The Journey

MGA Prestige 2011

2011-12-20T00:52:00.005+08:00

The MGA Prestige 2011 was held at Prince Hotel & Residence, Kuala Lumpur from 17 - 18 December 2011. The program was held for university students with the objective to expose them with the HSE issues. For this edition, the participating universities are UKM, USM, UTeM and InsTeP. Champion for this edition goes to UKM. Congratulations and thank you to all....

Phnom Penh

2011-05-02T11:37:00.004+08:00

Its quite a big group. 10 of us exploring the city of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. After touched down at the airport and taking the journey to the hotel, what could I summarize is that the country is quite backward. The development, the road system and the feel make you feel that you are in the 70s. US$ is well accepted, but make sure you have a small notes as its quite hard to find small change. Changed in cents will be converted to Cambodian Riel which is equivalent to around US$1 to 4000 Riel.

We stayed at Holiday Villa, a hotel owned by a Malaysian. The hotel is centrally located. Only 3 minutes walk to the Central Market, famous factory outlet, halal food and other attractions in Phnom Penh.

Upon arrival at the hotel, we started our strolling at the Central Market. The market sold almost everything, cambodian silk, souvenirs, clothes, electronic items, jewellery, gen stones, food and anything everything you just name it. In the afternoon we make a trip to the Toul Sleng Genocide Museum. This museum is a converted school to a cells during the Pol Pot regime where civilians and those opposed to the Pol Pot were tortured regardless whether you are man, women, child or old folks. What a cruel regime. In the building you can see various pictures that shows how the victims were tortured and also pictures those who are tortured.

After the Toul Sleng Museum we make a move to the Killing Fields. This place is where the killed victims at the Toul Sleng prison are buried. At the area you can see skulls, bones and clothes of the victims are kept in a Khmer architecture building. A short video presentation is also presented to explain on the history of the Killing Field and overall cruelty of Pol Pot Regime.

After the two visits we move to the Royal Palace area, which for me is the most well organised area in the City. Did not explore the Palace complex which seem to be quite large. We just walk and walk to taste the feel of Phnom Penh. The city does not seems to be pedestrian friendly and the air are dusty. At night we walk to the riverside area. Phnom Penh is located at the intersection of Tonle Sap and Mekong River. The riverside area is quite westernised with a lot of western bars lining at the riverside area that cater for tourist. However overall the area need further improvement.

Our next day is filled with shopping at the Russian Market. A market that again sell everything and anything. Buy an antique bowl and some souvenirs. Also this is the place where original branded items for Levi's, Abercrombie, Columbia, Dockers, Polo Ralph Lauren and lots more are sold. All of the items are made in Cambodia and are an overrun from the factory or those that were rejected due to defects. Very cheap in price. Spend most of the time here. Apart form the market, there are lines of shops outside of the market that sold the branded item in a well organised manner. But the price is a bit pricey for US$1 or US$2 compared to inside of the market. But that is what you have to pay for the air conditioning and some premium service. Bought lots of clothes, Levi's, Dockers, Polo Ralph Lauren, Nike etc.

However the best place to shop is the factory outlet of WE Xport. There are 4 branches in Phnom Penh, 2 at the Russian market area, one near the Monivong Boulevard, just 3 mins walk from Holiday Villa and the largest at Shihanouk Boulevard opposite Lucky Supermarket. This is the place that we visited on our last day in Phnom Penh apart from the Central & Russian Market, doing last minutes shopping.

Overall I enjoyed the trip, with lots of things to bring home. If happen I am visiting Cambodia again, what I will do is to start with Siam Reap, visit the Angkor Wat then heading south to Phnom Penh for shopping.

Adios !!!

GMSB Amazing Hunt 2011

2011-04-24T22:40:00.003+08:00

Alhamdulillah ... the hunt had concluded successfully. Although there are things that I think can be further improve, but overall the feedback is quite encouraging.

Well the Amazing Hunt 2011 is the second treasure hunt that I organised under GMSB Sports & Recreational Club. Compared to last year, this year event is more challenging in view of more cars and people involved and participating. 50 cars and 240 pax is more than double from what I organised last year. In addition, with all the logistics from the land transport to the sea transport and the island transport, frankly speaking it really make me exhausted.

Luckily I am assisted by 3 good and committed gentleman that always eveready to help and support although they know its not easy working with me. Thank you Zul, Faiz & Irwan.

The weather is also on our side, all participants are well behaved. That's really make my day and at the end of the event brings me satisfaction.

Well that's on the organisation of the hunt. On my participation, overall not doing quite well. Didn't manage to be in the top ten. Frankly speaking not really in the mood to answer most of the questions for this hunt. Not because of the hunt trail is not interesting, but maybe more towards my worries on the hunt organisation.

Anyway still having fun and from the bottom of my heart, I would like to thank everyone that support the program especially to our COO, Sports Club President, my dear committee members, Sports Club Office Bearer 2011 and lastly to all participating participants (GMSB Personnel, their spouse and children).

Thank you so much :)

Location:Jalan Nusa Putra 1/2E

Secret Garden

2011-02-06T13:48:00.021+08:00

Title: 시크릿 가든 / Sikeurit Gadeun / Secret Garden
Chinese Title : 秘密花园
Genre: Romance, comedy, fantasy, melodrama
Episodes: 20 + 1 Special

What can I say, the best Korean drama I've ever watched. After so long and the last one was Full House, I get hooked-up with this drama. Each episode bring me deep into the character. Wow full of imagination. Wish in my life will experience some of the beautiful moments and journey of what is portrayed in the drama.

