Good Business!

When you have just sold 14 new E200 Kompressor to the government, you are guaranteed profit!

Read it here!

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Blue chips extended their gains in early trade Thursday in line with firmer regional markets while Cycle & Carriage Bintang (CCB) surged after proposing RM1.40 in dividends per share.

**

Travel Log - Barcelona (Sights)

These are some of the photos during my trip

The hotel I was staying in

How you hitch a ride in Barcelona

I was there during the Easter week

I was in Nou Camp!!! Even though I am not a football fan, the stadium was awesome.

The Barcelona football team in training!! All the visitors was screaming hysterically when they saw the 3 guys approaching but I have no idea who they were :P

Travel log - Barcelona (Food)

Back in March 2008, I was in Barcelona for the duration of 3 weeks for training, I have tried quite some of the food there but I didn't actually take too many photos of them.

Generally the food in Barcelona is very fresh, the fruits & seafood there are fantastic! However the people there don't really drink milk and it's hard to find fresh milk to be sold anywhere. What I normally got was heated carton milk in the hotel buffet breakfast.

This was one of the best ice cream I have ever tasted, I don't remember the name of the shop though.

The KFC tastes twice as good as the ones you can get in Malaysia!

Fat juicy strawberry that was the size of my palm!

Not forgetting the oranges, apples and grapes that were so crunchy and sweet! The fresh produces that you can get in Barcelona are simply fantastic!

Last but not least, you must try the local champagne that is known as Cava -> not that it is only cheap, it's very very good as well.

Well, I will be returning to Barcelona this coming October and I will definitely explore more of the local delicacies. More of the payaya and tapas this time.

Bon Odori 2008 - Part 2

This is a continuation of my previous post.

Here are some of the photos taken by myself from my oh-so-outdated Canon A520 Powershot. Yes yes... so many of my friends are nagging me to get a DSLR.. they're trying to "poison" my mind :P

The reluctant models (so many people were grabbing these 2 kids for photos)

Waiting for the start of the dance

First ondo

Ultra"wo"men!

Dee's Jelly

Baby Dee took some time to make these yummy pandan rose jelly. I still have 2 tupperwares full of them in the fridge :D



Taken under warm light

Chloe the Naughty & Margaret the Baby

Quite a few people have asked for Chloe picture, so here you go!



The sleepy head



Here is the elder sister, Margaret

The Three Stooges

18SX - No Pun Intended

Well, the artist is none other than Ganny the Bunny.

It's only a joke that the Baboon, myself and Ganny could understand.

Sterilize!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wat-te-ver Daily Awards - 21 July 2008

This news certainly deserves the Daily Wat-te-ver Awards - read here.

Our dear MBs from Terengganu have just gotten themselves 14 new Mercedes E200k for RM3.43 mil as their new rides!!!

**Mentri Besar Datuk Ahmad Said said the state government had planned to purchase the cars for a long time now to replace its Proton Perdana V6 Executive fleet in a move to cut cost.

“Please understand that the Proton Perdanas go through continuous long-distance journeys. It’s costing us a lot of money due to high cost of maintenance.**

In a move to cut cost? Wow, I never know that buying a Mercedes is a long term investment that could save so much money that it will worth the investment as compare to owning a Perdana V6!! I think I should go out and get myself a E200k this weekend, since I am actually considering buying a new car.

**Ahmad cited the example of the Proton Perdana of state Commerce, Industry and Environment committee chairman Toh Chin Yaw, which has twice undergone expensive repairs costing RM50,000 within 36 months.

“In the long run, Mercedes cars are cheaper to maintain and could also save us fuel costs.

“This is the state’s long-term plan – we are farsighted. The cars could also fetch a high market price, when sold as second-hand cars.

“
We studied all angles before deciding to buy the Mercedes E200 cars,” he added.**

Repair costing Rm50k within 3 years? Man, our dear MBs and state excos must be some rally drivers in disguise, maybe they drift their cars to their destinations as well. You know, arriving at some opening ceremonies in style! With tyres screeching & smoking to mark their grand entrance!

