A bird's eye view

Kuala Lumpur from Maju Junction

Johor Baru from Hotel Selesa

Kluang from Hotel ......
Melaka from Equatorial Hotel

Just rumbling ....

Been doing nothing much over the holidays. Just hang around the house while keeping track on all the happenings around the world. Soon it will be back to the routine. Meanwhile, one story that is still waiting for an answer is the mysterious car accident of Tiger Wood. Wonder what's the 'real' story behind it? The All Blacks completed their European tour unbeaten, France being the latest victim. Back home, the MCA factions seem as far apart as ever. As for me, looking forward to December where I planned on taking a long long holiday.

World markets spooked

Contrary to what most people thought, its not petrol money that funded Dubai aggressive development. Its foreign fund. Thus, when the whole world went through economic meltdown, Dubai couldn't escape either. It had to come sooner or later. Yesterday, the European markets tumbled. Then the Asian markets followed. Tonight, the Dow Jones is already down more than 200 points since opening a few minutes ago. This is real bad. Just when we thought the bears have disappeared..... for good. Just don't know what will come next!

Beckham has asthma

I could hardly believed it when reading the story but the accompanying photo says it all. The world most famous footballer has asthma and has been having it since small but that didn't stop him from becoming a proffesional footballer and playing the game at the highest level possible. An inspiring story to say the least.

Markets tumbled on Dubai worry

Markets across Europe tumbled last night on news that Dubai World, the government owned company has asked for a six months extension on a repayment which is due. This development is causing a lot of jittery across banks in Europe who naturally worry about getting back their money. After six years of rapid and massive development built on foreign capital and giant constructions, the world is crashing down on Dubai. Property prices it seems has spiral down by 50%. Stories abound on expatriates leaving as projects stalled. Dubai is hard hit by the financial meltdown and is struggling to cope.

Aidil Adha - Wishing all the best

Wishing Muslims all over the world Happy Aidil Adha. May our little sacrifices be accepted by God Almighty. While celebrating it back home, don't forget our fellow Muslims in Mekah performing the Haj.

Arafah

Hari Raya Aidil Adha is coming soon. Over in Mekah, the atmosphere must be electrifying. Everybody is getting ready for the big move to Arafah come the big day. As it gets nearer and nearer, I can't help but remember the time when I was also one of the millions in Mekah preparing for the day. Twice in fact.
Will I ever set foot in Mekah again? Insha Allah.

That will be the day

Lee Westwood became Euro numero uno by winning the Dubai Golf challenge. This came nine years after first becoming Euro number one in 2000. With the win he also recieved a paycheck of about 1.6 million euro or about 7 million RM. Wow! All that money! Wonder what is he going to do with it? I wait the day when one of our golfers achieved it. That will be the day.........

Fighting cholesterol

After a break of almost three weeks because of the rain and later my bad back, I went jogging again yesterday. What a surprised! I was able to finish the course as if I had never taken a break. The time it took was also about the same. Half an hour. Looks like next time I will have to set a new target. Run further and faster.

Monday blues once more

Tomorrow it will be Monday once more and tonight I am already feeling the blues. Nowadays, I find the two days of weekend is just too short. Even before I can begin to enjoy it, it's already Sunday in the evening and that means it's back to the grind tomorrow early in the morning. How I wish I ................................

The hand that saved France

All it needed was a split second of instinct (that's what he claimed) and a whole life of achievement is stained. Forever he will be remembered for the hand that guided France into the World Cup 2010. No matter the many hours of enjoyment that he has given us and will continue to give us, it will be the hand that he will be most remembered for. I can say for sure it will be shown repeatedly for many many years to come.
Remember the disputed England goal in the 1966 World cup final?

A different kind of magic

Just saw Cyril 'simply magic' show on Astro. That guy is amazing! He defies logic more than any other. A brain teaser. Just cannot believe some of the thing he does!

Playing with mirrors

World Cup 2010 South African

Finally all the World Cup qualifiers have been decided. Although most went according to script there are some surprises as well. Slovenia, a nation of less than 2 million people beat mighty Russia in the playoff. Algeria defeated Egypt, the Africa champion. France almost didn't make it but for the hand of Thierry Henry.

High heel and bad back (2)

That's the height of the sandal that got my back all screwed up. Only about an inch. Imagine those ladies wearing shoes with heel height of 4-5 inches. Must have superhuman back.

Making it to Rugby, Soccer and Hockey World Cups

My wife and son just came back from a holiday in New Zealand. They were there for thirteen days. During that time, the New Zealand All Blacks were touring Europe. As we all know, they are the favourites at the next Rugby World cup in 2010. Meanwhile, the New Zealand All Whites (their football team) qualified for the Soccer World Cup beating Bahrain 1-0 in their final qualifying match. At about the same time, their hockey team qualified for the Hockey World Cup, beating Malaysia 2-1 in the final match. What a great time for New Zealand, a country of less than four million people!

High heels and back pain

I bought this sandal with a heel that is about an inch high just before the last raya. Last Friday I was at the airport, then on Saturday I went to Ikea and on Sunday I went to Houzt. That means three days in a row I was wearing the sandal and was walking a lot. By the third day, that is Sunday, my back couldn't take it anymore. I felt pain and it was unbearable! I swear I'II never touch that sandal again. Makes me wonder how the ladies can do it....wearing shoes with heels sometimes up to four inches high! Don't they feel the pain?