Synopsis The drama tells the story of Kim Joo Won (Hyun Bin), an arrogant and eccentric CEO who maintains the image of seeming perfection, and Gil Ra Im (Ha Ji Won), a poor and humble stuntwoman whose beauty and body are the object of envy amongst top actresses. Their accidental meeting, when Joo Won mistakes Ra Im for actress Park Chae Rin, marks the beginning of a tense, bickering relationship, through which Joo Won tries to hide a growing attraction to Ra-Im that both confuses and disturbs him.

In Jeju Island, while riding bicycles in the mountains, Ra-Im somehow gets separated from Joo-Wan and Oska. Joo-Wan frantic over Ra-Im's disappearance goes back to look for her. Joo-Wan is able to eventually find Ra-Im and they then come across a mysterious restaurant in the woods named "Secret Garden". Even more strange, the owner of "Secret Garden" seems to know Joo-Wan and Ra-Im. The owner gives bottles of alcohol to Joo-Wan and Ra-Im. That night, Joo-Wan and Ra-Im drink the bottles of alcohol separately. The next morning, Joo-Wan and Ra-Lim discover that their souls have been exchanged!

For the rest of the story do take time to watch the drama from start till the end of episode 20.

To all, I share you the video clip and the song of the drama.

Following is the song's lyrics. Enjoy

그여자 – 백지영
geuyeoja – Hyun Bin & Baek Ji Yeong

한 여자가 그대를 사랑합니다
han yeojaga geudaereul saranghamnida
그 여자는 열심히 사랑합니다
geu yeojaneun yeolsimhi saranghamnida
매일 그림자처럼 그대를 따라다니며
maeil geurimjacheoreom geudaereul ttaradanimyeo
그 여자는 웃으며 울고 있어요
geu yeojaneun useumyeo ulgo isseoyo

얼마나 얼마나 더 너를
eolmana eolmana deo neoreul
이렇게 바라만 보며 혼자
ireoke baraman bomyeo honja
이 바람 같은 사랑 이 거지 같은 사랑
i baram gateun sarang i geoji gateun sarang
계속해야 네가 나를 사랑 하겠니
gyesokhaeya nega nareul sarang hagenni

조금만 가까이 와 조금만
jogeumman gakkai wa jogeumman
한발 다가가면 두 발 도망가는
hanbal dagagamyeon du bal domangganeun
널 사랑하는 난 지금도 옆에 있어
neol saranghaneun nan jigeumdo yeope isseo
그 여잔 웁니다
geu yeojan umnida

그 여자는 성격이 소심합니다
geu yeojaneun seonggyeogi sosimhamnida
그래서 웃는 법을 배웠답니다
geuraeseo utneun beobeul baewotdamnida
친한 친구에게도 못하는 얘기가 많은
chinhan chinguegedo motaneun yaegiga manheun
그 여자의 마음은 눈물투성이
geu yeojaui maeumeun nunmultuseongi

그래서 그 여자는 그댈
geuraeseo geu yeojaneun geudael
널 사랑 했대요 똑같아서
neol sarang haetdaeyo ttokgataseo
또 하나같은 바보 또 하나같은 바보
tto hanagateun babo tto hanagateun babo
한번 나를 안아주고 가면 안 돼요
hanbeon nareul anajugo gamyeon an dwaeyo

난 사랑받고 싶어 그대여
nan sarangbatgo sipeo geudaeyeo
매일 속으로만 가슴 속으로만
maeil sogeuroman gaseum sogeuroman
소리를 지르며 그 여자는 오늘도
sorireul jireumyeo geu yeojaneun oneuldo
그 옆에 있대요
geu yeope itdaeyo

그 여자가 나라는 건 아나요
geu yeojaga naraneun geon anayo
알면서도 이러는 건 아니죠
almyeonseodo ireoneun geon anijyo
모를 거야 그댄 바보니까
moreul geoya geudaen babonikka

얼마나 얼마나 더 너를
eolmana eolmana deo neoreul
이렇게 바라만 보며 혼자
ireoke baraman bomyeo honja
이 바보 같은 사랑 이 거지 같은 사랑
i babo gateun sarang i geoji gateun sarang
계속해야 네가 나를 사랑 하겠니
gyesokhaeya nega nareul sarang hagenni

English translation

I just love that one woman
I love her wholeheartedly
I follow her around like a shadow everyday
That woman is laughing & crying

Just how much more do I have to
gaze at you alone
This love that came like the wind, this beggar like love
If I continue this way, will you love me?

Just come a little nearer
One step closer but flee with 2 legs
I who love you am next to you now
That woman who comes.

that woman is cautious
that’s why you have to learn to smile
what she can’t tell her best friend
her heart’s full of tears.

that’s why, that woman
when she loved you the same way
yet another fool, yet another fool
can’t you hug me before you go?

i want to receive love
everyday in my heart, just in my heart
i shout and
that woman’s next to me again.

that woman’s not me
its not that she knows
she doesn’t know cause she’s a fool

Just how much more do I have to
gaze at you alone
This love that came like the wind, this beggar like love
If I continue this way, will you love me?

Just come a little nearer
One step closer but flee with 2 legs
I who love you am next to you now
That woman who comes.

Hong Kong

2011-01-26T20:58:00.003+08:00

Day 1: 22nd January 2011

My flight via Malaysia Airlines from KL is at 9:30am. Touch down around 12:40 pm. The journey only took 3hrs 20 mins. First impression its cold here 11 celcius. The good part is that the bus is providing a free wifi. Can't wait to explore Hong Kong.

