. We will also get to see children carrying lanterns...and lantern making competitions.
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August 5 2008 Thinking of moving my digital real estate...
I can't believe it! My digital real estate @ number 205.178.xxx.xx, CA(CANADA)-ONTARIO-TORONTO is coming close to 10 years old. Yeah...didn't you know that my digital estate is located in Canada? Hahaha! Neither did I. I bought this digital estate in January 2002. It was not until around June of the same year that I look into building my digital home, my website, my webby home. It wasn't until just a few years ago that I started to furnish my digital home. Yeah, it took me *that* long to start "furnishing" my webby home.
Anyways, how's the traffic around my digital estate? Let's go check what Alexa says...
Soon.name has a traffic rank of: 26555546,377,090 Speed: Not available Other sites that link to this site: No Data
Reach for Soon.name: Percent of global Internet users who visit this site
Yesterday
1 wk. Avg.
3 mos. Avg.
3 mos. Change
N/A*
--
0%
2%
Traffic Rank for Soon.name: Alexa traffic rank based on a combined measure of page views and users (reach)
Yesterday
1 wk. Avg.
3 mos. Avg.
3 mos. Change
N/A*
--
2683,3771154,04490
4343457,55512
Page Views per user for Soon.name: The number of unique pages viewed per user per day for this site
Yesterday
1 wk. Avg.
3 mos. Avg.
3 mos. Change
N/A*
--
8721
No Change
Not that impressive, right? Anyways, with the recent problems with TMNUT's Streamyx services, it got me thinking about moving my digital home-lor. I am thinking of moving closer to my birthplace...Shall I give this digital estate up? Shall I go invest in a closer-to-home digital estate?
Anyways, before I end this post...here's the latest addition to KSB...meet Best, the yang to the ying (Lady):
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July 29 2008 A Quick Update...
It has been a while since I last update this website...and one of my readers buzzed me about it. She wanted to know about my last trip. Welllll, I am lazy to write about it. So, this will be a quick update - I will be going to Dungun to dive Tenggol this coming Merdeka weekend. Aahhhh...it will be nice to visit the Blue again.
On the work front, I am back to being busy again. This time at least I will have a colleague to share the challenges with...Hahahahaha! We are called the Intel Duo...
On the home front, my mum will be going for her second eye surgery in a week or two - August 7 2008.
Lastly....arggghhh...this Internet connection is so blardy slow!
Your results: You are Spider-Man
Spider-Man
60%
Superman
55%
The Flash
55%
Supergirl
50%
Green Lantern
50%
Robin
42%
Wonder Woman
40%
Hulk
40%
Batman
35%
Catwoman
35%
Iron Man
25%
You are intelligent, witty, a bit geeky and have great power and responsibility.
Not beneath the blue this time...going on a land tour instead. Going to see some ruins where my house-maid comes from - central java. I am going to YOGYAKARTA or JOGJAKARTA, the city in Java Island that is also called by her simple name as Jogja or Yogya. I will be away on a Jogjakarta MAS Golden Holiday guided tour. Being a Penangite, we love food...glorious food, so my house maid says must try Gudeg, Mbok Berek, Kipo, Jadah Tempe...she said she'll write me a list of food to try
Day 01 June 6 Arrival Jogjakarta and off to visit Prambanan Temple (Hindu temple)
Day 02 June 7 Leaving for Dieng Plateau to visit Borobudur Temple (Buddhist temple) Aiks! It says EARLY morning departure, but, but, but I am not a morning person. I hope this is not going to be a SUNRISE tour...it is, then leave time is 5am!...that is FIVE AM! 0500 hrs!!! I guess to miss the crowds, one must sacrifice sleep.
Day 03 June 8 Back to YOGYAKARTA for a Yogyakarta Tour. Visit Kraton (Sultan Royal Palace), Ngasem Bird Market, Water Castle (Taman Sari), Batik Home Industry and Silverwork at Kotagede. Lunch at local restaurant. Back to hotel. The rest of the day is free or in the night use your time to enjoy the Ramayana Ballet in Prambanan (optional program). Hmmm...I wonder if the ballet is worth the money to watch.
Day 04 June 9 Hmmm...I wonder what's the plan? Maybe go for a Volcano Tour.