We have studied all angles, hrmm.. have you studied the possibility of buying Toyota instead? Or Perodua? No no no.. Mercedes is cheaper! Darn it.. it's the cheapest car to maintain in the long run and doesn't matter it cost RM3.43 millions. You haven't heard of INVESTING FOR THE FUTURE?? You know, you actually GAIN from all the savings from fuel and maintenance.

Mental "Roadblocks"

10 out of 10 people that I have spoken to, are very frustrated with all the on-going roadblocks around the KL city & Klang valley. If this is the idea of the police force and politicians to intimidate the general public, I must say they have failed miserably.

As the political saga unfold, the general public is reprimanded with ridiculous delay to their daily routines with all the "just-for-show" roadblocks. If this is allowed to continue for another week, it will only further upset the general public. The police defended their decisions and was even supported by the lame head PM as those road blocks were necessary to maintain LAW AND ORDER in the country. Well, all I can see is unjustified & unlawful decision to create so much CHAOS to the general public. Baboon said it well in his monkey rants here.

From my personal experience today, I needed to pass 2 roadblocks on my way to work and an usual 15 minutes drive has been unnecessary lengthened to 45 minutes. That is a 200% increase on my total travelling time! On those said roadblocks, the policemen(women) were just waving the cars to move forward, without showing the slightest interest on the drivers or passengers. Yes, to me they are the mere puppets that were forced to stand on duty.

Seriously, our politicians have serious mental roadblocks when coming to decide anything in the public interest for safety. Malaysia will continue to be the laughing stock of the other nations while we scare away all the foreign investors and also bring the whole KL city business to a complete standstill in the name of law & order.

Anwar vs Shabery

I was watching the much anticipated debate between Anwar Ibrahim & Shabery (the new Msia misinformation minister) last night. I must say that Anwar scored a very critical political point last night, after almost 10 years away from the mainstream TV, he carried himself very well infront of the viewers, he also came prepared with credible facts and suggestions to alleviate the fuel hike situation in Malaysia. To simply put it, he has substance to his speech and he is believable. However I do not think that it will assist him much in his quest of becoming the 5th PM of Malaysia.

Shabery was simply disappointing. He resorted to personal attack on Anwar and didn't come prepared with credible facts and suggestions to enlighten us idiotic people on how the current ruling government is prepared to ease the surging inflation in this country. He came with lots of historical facts though, to which I am not interested as the past is the PAST! Show me the future but he failed miserably. The simple message from him was, the government has no choice so you people shut up go back to your miserable life and change your lifestyles! Nevermind we're being compared to Norway which has almost 5 times our per capita income. Carrying the title of INFORMATION MINISTER, he is the worst listener in the debate and he failed to stick to the theme and to answer some simple questions thrown at him.

I am even more disappointed with the way of how mainstream medias have been reporting this. They declared it a draw??!!?? Come on, that is equivalent to daylight robbery. Please give more credits to your readers as we have watched the same telecast last night and we saw what happened!

State controlled medias, biased reporting, screwed judicial system, corrupted police force, cronies government servants........ the list goes on and on. Some how, I wonder if there's still sufficient time for things to change, but I must admit that it looks bleak.... the country looks pretty certain to be screwed unless a miracle happens in the political scene soon.

I can only say that the ruling party is continuing living in a state of denial. There's so much things to do yet there are not many arses moving. I used to be very optimistic about the future of this country, but nowadays I find myself thinking of migrating to other countries more frequently. Being an Aussie's PR still beat being a Malaysia citizen, this is the level of confidence I have with the current administration now.