I am taking the Airport bus A21 to my hotel at Tsim Sha Tsui, just to get the sample of Hong Kong. Though a bit slow compared to the MTR but nice and scenic view. Journey is about 45 minutes and it is only HKD33, 1/3 of the MTR rate.

Arrived at the hotel in Nathan Road around 2:30pm. Check-in and after put all my luggage in the room straight away I took the MTR to Central for a trip to Victoria Peak. I opted for the tram ride although you can get to the peak through a bus ride. The choice is yours, climbing to the peak via a tram is a bit expensive however it give a breathtaking view of Hong Kong along the ride. The queue is quit long with a lot of tourist. Luckily the wait is only 20 minutes as the frequency between the tram is about 10 minutes intervals. I took an effort to walk from Central to the tram station at Garden Road, passing through some of Hong Kong prominent landmarks i.e. Bank of China, Standard Chartered, HSBC etc. Well the ride is very smooth and once reached the peak I can see a nice view of Hong Kong.

Its colder at the Peak that forced me to wear my fleece jacket. Nothing much to do except shopping and visit the Madame Tussaud. The best part is there is a Rock Shop at the Peak Galleria. And as usual buy the shot glass and some t-shirt. Take some break at the Peak McD eating the fries and drink the hot chocolate.

After about 2hrs at the Peak, I take the tram down and ride the 15C bus to Central Pier to experience the famous Star Ferry ride. A traditional boat connecting Hong Kong island with the Mainland. I opted for the journey from Pier 7 to Tsim Sha Tsui, as they said the view was nice especially looking at the island and Kowloon.

Arrived Tsim Sha Tsui, take some walk to the Avenue of Star for the famous Symphony of Lights Show. The show is conducted every night at 8pm that run for 15 minutes. Basically its about formation of light from building in the island, that was synchronised to a tune of music. Very impressive and interesting show. But the place was too crowded.

Well after the show its time for dinner and I am taking the Arabic dish at Ziafat, Nathan Road. The food is not that nice, however due to empty stomach I manage to finish all of it.

After dinner, quarter to 10pm I decided to call it a day and get ready for my Macau excursion tomorrow.

Day 2: 23 January 2011

My second day started with a day trip to Macau. Detail of the trip please refer to my Macau article.

After the Macau trip, I arrived Hong Kong quarter to five. After the immigration clearance, I decided to take a tram for a different angle of experience. The tram located opposite the Western Market which is inter-connected with the Shun Tak Centre via a pedestrian bridge. In Hong Kong most of the building and landmarks are inter-connected with a pedestrian bridge or underpass. I believe this is a standard infrastructure that should be made available to a city in order to encourage people to walk and utilised the public transport. The scenario is also the same with other big cities like Tokyo, Singapore and Bangkok. However KL is still lack of those facilities. Anyway we are catch-up as more and more such facilities is being planned to be constructed in the city center.

Anyway my tram ride started from the Western Market to Causeway Bay where I am taking the eastbound route. Basically one of a traveler blogger had suggested the route as it is the best way to sample Hong Kong as I pass almost all of Hong Kong prominent landmarks. And the best part is the price is very cheap only cost you HK$2 for any of the route from start towards the end. But sometimes the tram ride can be very crowded especially at the hour that I am taking. Anyway its very smooth and enjoyable. Arrived Causeway Bay after about 40 minutes ride. At Causeway Bay just doing some window shopping to various malls around i.e. Sogo, Times Square etc. All malls are crowded and the shopping was fabulous with a lot of new year sales.

After exploring various malls I make a move to Masjid Ammar and Osman Ramju Sadick Islamic Center for my dinner. This place is famous with its halal Cantonese food which you must try especially you are in a Chinese country. I found the food is tasty however the environment is quite typical of a Chinese restaurant. The center is located at 40, Oi Kwan Road, Wan Chai district. Apart from a walk, you can reach the center by taking a tram and make a stop at station 47E for eastbound route or 52W for westbound route (Henessey Road). Then make a short walk to Wan Chai Road via a walkway between the W Square and the basketball court. Cross the Wan Chai Road to Tan Yan Street and at the end of the road turn left to Oi Kwan Road and the Masjid is located after a couple of blocks from the junction on your left.

After the nice dinner, I take a tram back to Central and board the MTR to Mongkok for Ladies Market. Located in the heart of Mongkok District, the section of Tung Choi Street between Argyle Street and Dundas Street is known by the locals as "Ladies Market" or "Women's Street". It is mainly "soft" goods that you would find there - clothing, clothing, and clothing. Well, there are also dolls, small rugs, towels, popouri, etc.; items that most men don't write home about. (But then, there're some watches and stuff.) Well its a typical night market that we have in any of the South East Asia cities. Near the Ladies Market, there are also Mongkok Computer Shopping Center is just around the corner, and one street over is Sai Yeung Choi Street South with many stores selling consumer electronics. After buying some souvenirs, I decided to end the day.

Day 3: 24 January 2011

Wake-up a bit late as I do not have any specific program for the day. After freshen-up and take some light snacks I decided to go to Stanley Market. Located quite far from the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong City. The journey via the bus is very breathtaking with a view of the Southern part of Hong Kong. The journey from Central took me around one hour passing by the Ocean Park, Repulse Bay and various other beaches in Hong Kong. The sea fronting area seems to be occupied with various luxury villas, bungalows and condominiums. Actually nothing much to do in Stanley, the market is very small and a bit pricey. And then down the road is a small shopping center plus a historical building that was moved there stone by stone. The rustic building, Murray House, is now home to a few fine restaurants. Not far from the building there is the Blake Pier. Both historical sites are a restored monument that was previously located in the Hong Kong City. Normally the place will be crowded during the Dragon Boat Festival in June.

