Sunday, December 14, 2008

Brian & Abigail




It's been a while since I attended a wedding and yesterday I had the opportunity to attend my cousin Brian's wedding at Equatorial Bangi. I must say I enjoyed myself thoroughly even though weddings are not usually my thing. Dawn & Grace were roped in to be flower girls for the occasion and fortunately for us, they behaved themselves and that's saying a lot for a pair of 5 year olds.

Since the ceremony was held outdoors, I think all parties concerned were worried that the rains would wash out the occasion. It was already pouring in KL & PJ when we were driving to Bangi. Believe me when I tell you a miracle happened when the clouds held back its contents. It only started to drizzle when everything was concluded.

Later in the night, we had the usual 10 course dinner which concluded around 11 p.m. I am very happy for Brian & Abigail and I wish them nothing but happiness, prosperity, and good health. Congrats cuz.


Monday, December 8, 2008

Muzium Negara



Not too long ago, I had the opportunity to visit Muzium Negara with the kids. Frankly I did not know what to expect since it's been nearly 20 years since I last set foot on it. I didn't really plan on going to the museum with the kids but we were driving aimlessly around KL on a lazy Saturday morning when we passed by the museum.
So what the heck, I told myself, let's go in to have a look. To say I was disappointed is to understate it. I don't really know how to put it but after touring the place, it's like Malaysia does not have much of a history or at least that our history has not been documented all that well.

The first thing you see when you enter the museum at the foyer are several plastic tanks filled with fish, turtles and other assortment of aquatic life. You can also see a whole skeleton of a small whale, a skeleton of a dugong, a baby dugong preserved in a jar (well in a small aquarium like jar), a 2 foot fish also preserved in a small aquarium like jar and several other small glass aquariums filled with sea horses and fishes.

At the side wall on the ground floor, there is a display of some porcelain bowls, plates etc which the museum authorities helpfully inform us is from the 'Lady Diana'. Information like what the hell was the 'Lady Diana', was the 'Lady Diana' sunk (I am assuming it's a ship), where was it sunk, who sunk it, where was it coming from, where were the porcelain bowls etc from, what year did the 'Lady Diana' sink....you know casual information that might satisfy the curious mind were sadly unavailable

Now, if you decide you want more disappointment, as I certainly did, you might want to venture upstairs. At the time of my visit, the entire left wing was closed. No reasons given. Fine. You still have the right wing.

In it your will find the replica of a tin mining dredge. Press the red button and the mechanical parts will move. Woohoo! Next to it, you might catch a glimpse of a pre-WW2 bicycle, iron, rifle and the replica of the A'Formosa and some cannons

Another section of the museum will show pictorials of our recent history with scenes dominated by our ex-prime minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir, our Thomas Cup exploits etc and even a small section for our World No. 1 pendatang Nichol David.

The only part I found interesting was the section where they had the pre-Islamic era artifacts from the Bujang Valley on display. Again there was hardly any information on it. Of course there were the usual broken pottery and stone axes on display in another dimly lit section of the museum.

My verdict? If you have really run out of ideas on where to visit, give the museum a shot. Otherwise go to a bookstore and buy a book on the history of Malaysia. I hate to say it, but the museum like many institutions in Malaysia has seen better days

Monday, December 1, 2008

Smiley!


I think this might be the first time that I've seen the stars and the moon in this alignment. So with the Leica always being the handy companion nowadays, here is a shot of the smiley sky.

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Nihon Kai Restaurant


Just about 1 minute walk from my apartment lies a Japanese restaurant by the name of Nihon Kai. The food is fresh, the staff friendly and the service excellent but more importantly in these trying times, the price is reasonable.

Be sure to reserve your tables especially during the weekends as the place can be packed with customers. If you prefer, they have 4 private rooms too.

Address and contact details:
4-2, Jalan Telok Gadong,
Off Jalan Klang Lama Batu 3 1/2
58100 KL

Contact: 03-79823668

If you are planning to go, call me lah. I want to makan also.

Aaron's BD









































































































































































































































Last night saw us all getting together for Aaron's birthday. It was supposed to be a surprise but then someone inadvertently let the cat out of the bag.

A few of us just had our open mats and was therefore HUNGRY and thankfully the spread was excellent..middle eastern food, thanks again to Mkhtar for organising it.

Good food and good friends sharing a meal together. Can't ask for more!

Ini Macam Pun Boleh...Ah Moi!






Well today didn't start off well at all. Woke up early and I thought I'd take the family out for breakfast. And while I was driving along the Old Klang Road, out came this car from the side slip road right onto the main road and rammed straight into the side of the car exactly at the front passenger's door.

Thankfully nobody was hurt including the Ah Moi in the other car. From the pictures you can see that my car has been dented, nothing to worry about except for the internal power window mechanism. The Ah Moi's front bumper is...well ..behind the front wheel but ultimately I think the cost of repairing her car will be way less than mine.