Day 05 Bye, bye Jogjakarta..Hello KL (transit), HOME - Penang!
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May 17 2008 Movies, movies, Mooooooooovies! Seen... Watching... Next Week...
June 2008 July 2008
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Lady in panties!
Lady PMS
April 17 2008 Lady in Panties...
That got your attention huh? Lady is ONE year old...and my mum thinks she needs panties to protect her...most likely to prevent having to clean up after Lady. Kinda like protection or pad, my mum said. If not, we may need to clean up blood trails in the house. This is also to prevent Nike, the old timer from "splitting" Lady. Kakakakakakakakakakaka!
What are you looking at?
Lady - 1 year old
March 30 2008 A visit to the Penang High Court-Supreme Court Buildings...
Today I went for a site visit with the Penang Heritage Trust to the Penang High Court-Supreme Court Buildings & Logan Memorial in George Town, Penang. The visit was also co-hosted by Arkitek Urbanisma with approval from the High Court. The tour and powerpoint briefing was conducted by AR Nik Rahiman Taib, the architect consultant of Urbanisma.
A brief history lesson - the high court buildings were constructed in 1905 as the Supreme Courts on the site of the original courthouse buildings from 1809. The impressive government buildings were designed by the colonial engineers of the Public Works Department.
Recently, a multi-storey building, an annex to the main building has been built and restoration of the main building has also been completed. Did you know that a "gem" was found during the restoration of the building? Have you ever wondered what is under the dome of the building? Roll-over the image below to get the answer...
The Logan’s Memorial, dedicated to James Richardson Logan, used to stand at the western end of the courthouse grounds. Today, this memorial has been relocated to the front of a modern seven storey block next to Dewan Sri Pinang. This is on a piece of State land across the street from the main high court-supreme court building.
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March 18 2008 Similan-Surin Dive Trip Report...
I am back! I saw a manta ray and leopard shark! Unfortunately, the whale shark eluded us this time around. I guess, we will have to settle for a mummy whale and calf on the way back. WoooHooo! That made the experience of staying and living off this boat for 5 days worth it with the following crew mates. Thank goodness! The sea is kind and we didn't ended up like the crew of the S.S. Minnow as in Gilligan's Island.
There is a reason why I mention Gilligan's Island - there's really is an actress, well-known Thai soap opera/drama series actress on board. She is a diver too with matching dive suit, bag, and dive alert sausage, which is PINK! Talking about sausage, another well-known Thai actor was also with her on this trip. They were filming an environmental awareness film on this trip.
Anyways, I will upload a short movie clip as soon as I get the photos of the mummy whale and calf. This is because the photos were captured as stills by a fellow diver. I am going to stitch those photos together to make a short movie clip.
This video on the left I made below is an attempt to emulate Cloverfield...what do you think? Is it a good imitation?
One of my favourite picture I took on this trip. It was taken during a night dive in ummm...hmmm...I think it was at Koh Tachai...Shoots! I can't recall which island stop it was, but anyways, this picture was definetly taken during a night dive for sure. As for when my next dive trip will be?...Perhaps Pulau Tenggol, end of August with LongTW and WW.
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March 3 2008 Cruise to Andaman Sea...
With the CNY festivities over, I am now looking forward to my vacation. I am off on a cruise to Andaman Sea from March 8 to 12. I will be sailing to Mu Koh Similan, Marine National Park. I will also be stopping by Richelieu Rock at Mu Koh Surin, one of the world's top listed locations for sighting WHALE SHARKS! WooooHooo! However, this rock is in open seas, and I am kinda worried about the strong currents. Along the route, I will also be stopping by Koh Bon and Koh Tachai.
Check out this affordable luxury boat, called the M/V PP Harmony (Length: 25.0 m, Width: 5.5 m). She has a crew of 6, dive leaders, and 1 cruise manager.
Waaa...These pictures reminds me of those we see in a not-so-long-ago TV reality show called, Lifestyle of the Rich and Famous. Hahahahahaha! So, watch out for the next post after my trip, on whether the experience was indeed like those we imagine of the rich and famous when they go sailing on a luxury boat.