After about an hour there, I decided to go back to Hong Kong take my lunch at the Islamic Center for a halal dim sum. A very nice lunch for me. Then I decided to take the MTR to CityGate Factory outlet. To the outlet just take the MTR to Tung Chung Station and take exit C. The outlet is home to more than 80 international brand like AIX, CK, Levi's, Nautica, Ralph Lauren etc. After arriving, of course do some shopping. Spend about three hours there and after that went straight to hotel for a rest. At the same time preparing for the conference next day.

Day 4: 25 January 2011

It's my conference day. Well forgot to mentioned, the reason why I am here is not totally for vacation, but more for a SCADA Asia Conference. I am presenting a paper entitled "Enhancing SCADA Connectivity and Communication. This is my first presentation outside of the country. The presentation went well and I received a positive response from the audience. On side of the conference various meetings and discussions were held with some of the delegates.

After the conference, I just spend sometime to visit the Temple Street night market also known as Men's Street to look for final souvenirs. Again another typical night market. Smaller than Ladies Market, however with more items on sale. There are more than a hundred stalls with colourful lights in the market. There are carts bulging with goods from clothing to mobile phones and watches. Stalls have items mainly for men, jeans, t-shirts, pants, lighters, shoes, condoms and men's accessories. Cheap second hand goods such as cassettes, video tapes, magazines, antiques are also sold here. Like in other night markets in South East Asia, prices can always be negotiated by bargaining.

Then after the market shopping, I decided to just buy a kebab for my dinner.

Day 5: 26 January 2011

First part of the day until morning tea, I joined the conference. At about 11 am I check-out from hotel and take the bus to Kowloon Station for a city check-in. My flight via Cathay Pacific is at 3:30pm. So still have some time, I decided to finish the day with some final visit in Hong Kong. Take the Star Ferry ride to Wan Chai and visit the Golden Bauhinia monument before taking some dim sum at the Islamic Center. Then take the airport express went straight to the airport from Hong Kong Station. A very smooth journey of about 24 minutes only. At the airport managed to do some final shopping at the Disney Merchandise Store and then straight to the waiting lounge. At 3:15 board the airplane and arrived KL around 7:00pm.

With the arrival, officially that's the end of my Hong Kong trip. A fully paid trip that really satisfy me. My journey to Hong Kong is full with excitement.

Location:Nathan Rd,,Hong Kong

Macau

2011-01-23T13:54:00.007+08:00

Make a short day trip to Macau. Since it is only nearby and no visa required. Compare to Shenzen or Ghuangzhou you need a visa to visit as it is considered as China. However not for Hong Kong and Macau. Both are China but with special authority or known as Special Administrative Region (SAR). This is due to both area were previously colonised by British and Portugal. Only in 1997 Hong Kong was returned while Macau in 1999. Very interesting and unique administration concept. Well that's a brief of history.

I am more interested to focus on my journey to Macau. It started early in the morning an MTR ride to Sheung Wan where the ferry terminal is located. I took the Turbojet ferry. Going to Macau I took the Super Class going back economy. I purchase the 8:30 am ticket however ride the 8:15 am since I arrived a bit early. You can purchase but board the earlier ferry subject to availability, but not vice versa. After the immigration clearance I went straight to the ferry. Visiting Macau is like a visit to another country where you need to chop your passport, surrender Hong Kong departure card and fill-in Macau arrival card. Journey through the ferry is about an hour. The boat is super efficient and scheduled at every 15 mins interval. Very convenient for economy return it cost you around RM130/pax. Super Class RM40 more for one way.

As scheduled arrived Macau at the Main Ferry Terminal around 9:15am. After the immigration clearance went to the bus stand for a ride to any of the casino. Macau is so famous with its casino, there more than 30 casinos around where most of it owned by Stanley Ho, a Hong Kong tycoon that start the casino business in Macau more than 40 years ago. Until today he dominated the Macau casino scene or maybe in Asia with more than 20 casinos in Macau are owned by Stanley. However currently at the age of 86 he is battling with the wealth and fortune crisis with his owned family. The news made an headlines in Hong Kong daily since my stay there. Oh forgot to mentioned, the ferry that I rode and the terminal that I used in Hong Kong is also owned by the tycoon.

At the bus stand various buses are on standby ready to pick you to any of the casino. There are a lot of famous casinos around like the MGM, Sands, Wynn, City of Dreams, Venitian, Golden Lisbao, Galaxy and many more. And more are still in the pipeline as you can see more and more massive construction works are on-going. Its like another Las Vegas here. The best part is most of the casinos especially the established one are providing a free shuttle from the ferry terminals and airport to ferry people to their casino. So you can just travel around Macau by hop on or hop off to any of the shuttle bus provided. Just get to know where there are heading to and what is nearby. For a start, I jump into the City of Dreams bus for a ride to their casino. Why am I choosing City of Dreams is due to there is a Hard Rock Hotel located there. Since my hobby is collecting the shot glass, its normal not to miss my Hard Rock to any of the places that I visited. By the way the temperature there is around 16deg C and the best part is I forgot my fleece in the hotel. So with not much of choice I just gone through the cold weather. But its okay, luckily I wear a long sleeve t-shirt.

The journey to the City of Dreams from the Ferry Terminal is only around the 15 minutes. Upon entering the main entrance of the casino, I saw a huge screen that they terms as a bubble, due to the screen reflect almost exactly as the underwater world with a water bubbles from the fish, a corals and in fact a mermaid swimming inside. Very beautiful though. Then I walk inside the casino for a glimpse of the gambling scenario before proceed to the Hard Rock Hotel Shop. Maybe it is still early in the morning. Not much people around. Manage to get my shot glass and a t-shirt from the shop.