Bugger, what a way to start off the week

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

BJJ Camp. The countdown

2 more days to go and I'll be off to Pangkor for my first BJJ seminar/camp. I'm actually looking forward to this camp as I am kinda burnt out at work, pushing myself hard at the office for the past 4 weeks including weekends. Well the good news is that the work backlog has been serioulsy reduced. The bad news is that I can't stand the sight of another legal brief.

So this weekend will be all about BJJ, just thinking about BJJ, practising BJJ and rolling with the guys including with the 2 gentlemen above : Marcos Escobar & Chico Mendes of Check Mat BJJ. Man I can't bloody wait. I hope my body can take the pounding.

It's a last minute thing but I hope I can secure an extra room at Pangkor Island Resort so that the kids and the missus can tag along and join in the fun. Nothing beats having the family along

Kaput


Well, it has finally happened. My iMac's HD kaputted on 6 November and I am officially suffering from net withdrawal symptoms. Thank gourd for the MacBook then. Life goes on but I've had to put on hold on all the downloads.

The good news is that it is still under warranty. The bad news is that Machines (the mac store @ Gardens) is taking so damn long to get it fixed. Like any typical Malaysian company : sales banyak cepat, after-sales banyak lambat. But then, this post is not a Machines bashing post. I'll leave that to next time

This is a post of me whining about my iMac

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

I Don't Understand, Therefore I Ban

Friday, October 10, 2008

Blacksmith Rd






Wandering around Malacca, I came across Jalan Tukang Besi which literally means Blacksmith Road. Well guess what? There are I think only 2 of these geezers left and it seems that they are the last of a dying breed.

It's quite funny though, as you follow the Heritage Trail of Malacca, the last thing you would expect to see on the trail are blacksmiths but hey, they are part of the trail and that's what make them special.

Notice the the road sign is actually made of wood

Once Upon A Time






I was in Malacca this morning attending to a matter at the Melaka High Court. With a little bit of spare time, I thought I'd go for some sight-seeing with my handy Leica.

Well as you can see the photos here are of the places of worship of the various races in Malaysia. The 1st picture is the one of the Christ Church built in 1753, followed by pictures 2 & 3 of Masjid Kampung Kling. No. 4 is the Cheng Hoon Teng temple dedicated to the goddess Kwan Yin. It was built in 1673 and is supposedly the nation's oldest functioning temple. No. 5 is the Chetty temple.

The beauty of these places of worship is not that they are buildings of religious & historical value but that they are virtually built next to each other and are in close proximity. Perhaps once upon a time in Malaysia people were more tolerant and respectful towards each others' religious beliefs.


Friday, September 26, 2008

Current Playlist



Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Priceless

Pulau Penang High Court






It took me approximately 16 hours to complete my hearing at the Penang High Court today. This is how a typical day of a peguam in Malaysia can look like :

4.00 a.m. : Wake up time

4.30 a.m. : started the drive to Penang

8.30 a.m. : arrive at the Penang High Court

8.45 a.m. : filed 2 affidavits relating to the hearing I was conducting

9.00 a.m. : registered my name with the court interpreter and inspected the court file to obtain the enclosure numbers of the documents in the court file

9.05 a.m - 2.00 p.m. : waited for the matter to be called ( & while waiting I also did the following : talked cock with fellow lawyers, listened to the ipod, watched BJJ videos on the ipod, went to toilet, came back from toilet, thought about the drive home to KL, had a sudden craving for Char Kuey Teow, suppressed the sudden craving for Char Kuey Teow, reflected on whether I was a good father to my 2 girls etc)

2.05 p.m : matter called and went into chambers to see the Judge

2.10 p.m. : hearing completed

2.15 p.m. : had One Tonne Mee at the Rio Hotel & Kedai Kopi

3.00 p.m. : went for a workout at Clark Hatch @ the Heritage Club

4.30 p.m. : started the journey back to KL

8.30 p.m. : arrived back home

Out of 16 hours, only 5 minutes was related to 'work'. Ok what!

Monday, September 22, 2008

When The Going Gets Tough...


KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 23 — A prominent political blogger was jailed for two years under a strict security law that can keep him in prison indefinitely, a lawyer said today.

Online commentator Raja Petra Kamarudin, known for his anti-government views, was already in police custody and was served a detention order last night, said his lawyer Malik Imtiaz Sarwar.

Another of his lawyers, J. Chandra, confirmed that Raja Petra has been sent to Kamunting under Section 8(1) of the ISA which states that "if the Minister is satisfied that the detention of any person is necessary with a view to preventing him from acting in any manner prejudicial to the security of Malaysia or any part thereof or to the maintenance of essential services therein or the economic life thereof, he may make an order (hereinafter referred to as a detention order) directing that the person be detained for any period not exceeding two years."

The order was signed by Home Minister Datuk Syed Hamid Albar, who has said Raja Petra's writings pose a threat to national security by creating racial tension.