A child prodigy come good

Enough talk about nuclear. Let's talk about something else. The big news today, at least in the sporting world, is about Michelle Wie finally breaking through and winning a tournament. For a while I thought she might end up like that talented tennis player who was a such a hit with the media and fans but never won a singles title in her career. Now that she has got the monkey of her back, hopefully she will go on and achieved more great things in her career.

More nuclear facts

Up till march 2008, there are 439 nuclear power reactors in the world while 35 more are being built. 17 % of world electricity power is being supplied by nuclear. In Asia, Japan has the most with 55 nuclear power reactors. 78 % of France electrical power comes from nuclear.
These are some of the startling facts about nuclear power that many are not aware of!

Are we ready for nuclear?

I'm attending the seminar above. Should we go for nuclear? There are definitely some who think we should and some who think we shouldn't. Given what are available now i.e. coal, gas, hydro, combined cycle, renewal energy, I think we have no option but to have to seriously think about going nuclear someday. And that someday is about now simply because of the time (15-20 years) needed to built a nuclear power plant.

Warren Buffet has done it again!

By getting in when people are getting out, his investment company, Berkshire Hathaway, has tripled their third quarter profit to US 3.2 billion dollars compared to US 1.1 billion dollars a year ago. The strategy is simple.... go in when people are going out! We all know that but how many of us can be disciplined enough to follow it through. Didn't we all ran away together with the crowd when the market was down. We should have stayed... no.. not only stayed but invested more. Anyway, its all under the bridge now...sigh!

The beginning of the internet

Do you know that the internet was first known as Arpanet. That was way back in Oct 1969 when a Prof Leonard Klienrock from the University of California, Los Angeles led a team that got a computer from UCLA to talk to another computer, in a research project for Arpanet with money from a research arm of the US military's Advanced Research Projects Agency (Arpa). That was the beginning of what we all know now as the internet. In the forty years since, who would have envisaged the internet as it is now? Facebook, You Tube, Twitter etc. etc.
In 1969, I was only 13 years old. Computers were something from outer space!

The rain is back

Its the rainy season and floods are already happening in the east coast. Over here in KL, the rain is also coming down hard. Everyday it rains. Can't even do my usual jogging in the evening! However, one thing good about the rain is that up keeping of my plants is done naturally!

Negri it is!

For all their support, for all their passion, for all their enthusiasm, for all their shouting, they could not will their team to win the cup. I saw the match and was a bit disappointed with their play. Not willing to hold the ball long enough, kicking the ball aimlessly upwards that inevitably ended nowhere and forwards not getting enough supply from the midfield, that was the whole story with the Kelantan team last night.
Anyway, there's always another year!

The Berlin Wall

I visited the infamous Berlin Wall only once in my life, way back in 1982. What an unpleasant view it was, running right through Berlin city. There were tours arranged for those who wanted to see what it was like on the the other side of the wall, the old East Germany, but there's nothing much to see. Everything was arranged and controlled. Seven years later, I remember eagerly reading the papers, watching TV and listening to the radio when the demonstrations were at its peak. It was only a matter of time! Sure enough, on 9 Nov 1989, it finally came down.

Kelantan for the cup!

Kelantan to win the cup. With Indra Putra and Khalid Jamlus leading the pack, Kelantan will finally take home the cup for the first time this Saturday. That's my bold prediction!

Finding a Malaysian champion

Tiger Woods is in China at the moment and doing what he does best, playing golf and shooting a 67 as an opener. That put him three strokes behind the leader at 64. I scrolled down the the list, hoping to find a Malaysian player somewhere in the list but there were none. Don't know if any of them took part in this tournament but every time an Asian tour tournament or a tournament in Asia is ongoing, I will definitely scrutinised the scoreboard, hoping to see a Malaysian player somewhere at the top of the list. Unfortunately, I always ended up disapointed. Most of the time they will missed the cut. Wins are few and far between. Danny Chia, Airil Rizman and Ben Leong all won once on the tour. Ben Leong was the latest to win but since then he has been struggling! Really a sad state of affair for Malaysian golf.

Monsoon wind in the Philippines

Peaceful scene at Pangkor Island

Monsoon wind in the Philippines can be real nasty. Many years ago I was in Manila and experienced just what its like to be in the path of a raging wind. On the day we were supposed to leave Manila for KL, the wind decided to blow, very very strong. Walking towards the airport after leaving the taxi, the wind was virtually pushing me on. I had no control over the speed of my walk. The wind pushed me such that I was running, against my will. Luckily it was only a short distance and I made it safely into the airport.
Nevertheless, because of the wind and the rain, the plane couldn't leave and we had to stay overnight at the airport.

The never ending saga

It seems that MCA has been doing a lot of running lately but unfortunately its running on the spot and when you're running on the spot, you get nowhere! Know what I mean?

Dr Asri and Pak Hamka

The arrest or non arrest of Dr Asri has really got me stumped. Cannot for the life of me understand why he need to be arrested and the next day, treated the way he was! I am not exactly a fan of his but surely a scholar of his stature will not be spreading false teachings.
By the way I find that his views on Islam is very much similar to that of my guru, Pak Hamka.