After City of Dreams, I went to the famous Venitian which is located opposite of the City of Dreams. Here the design and interior are resembling the setup of Venice, Italy. The hotel ceilings and decor are very much Roman. They even have the gondolas inside of the shopping mall with a ceiling reflected of the sky with clouds. The casino is also quite empty. I just proceed to the shopping area and buy some Venitian souvenir. The mall is quite big with a lot of branded labels. But not really crowded.

After strolling around inside the mall for about an hour, I went to the shuttle bus stand for a ride back to the Ferry Terminal. Well forgot to mention, Macau, like Hong Kong is divided into the island of Taipa/Coloane and the Macau Peninsular. Both places are connected with two bridges. After alight the Venitian shuttle at the Ferry Terminal I took a bus ride to the Golden Lisbao. The complex of Golden Lisboa that consists of a hotel and and casino is quite unique in nature. With a gold glass facade it resemble a spectacular building design that easily made the building as a landmark of Macau. From Golden Lisbao I make a short walk to the famous Macau World Heritage, the Senado Square. The walk is around 7-8 minutes. The 3.7km Leal Senado is paved with a wave pattern mosaic of colored stones. The design is also very unique.

For information, a large section of Macau Peninsula has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage site and 25 buildings and sites within the area have been deemed to have cultural and historic significance.

At Senado Square, it is connected to various other historical building and sites in Macau that giving you a glimpse of history of Macau past colonisation by Portugal with the influnece of Chinese. In fact Portugese language is widely used in Macau and all signage are displaying the Portugese words. It is quite crowded at the Senado Square, maybe it is because of weekend. So I decided to just take some photos and take a walk through the World Heritage Walk Circuit to the Ruin of St. Paul.

After some shots of photographs, I take some time climbing the Monte Fort for a short rest and watch the old part of Macau from the hill of the Fort. Basically the the area is a bit similar with St. Paul hill in Malacca. Maybe due to the strong influence of the Portugese.

After that I take a walk back to Leal Senado and walk through the city to the Wynn Casino. A nice modern and classic architecture can be seen along the way. After arriving at the Wynn I take the shuttle bus to the Ferry Terminal back. At the terminal I board a bus to the Sands casino. From there I take a walk at the seafront located opposite the Sands building and not for away from the terminal though. At the seafront area there are the Fisherman Wharf and seaside commercial area that themed with some of the old Greek monuments, volcano and a Chinese Temple. Its like a theme park but quite empty though. Only some married couples taking the wedding photographs with some tourist like me around. Not far from the wharf there are a building known as Oceanus that resemble of the Beijing Water Cube. After a short walk I arrived at the Ferry Terminal back. Although my ticket back to Hong Kong is scheduled at 6:15pm, I decided to take the early ferry at 4:45pm as I think I am done in Macau. My planned to take a sky jump at the Macao Tower has to be canceled as I think not this time as I have a paper to be presented later on Tuesday.

Well after take the ferry ride, I leave Macau in satisfaction as in a day I have sample the unique and beautiful Macau. At least I have pinned my JOURNEY here.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Calcada de S. Paulo,Santo Antonio,Macau

Bye Bye 2010 .... Welcome 2011...

2011-01-11T20:58:00.007+08:00

Maybe a bit late to wish as per my first blog title of the year. However as people always said, better late than never. Hahaha. No new entry since May, well as usual a cliche reason ...BUSY... When we will not be busy? Well as people always said too when we are dead. So not to take it as a reason, just drop a few lines to the blog especially after almost 2 weeks in 2011.

2010 had passed, quite an interesting year too, however less travel only been to Saigon, Vietnam, Chiang Mai, Thailand and Singapore. The rest, a local trip around Malaysia especially for my much beloved hobby DIVING.

In 2010, managed to log my 100 dives in Tenggol Island somewhere in September. A great achievement for a hobby that I've started in 2008. However in 2011, maybe a bit less as I would like to concentrate more to land vacation especially to other continent of the world. Maybe once a quarter, with a total around 20 - 30 dives this year. Some plan in the pipeline, as usual opening dives, maybe in Tioman, overseas dive in Acheh, and maybe another 3 or 4 dive trips to Miri, Tenggol, Redang and Sipadan. Hopefully can be materialised.

On the land trip, this year already committed to Singapore purposely for the Universal Studio with some friends (my second visit after end of the year with my family members), Phnom Penh and Melbourne. If everything ok maybe in October an excursion to Europe.

Well that's it for the first entry of 2011. New blog layout for the new year. To all my reader do keep visit this blog. Will try (again) to regularly update my beautiful JOURNEY in this world.

Location:Jalan Nusa Putra 1/2E,Puchong,Malaysia

Ho Chi Minh Trip

2010-05-20T08:06:00.003+08:00

My first trip to Vietnam. Arrived on 19 May 2010 a bit late than scheduled due to flight delay. A brief stop, my first impression is the city of Saigon is quite interesting.

Had a round trough to the night market last night and can't resist to buy some of the beautiful lacquerware. Haha!

To my surprise so many Malaysian around and the night market trader seems to know some of the BM language to attract Malaysian to shop. The best part was I bumped to some of my old friends here. Wow one of them I had never met since my UTM days 10 years ago.

Had our first Vietnam dinner in Un Halal. A halal restaurant near the Benh Than Market that sold varieties of food selection.