Raja Petra’s wife Marina Lee Abdullah said today: "The police informed me that my husband has been sent to Kamunting this morning and that he will remain there for two years with no trial. This is the worst news I can receive but we will keep fighting for his release."

"This is dirty foul play by the government as they know that we are in the process of fighting for his release in the court but I was expecting this," she said.

Raja Petra's lawyers were pushing for his release in a habeas corpus hearing today but Marina said the detention order had upset their plans. The habeas corpus hearing, meanwhile, has been postponed to Oct 28 after preliminary objections from the DPP against the defence application that with the new order under Section 8 of the ISA served on Raja Petra today, it was no longer relevant to rely on the earlier application filed under Section 73 (1).

Chandra said the defence would be filing a fresh application against the Section 8 order.

Raja Petra has increasingly infuriated authorities by publishing numerous claims about alleged wrongdoings by government leaders on his popular site, Malaysia-Today, which serves as his blog as well as a news portal. The government has denounced most of Raja Petra's allegations as lies.

Raja Petra was arrested on Sept 12 under the Internal Security Act, which allows an initial detention of two months for investigation, followed by a two-year jail period that can be renewed indefinitely.

He will be held at the Kamunting Detention Centre in Perak. The centre houses detainees held under the security law, most of whom are suspected Islamic extremists.

Raja Petra's arrest triggered widespread protests by civil society groups, lawyers and other online commentators. Along with Raja Petra, authorities also arrested an opposition lawmaker and a journalist on Sept 12, but they were released subsequently.

The ISA is a holdover from British colonial days, when it was used against communist insurgents. Independent Malaysia's post-colonial government has kept it in the statute books and has used it sparingly against political dissidents, ignoring calls from opposition groups and others to disband the law.

Those interested in signing the online petition to free Raja Petra Kamaruddin , the Hindraf 5 and others held under the Internal Security Act may do so here : http://www.petitiononline.com/isa1234/petition.html

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Can An Average Person Do This?



Like a lot of other guys out there, I love my UFC. The discipline that these guys have and not to mention their mental toughness is to put it mildly, awe-inspiring. I've watched this fight quite a few times on the Mac and I can appreciate the hours these guys have to put in to get to where they are today.

While not aspiring to be like these athletes, I sometimes have to ask myself, can I even put in 10% of what these guys put in to be in shape and not get a heart attack by the age of 40? Oklah, 5%. Well in the past year the waist has gone down to size 36 from God knows what previously (too shy to mention).

To put things in perspective, I've only attended 2 BJJ classes in the past month and have basically given gym a miss since Lordz of Pain in March.

Sigh, it's a bloody long and winding road.

P/S : sorry but the voice/sound is out of sync with the video, but enjoy the fight nevertheless. It's between Yoshiyuki Yoshida & Jon “War Machine” Koppenhaver in UFC 84 "Ill Will"

Keep It Up Astro!


Astro tried to cheat me that day lah..2 of my olympic channels didn't have any transmission & so I called up Astro. Told them about it & at the same time also told them my other channels eg AFC, Channel V etc also gets no transmission.

So the guy on the phone said, they will send a technician over. The sports Olympic channel can be fixed for free but Channel V etc have to charge. So I said why some charge & some not charge since since I am paying monthly and Astro is not delivering?

Astro's reply : oh the olympic channel problem we have been having some technicalities but the other channels is due to hardware problems ie decoder and that my decoder is out of warranty. So I told him if it's decoder problem I shouldn't be getting ANY channels. Then Astro fella on the phone bullshit and say Channel V & the other channels is on a different higher frequency...aiyo wanna bluff oso bluff properly lah.

Anyway later their independent technician came and fix everything for no charge lah. KNN PKM Astro

Friday, August 22, 2008

Langkawi Cable Car










We just came back from Pulau Langkawi yesterday and I must say I was pretty impressed by what it has to offer. One of the places we stopped by was the Langkawi Cable Car which took us from the base of Gunung Mat Chinchang to its peak where you will initially stop at the Middle Station where you can walk along the 'suspension bridge' and test yourself for vertigo..lol. Although the bridge is a marvel of engineering, the winds up there can be strong which sways the bridge somewhat, and believe me that by itself can give you the shakes.

After this, you can then board back the gondolas, which will take you to the Top Station which is approximately 450 meters up to the peak of Gunung Mat Chinchang. There will be 2 viewing platforms here and apparently this is THE spot for a golden sunset in Langkawi.

If you ever decide to visit this place equipping yourself with a good camera is a definite must.

FARES

Adults RM25.00
Children (3 – 12 yrs old) RM18.00
Students (Letter from School required) RM18.00

Note:
Discount price will be given to Malaysians with MYKAD, purchase at ticket counter only.

OPERATING HOURS
Monday – Thursday 10.00am - 18.00pm
Wednesday 12.00pm - 18.00pm
Friday – Sunday & Public Holiday 09.30am - 19.00pm