Teh Tarik

Teh Tarik or pulled tea is a greatly enjoyed Malaysian beverage involving a milk and tea mix which is then alternately mixed using two large mugs held at a distance to give a frothy feel and appearance to the drink. It's is even ironic that our astronaut programme decided that our man in space would try is hand at making one and if he manages to do that it would be a breakthrough in the science of defying the laws of gravity. Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, 2006.

Click Here to Read More..

Circular View of KLCC

An occular window allows for an interesting eye view of the towering Kuala Lumpur City Center Tower or better known as Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2004.

Click Here to Read More..

Tolls are Going up Woe is Woe

It seems like my timing to shift to KL and start work is being hit with an extremely hard handicap, with our illustrious Samy 'Toll is Gold' Vellu anouncing that 5 highways would most likely see a toll increase (and when has it never not rise once he said that) and affecting me since most of those announced will be used by me especially the East Coast Expressway and Kerinchi Link. Man its not even my first pay check that recently Syabas increase water rates to the Klang Valley and now toll rates is going up, I'm just waiting for the fuel price to notch up a mark again (it is always the case that any increase is quickly implemented and a decrease never results in a reverse in price since we are constantly reminded that we are still being subsidized). Well thats the cost of living, somehow hopefully I'll manage to balance the first month's budget and at least have some savings left over.

The new place is nice, a bit far off from the mainstream since its in Putra Indah Serdang near the Palace of the Golden Horses but somehow I like it, its not as dense as some of the new development in Damansara with cars jostling to book parking spaces on the roadside but the downside is that the jam here is a bit long at times with only a single entrance and exit out to the Seremban Highway and with a lack of eating places at night. The bank is near though so that is a nice addition. Well adjusting to life here, after days of ferrying my sis from her campus in Shah Alam to here as well as countless return trips to fetch my aunts from Bandar Utama I'm getting phobic of driving, I can't believe I only managed to rake up 400 km of mileage in Kuantan in a month but the count jumped to its current 1.2K mark in under 3 days. After dropping my dad off at Puduraya I'm going to cloister myself and not drive out for a while, man never knew petrol prices were such killer shudder.

Click Here to Read More..

Moving and Moving and Moving.......

Dang its been a busy week, it seems like an endless haul of packing and unpacking, cleaning and arranging. Seriously thought I had a week at least in Kuantan with nothing to do but eat and sleep but with my sister having a last minute briefing for her American degree programme at UiTM today means I had to high tail it here to KL pronto, a few days before my previous schedule. Hardly have I settled arranging all my excess stuff in my Kuantan room, I found myself repacking essentials to my new apartment in KL and upon reaching here today was in for a long cleaning spree and several major rework since a few of the ammenities were not working and a giant hole in the master bathroom was spewing water for like the past six months of my uncle's absence from the place. Oh yeah to all those i know,

I'M IN SERI KEMBANGAN, KUALA LUMPUR NOW!

I've only been here for the past few days and I've gotten sick of the long drives and jams but heck it's part and parcel of life here in the city, who'd thought driving through and fro from Damansara to Serdang can make you this tired. New car, new apartment, lots of debts to pay off, new job, well seems like I'm on my way to join the rat race. Looking forward to the challenge and new experience but also prepared for the stress, long hours and headaches accompanying a paycheck. My hands are twitching from the lack of an internet access, and it'll be a while before I can get a Streamyx line up and running. Well to my acquaintences if you're free do come over and visit. PS heck no way I'm posting my address here online, if you know me you know how to get in touch.

Click Here to Read More..

Second Childhood

A big yellow dinosaur proves too irresistable for Chen Fong in the Philippines, 2004.

Click Here to Read More..

Malay Wedding Dais

Malay bride sitting on wedding dais, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, 2005.

Click Here to Read More..

Blue Pedestrian Crossing

Blue plastic awnings drape a pedestrian crossing in Kuantan, 2004.

Click Here to Read More..