The next day we went to Cu Chi Tunnel. Lots of foreign tourist visited the place. In fact in the bus we are the only Asian with another couple from Singapore. We pay around USD12 for the whole trip including the entrance ticket. At Cu Chi I managed to explore and through to one of the show tunnel. A very informative visit to know the scenario during the Vietcong era.

After the Cu Chi Tunnel, we stroll through the Benh Than market looking for things to buy. Then in the evening we just having a walk through the city near the Reunification Palace, Post Office Area, Notre Dame Cathedral, Municipal City Building, Hard Rock Cafe, Parkson etc. Well manage to see the night cultural of Saigon people. There seems to be a bit westernized and hanging around in the park, kissing publicly and etc.

Plan to visit the Mekong river trip, however after various review and discussion we scrapped the plan as we would like to concentrate more to shopping. Our first destination is to the famous Malaysian Wear Boutique, Hong Anh. The ladies spend about 1/2 day in the boutique, meeting some Malaysian too in the boutique. After the 1/2 day shopping we venture further to other part of Saigon to the Rex Hotel area where there are located various international label boutique. Just have a peek to what is being offered inside the boutique. Then we proceed for a lunch at Halal Saigon for a true halal Vietnamese dishes.

After the lunch, we proceed for further shopping. Manage to buy some paintings as decor for my house and a crumpler bag. Although it is an imitation, still the design and quality is ok.

At night, another shopping trip in the night market. Grab another lacquerware house deco.

Last day in Saigon also filled with shopping. Painting, clothes etc. Overall I am satisfied with the trip although there various parts of Saigon that has yet to be explored. Plan to return back to Saigon in future.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Ly Tu Trong,,Vietnam

2009

2009-12-31T17:02:00.001+08:00

A very interesting year. I would like to consider that this is my traveling year. A lot of places been visited throughout the year. I could say each month there will be a trip either in the country or around the region.

Especially in October, within two weeks time I'm traveling to three different countries. Will put on some pictoral 2009 diary to summarise my monthly traveling experience.

Some plan had been put on place for 2010 where I hope to cover some parts of Europe.

New year is coming, so Goodbye 2009 Welcome 2010!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Jalan Tanjung Lobang,Miri,Malaysia

Birthday Wish

2009-12-28T13:15:00.001+08:00

Its my 32nd birthday today. A lot of good wish were received from friends around the world. Tq everyone.

Well it's been a while I didn't post any new issues in my blog. Not that I did not have new things to be shared. But as expected, time is always be the reason why new posting is not published. Luckily now I have purchased this iphone Blogpress program. Maybe I can start back my blogging from anywhere. Till then will keep everyone posted.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Blogging to Unblock

2009-01-10T21:05:00.008+08:00

Well love the title. Its Tun Dr. Mahathir collection of blog posting in his famous chedet.cc that now hits almost 12 millions.

Well not about Tun, however more about myself. For quite sometime I am missing from the blog sphere. Some of my friends asking where am I? Well still around except doesn't really got the time to update 'The Journey". My last posting was in Aug 2008 almost 5 months without any new journey is been updated. However within the 5 months, a lot of things happen, celebrating Aidilfitri, dive in Miri, Mabul, Siamil & Sipadan and trip to Kelantan. But slowly will update the journey later.

In the national and international arena, there's a lot of significant event happen. Some bring us smiles and some worries us. The most concerned situation is now happen in Gaza. Everyday we heard updates of Palestinian been killed by the Israelis. People around the world is protesting, however the Israel with the support of the United States of America doesn't bother to back-off. We never know when all this will stop.

So far, more than 4,000 Gazans have been mercilessly killed or badly mutilated or incinerated in less than two weeks of intensive indiscriminate aerial and artillery bombing targeting everyone and everything. Mosques, homes, public buildings, shelters, schools, colleges, dormitories, factories, cultural institutions, businesses, even hospitals and drug stores as well as the entire civilian infrastructure have been bombed and reduced to rubble.
The rabid bombing from high altitudes has exterminated numerous whole families and destroyed entire neighborhoods. This is probably what Israeli leaders had in mind when they spoke earlier about a “shock and awe” campaign against Gaza.

What can we do? We in Malaysia especially, could only pray and pray, protest and protest, boycott US & Israeli products. However if no concerted effort is taken by the whole world especially leaders in the high powered nations, the issues will never been resolved. What a sad world to live in.....

Till then >>>>>

Advance Open Water Course

2008-08-21T22:44:00.008+08:00

030808 the day when I was certified as the Advance Open Water Diver (AOWD). Still with the same dive centre, Bali Hai Divers, Panuba, Tioman Island. Love the area and the dive boat, Bali Haitec.

The Haitec Boat

The trip consists of quite a big group, there are 17 of us. 5 are taking the Open Water Course and another 4 are taking the Advance course. The rest are only enjoying the island holiday.

The instructor for AOWD is a also a Germany, a freelance and veteran instructor, Miriam Beck. Very strict, however quite a nice lady. The AOWD syllabus consists of 5 open sea dives with different types and disciplines of diving. Two compulsory dives, Deep Diving and Navigation Dive. The other three dives are a selection from varieties of specialty dives. We opt for Wreck Diving, Search and Recovery and Peak Performance Buoyancy.

Three of the dives were carried out at Panuba house reef, deep diving at Chebeh and wreck diving at Soyak Wreck. Apart from that I manage to do another 4 fun dives at Fan Canyon, Coral Island, Renggis and Soyak (but the coral part not the wreck).

With the advance certification, I am certified to carry out my diving at the 30 m depth. That is the main reason why I took the AOWD course. This is also to suit with my objectives of more fun dive in future and taking another step in diving.