Anyways, you must be wondering what type of cruise is this? If you know me, I am into recreational scuba diving, so this "cruise" is a Liveaboard (LOB). This will be one exciting experience for me as I have not done a LOB before in my diving history. There'll be a total of 14 dives whilst I am sailing on this boat. The dive sites are:
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February 25 2008 After CNY...
Finally, the lau-juak 15 days of CNY, of visting and eating...and more eating is finally over. Well that's what we all did, didn't we? Being a little piggy, all those yummy chinese new year cookies, like peanut cookies, khuey-bang-kek, khuey-ka-pek, pineapple tarts, YEE SANG! Simply irresistable! Yummy!
Feeling kinda sad when the CNY decorations are been taken down and stored away. It means the final curtain call to signify the culmination of festivities since December 2006 has finally come down. Back to work, everyone!
February 6 2008 Another poignant commercial from Petronas...
Today is the eve of Chinese New Year, and Petronas delivers yet another poignant commercial for this festive season. The commercial is directed by Yasmin Ahmad, acclaimed director for directing these heartrending local movies, Sepet, Gubra and Mukhsin. Prior to this commercial for CNY, Petronas's commercial for Raya was also very heartwrenching way back in 2006...
This year's commercial is titled "Nobody's Child" with a tagline, "Many would give anything just to experience the joy of a family reunion. Please be home for the reunion dinner, if you can." It is only 3 minutes long. There's a write up about the man behind the storryboard for this commercial in The Star.
Keong Hee, Keong Hee Huat Chai. May the year of the rat brings you much joy, success and abundance!
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February 1 2008 Chinese New Year Preparations...
The preparations to usher in Chinese New Year has reached fever pitch. Many chinese homes are now getting ready with all the last minute shopping and decoration to usher in the new 12-year cycle of the Chinese animal zodiac. 2007 was the Year of the Pig, which is the last animal in the Chinese animal 12-year cycle zodiac. So...in 2008, a brand new cycle begins. It is the Year of the Rat. The first day of Chinese New Year officially starts on Feb 4, which in traditional Chinese Culture, that is the start of spring, BUT following the Gregorian calendar, first day of chinese new year in 2008 will be celebrated on February 7 2008. We have decorated the front-door. We also hung lanterns and lights around the pillars. Decoration @ Front-Door
Getting ready for the BBQ...Oh yah...for the Chinese Reunion Dinner - we have decided to hold a BBQ instead. Yum Yum!
Check out the munchies, drinks and fruits! YUM YUM!
Thaipusam, a Hindu festival has come and gone. This event is one of the many highlights of Penang. The event can be compared to the mardi gras or the street carnival in Rio de Janeiro. Here are some photos below which I have captured before the event. A day before the event and after the event, massive traffic jam in Penang! Anyways, there's more pictures in my friend's blog. He is quite excited about this event and has quite a few entries in his blog - part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4 and part 5. See...I told you he is very excited over this event. Imagine! 5 blog entries!
The round-about at Gurney Drive has a make over. I think it is depicting the sea waves since Gurney Drive is by the sea...but if you look closer, the surrounding area now looks like a mangrove at low tide - full of mud. Hmmmm...those the metal birds should be painted black! Why? Well, do you see any seagulls around Gurney Drive? No, right? But lots of crows!
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January 16 2008 It's down!...
TMNUT's streamyx is not behaving again. In the past few days, I have no internet connectivity...well I did have the connectivity then it stopped working. The connection is not stable at all. Not only did I have Internet issues, but electricity failures too! Anyways, this is just a quick entry post from workplace to explain the silence. I will be back shortly when I have consistent electricity and Internet connection.
May the dawn of 2008 brings you much joy, abundance and accomplishments. Happy New Year!
Time appears to be moving faster than I would have liked it to be. It is just like yesterday that we celebrated Christmas and now the new year is upon us. Before we all know it, in a month's time, Chinese New Year will arrive, ushering in a new cycle. You see this Chinese New Year will be the Year of the Rat, the first animal in the chinese 12 animal zodiac cycle. It is the dawn of the new era. 2008 will also bring the Olympics to Beijing, China. Looks like 2008 is going to bring lots of unexpected changes and hopefully they are all for the better
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Is it a good imitation?