Goodbye Sabah, Hello Long Night at KLIA

Finally the day has come, its been a long haul in Sabah and somehow its does feel a little sad to leave life there behind after nearly 5 years. After cleaning up, the room looked kind of bare and gicing Lady a big hug before handing her to the neighbour was hard to do, I so sorely wanted to have her to myself and she was one pretty dog. I spent the last few days with Laura, taking her out to Little Italy yesterday to have a nice dinner as a early birthday bash since I won't be there next week. The lasagna was heavenly and the cheese coated pasta to die for though we got in a little late and had to wait a while to get seated, truly the place is doing smashing business.

Tosay after church we went to take in a movie, saw Happy Feet which to me must be one of the cutest movie made yet, though at the end the story got a bit nutty and unbelievable but overall the impression is good especially the music scores that each penguin called their heartsong and visually it stunning and it makes you want to squeeze those cute little fuzzy baby furballs. Watch out for crazy antics by the Ramos band of penguins and other eccentric characters like Lovelace. Nice family movie and worth the ticket stub though nothing really groundbreaking. Parents please be ready to explain what mating season is to your kids if they ask.

An hour ago I finally landed in KL, seeing the sights at night from a plane must be one of the best aspects I like about air travel and flying over KL all lighted up is a sight not to be missed especially when landmarks such as the Petronas Twin Towers stand out among the sea of lights. It is a good thing that I decided to go buy a D-Link WiFi before I came back, was deciding if i could wait to get a cheaper one at Low Yat but since I am going to spend a whole night here to catch my connecting flight to Kuantan early next morning this was a really good investment. Armed with countless free refills from Burger King, two series of animes to catch up with (Jigoku Shoujo and Twelve Kingdoms), a long book (War and Peace), a new game (DEFCON) and endless internet access, I think I'm ready to weather a long night of waiting at Burger King. I believe after this I'm going to collapse at home and ask not to be woken up until nightfall the following day. Thank God I have a week before I need to start packing again and start work in December in KL. Well signing off from KLIA, watch out for updates if I'm bored during the night.

Click Here to Read More..

Menacing Visage

This stone sculpture is one face you don't want chancing about in the middle of the night in some alleyway, Rasa Ria Resort, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia, 2006.

Click Here to Read More..

Paid per Advertisment: Blogging for Cash

Money paid advertising on blogs have come a long way. It's been ages since Google introduced such marketing ploys such as AdLinks and AdSense, bringing rise to all those inseemingly blatant advertising space that seems to perpetuate blogs nowadays. It's even more anoying when you stumble onto blogs purposely made with hundreds of links that redirect you to marketing advertisements. Besides that there are the usual advertisement links like Amazon and their ilks. Yet with the advent of Ad blockers there's now a sad fact that the ads you put up on your site often say sayonara the moment they are inserted into your blog code as I've discovered when using Firefox with Ad Buster filters loaded. Suddenly my entire site is crisp clean without an ounce of advertising banner. Oh well no loss there, even after nearly a year with such programmes I haven't really generated a cent from such ad placing, its more like a put there and forget things, though you do tend to envy the bloggers that actively put ads all over their entire web and write specifically to cater to ads and generating oodles of cash in the process.

Well since hearing about the new advertising ReviewMe being presented on the market it seems a whole lot more targeted and not as intrusive as other advertising methods, not to metion the pay off seems high compared to the pennies and cents offered for thousands of clicks like other programmes. Writing an ad by advertisers could net one anywhere from USD 20 or more depending on the type of advertisers asking for their products to be reviewed and whats more you get to chose what content to review and not be forced to write on anything you don't think suits your site. Well I'm giving it a try and see how things pans out, if the money is good then I'm happy, even a little would help a part time blogger like me if nothing else but to pay the bills. But still my blog is mainly a place to write my thoughts and first and foremost a personal blog but hey, business models change from time and one has to get with the programme and earn some MONEY!. Hopefully some advertisers will offer me a job or two soon. For other aspiring bloggers just give it a look and if the payoff is interesting enough give it a go as well.

Click Here to Read More..