The dives were very enjoyable, with more marine aquatic been explored and seen, especially when we did the wreck diving. Really love the scene, especially with a lot of fish around you surrounding the wreck. From the dives, I also saw a lot of improvement in my diving skills, in terms of swimming following the terrain, fin kicking, buoyancy control, level of confidence and etc.

Plan more dives after this. Maybe the nearest dives will be at my hometown, Miri, Sarawak during the Hari Raya holiday. Balik Kampung !!!

Myself with my owned gear

Open Water Diving Course

2008-05-27T19:51:00.003+08:00

Alhamdulillah, I have completed my PADI Open Water Diving course at Bali Hai Dive Centre, Tioman Island, Malaysia on 25th May 2008. What an amazing experience having the skills and ability to do SCUBA diving. Previously what I did to discover the underwater world is through snorkeling and now I am certified to go deep into the ocean to discover the underwater world.

Went to Tioman on the Friday night of 23d May 2008 for a 4 days and 3 nights trips at Tioman Island. Went there with the other 4 colleagues, Norzahid, Faiz, Zam Erwani & Sharifuddin. We stay at Panuba Inn, near Ayer Batang Village.

I was trained by Sonja Konrad, a lovely and beautiful Germans. On the arrival day I have started my confined water lesson, learning various basic skills i.e. mask clearing, alternate air source, etc can't really remember them.

The next day we experience some open water swimming at Panuba House Reef. This is the real SCUBA diving. At the depth of around 12 meters the experience is really exhilarating. Seeing more marine lives and beautiful corals.

In the late afternoon we are tested with the pre-requisite test for OWD course, 200m swimming and 10 minutes floating without any aid.

The last day is the best part of the course, the open sea swimming. We swim at two of the many dive sites around Tioman, Chebeh & Batu Malang. Both dive sites offers and give a different types of dives. At Chebeh I met with a school of batfish and of course the turtle. This steep sloping reef formation has a vast coverage of Fan Corals (Gorgonians) and many other soft corals. The water seem to be very deep and as an OWD certification, we are only allowed to dive up to 18m.

All of us with the our lovely instructor

Batu Malang consists of a small rock collection located in front of the white sandy beach of Coral Island. This place makes a perfect second dive site with an average depth of only 10 meters. Batu Malang is blessed with an abundance of hard coral such as Staghorn Coral, Tabletop Coral, Potato Coral, Flower Coral and Bommies. Abundance of nudibranch are also spotted. The best part of diving here is you experience maneuvering yourself between the rocks. The visibility is also very clear.

Well can't wait for another dive trip.

4WD Drive Adventure and Whitewater Rafting

2008-03-31T20:11:00.008+08:00

Haven't got the time to update. A lot of things happen after the March 8 election day. The day that saw BN lost 5+1 states and eat its 2/3 majority in Parliament.

However my focus in this article is not about politics, but about another program that I organized last weekend. As per the title 4WD Adventure & Whitewater Rafting. This time around the rafting part at Jeram Besu, Pahang.

Participants of the Adventure Trip

The program start with participants met at Bentong Petronas Station around 9:30 am. From there we head straight to Balai Polis Raub, Pahang where we were met by the Countryview Recreation Park (CRP) Manager, the event organizer. He heads us to the 4WD centre at Sungai Klau.

At the 4WD center we were given a short safety briefing before we took a group photography. We were divided into three 4WD vehicles with per vehicle around 5 - 6 people. Form the start we could feel the bumpy rides that we will experience for the rest of the 45 minutes journey to our final destination at Lata Berembun.

Lata Berembun located 38kms from Raub near Kampung Baru China Cungai Chalit. The picturesque waterfall is ideal for camping and picnics. It is only accessible by 4X4 that takes the participant past verdant fruit orchards and plantations growing guava, durian and cocoa. Located almost 1000m above sea level and surrounded by thick forests, the water is icy cold. Lata Berembun is located halfway up the slopes of the massive 2000m Gunung Benom which is still mostly unexplored and has seen only few climbers.

In the 4X4 journey, we hang at the specially designed deck of the vehicle.

Compare to my previous rafting ttrip at Sungai Kampar, the rapid

Election Results

2008-03-09T09:31:00.003+08:00

Well the rakyat's has spoken. They give a very clear message to the present govt to rejuvenate and change. Their deaf and ignorance has been given a lesson by the people.

As everyone know for the first time ever BN lost its 2/3 majority in Parliament with 5 states come under control by the non BN parties. Only almost 2 am in the morning BN manage to form the government with a simple majority. Penang, Kedah, Perak, Selangor and Kelantan now have new opposition i.e. BN.

Without further deep analysis, the cause because we have incompetent government lead by the tidurlah Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi. Now everyone has spoken. He should listen and step down. If not worst ever BN will not ruling the country in the near future.

Well nothing untoward incident happen so far. Live is still as usual. People still going to wedding and holidaying as planned. Later today will go to Othman wedding.

No celebration by the opposition and transition of power at certain states seems to be smooth. Hope the results will bring a better Malaysia.

Election Day

2008-03-08T17:50:00.007+08:00

After 13 days of campaign, today is the day to decide. Nice date 080308. Manage to exercise my duty and responsibility as a Malaysian to decide my government.

Went to the polling station at 11:30 am and was in and out less than 15 minutes. Not much hype at Bandar Tun Razak parliamentary contest. The ambient is just okay and nice no aggressive last minutes campaign or so called lobbied by any parties.

It is a straight fight between Parti Keadilan Rakyat (Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim) and MCA - BN (Datuk Tan Chai Ho).

All polling stations have been close at 5 pm and now they still counting. The earliest result is expected at 7pm and the Govt shall be formed at 11 pm depending on the smoothen process of the vote counting. That is what the Election Commission told us.

Hope today's election will give the government an ear of people's power.

However live is as usual. Still manage to go shopping at Low Yat.

J Card Day

2008-03-07T10:40:00.004+08:00

Following are J Card Day Schedule for 2008:

06 March - Metro Prima
17 April - Wangsa Maju
30 April - Queensbay
08 May - Bandar Puchong Jaya and Tebrau
15 May - Taman Maluri
10 July - Melaka & Taman Universiti
17 July - Bandar Utama & Seremban 2
29 Sep - Ipoh & Taman Equine
22 Oct - Mid Valley & Cheras Selatan

Those who look forward for a shopping spree do not miss the boat.

Horse Riding

2008-02-18T21:34:00.010+08:00

Saturday, Feb 16, 2008

Got a chance trying the horse riding trail at Bukit Tinggi, Pahang, Malaysia last Saturday. Lovely exercise and a nice outing.
I went there with Faiz and we got a chance to ride with Indiana and Penelope. Indiana is a male horse age around 11 years old, while Penelope is a female age around 8 years old.
Might be Indiana hate me, cause he is so stubborn and lazy to move although I always give him a kick. Or maybe it relates to my nature, not so lovely to animals.

We started the afternoon with 1/2 hour riding lesson than followed with the 1 1/2 hrs trail rides. Our instructor is Edie and he bring us around exploring some parts of Bukit Tinggi area. From the Horse Trail Center we ride the horse to cover at the Golf Club area and later to the jungle next to the Paintball arena. Then we proceed for an off road trail. The best experience is when we ride the horse in the jungle trail especially passing the small stream and pass over the bushes.
Horse riding is not that hard, beginners and inexperience like both of us found that it is really exciting, interesting and a healthy exercise. I encourage everyone to try,
There are not many places offer the horse trail package in Malaysia, I found one in Bukit Tinggi, Sedenak and Port Dickson. For the price do check-out their websites.
Since the last experience, I am looking forward to enroll myself to a serious riding class at Bukit Kiara Equestrian.

Hope you enjoy the riding footage!

Perak Adventure 2007

2008-02-10T14:49:00.000+08:00

Cave Adventure & White-water Rafting
Sunday, April 15, 2007

Introduction

In middle April 2007, twenty two people from Gas Malaysia looking for a round of adventure during the weekend ended up at Gopeng, Perak, where they had the opportunity to spend a day white water rafting and caving. Despite having their rafts capsize several times, slipping as they lost their footing while in the cave, and several bum-bruising lorry rides to and from the activity locations, they emerged with satisfied smiles, and more than eager to recount the exciting tales.
The journey start from various locations based on participants based. 5 cars depart from Klang Valley and one car direct from Perak. Those from Klang Valley met at Rawang R&R around 7:30 am and final meeting point at Gopeng toll plaza at 9:30 am. There, we met with the trip organiser - Nomad Adventure. The lead instructor was Mr. Claude Farlen, a Canadian that had seven years of experience in outdoor activities.

Gua Kandu Exploration

Gua Kandu is a multi-level and multi chambered wild cave that was a communist hideout during the Emergency. No crawling is involved, but participants will be challenged with scrambling though this little-visited cave. The highlight of the caving is to experience the one-of-a-kind 80m flying fox (developed by the experts) in the cave which gives an exhilarating bird's eye view of the main chamber.

The flying fox zip line cave is a complex, multi-level system of large chambers with ancillary passages. Most of the formations seemed to be dead, but dropping water all around proves that they are really just damaged or polluted from human contact. However, in several areas inside, one can find not only live formations, but beautiful white calcite flows that are as ancient and pure as the ones found in pristine caverns. You might have to look around a bit to find them. There was also at least one rimstone dam pool with clear water surrounded by several columns. Bats were definitely present on the ceiling, barely visible in small patches. Didn't see any in flight. Surprisingly there was little or no guano on the cave floor, and no nasty guano smell either.

Whitewater Rafting at Sg . Kampar

The river component of the program is on Sungai Kampar, one of the only rivers in Peninsular Malaysia where whitewater rafting is viable. This river trip has it all. From the excitement of tackling large rapids, to enjoying the serene beauty of a gentle paddle through lush rainforest, this will be an invigorating day spent at one with nature while learning some challenging skills.
The river journey had plenty of fun rapids to keep you busy, it was a well-chosen route with minimal flats to paddle through. Although recent rains brought questions of safety, the course was well clear and posed no hazards. I was impressed with the extensive safety procedures and pre-trip floating and rope rescue training exercise. Other outfits often do this after or during the trip - it makes more sense to do it right before put-in. There was capsizing incident, but it actually made the rafting a lot more fun, and since we had been briefed on raft safety, no one was alarmed, we just enjoyed the water !

Introduction of 'The Journey'

2008-02-08T21:21:00.000+08:00

Awangku Faizulemari, that's my name. Just created the blog to share some of my memorable moments in my life.

Maybe I start a little bit late in blogging. But better late than never. Plan to create my own blog quite some time ago, but no will power to do it.

Well a lot of things that I would like to posted in my own personal blog, This is especially events, moments and things that directly related to myself. In previous year, 2007, a lot of moments and beautiful experience happens that I will share with the rest the world.

To all who happens to bump in this blog, welcome and hope we could share and benefits from the posting that I made.

However for now, I take a rest and till we meet again.