Baboon quoted me in his blog today - "Different angles to look at things, but you're still f**ked from all angles"

Bon Odori 2008 - 12th July 2008

This was where the event was held :

Ganny the bunny asked me and baboon last friday whether we want to check out some japanese chicks, so we naturally said yes and we brought along our wives on that day (many of you may go.. wat?? u brought ur wife along to check out chicks? Yes, we did... our wives tagged along to make sure that we uphold certain standards in the chicks checking process :P)

The desparate ape & the horny bunny with myself :

It was an interesting experience, on such rare occassion you get to see so many Japanese and Japanese wannabe dressed up in kimonos and other japanese costumes - yeah.. you gotta check this bunny out. Ganny was kinda cranky as this bunny has stole the bunny of the year award from himself! Btw, that's the link to the baboon website.. make sure you check it out his various monkey rants as well.

The stadium was really packed, there were practically hundreds of people lining up at the various food counters for overpriced sushis and japanese snacks that you could very well find from the Jusco & Isetan outlets. We had some Japanese ice cream which were pretty nice, but nothing to shout about.

The evening proceeding started right on time. Yes, Japanese are a punctual bunch! A short speech was given and the dance performance were started. There were some drummers and dancers dressed up in kimonos on the center stage where they performed 3 "ondo"s and the crowd formed a huge circle around the stage and followed the dance. It was really interesting to see so many people just dancing along. Check out the crowd!

(Picture borrowed from Baboon-wanksWerks)

Update : You gotta see this from Bunny!! Hahahahaa

Sorry Ganny, the most talented bunny of the year award still belongs to YOU!!

You may read more about the festival here.

I am a locksmith today

This morning, I received a call @ 7.00 am from my staff, that the door entry system in the office is faulty and they couldn't get into the office. Being a regional IT helpdesk, this is a serious problem as we're contractually bound to deliver the services from 0700 - 2000, 7 days a week & 365 days a year. Even though I have been working for the past 8 years, none of those years have prepared me for a situation like this. I was kinda dumbfounded... like.. harr... yes.... hrmm... geeeee.....

I forced myself out of the bed, quickly got ready and rushed out of the house (not before I kiss my wife good morning and said sorry to her for not being able to send her to work), and armed with some "ka chang", I arrived at the office as a lock smith. Btw, it was crazy traffic this morning, due to our beloved Bolehland politicians and policemen... I am sure many will concur on this.. it was really mad mad traffic jams, I was lucky that I got out of the house at 7.20am and reached the office in 30 minutes, a lot of my staffs were caught in the jam for hours! Anyway, I am not going to write more about the situation as the political dramas in Bolehland is just getting so ridiculous to the point that it doesn't warrant my time to blog about it.

It was too early, maintenance ppl of the office building have yet to arrive, and I do not have the contact number of the company that has installed the system. Hence, I was forced to act on the situation. Armed with a crowbar and a screwdriver, I started dismantling the magnetic point and after an hour, I managed to force the glass doors open! Phew.. lucky for me nothing was broken in the process and we manage to resume our services with minimal disruptions.

What the ???

Can things in Bolehland gets even more ridiculous?? Yes, it just did!!

Read here!

A report was lodged against fellow officers for not distributing bribes fairly?!!?? wat-te-ver......

We have a BABY!!

Sorry to disappoint some of my friends that are reading this blog -> NO, my wife is not pregnant. Actually, we have recently purchased a little puppy maltese, and her name is Chloe (yes, it's a human name, some of you opposed saying that I should reserved this name for my actual children next time, sorry.. it doesn't work that way because I treat my pets as part of the family)

Chloe is the second addition to our family. Margaret, our 4 years old guinea pig was the first (yup, both of them got along pretty well) :D She's a mischievous little rascal but we love her very much.

She's born on the 6th of February 2008 and she's just celebrated her 5th month birthday.

Chloe is now grounded in her room because she has just broken out this afternoon and had a feast on the whole package of dried dog food. On top of that, she has left us landmines all over the house!! I have scolded her and now she's left to "reflect" her own doings in her room.

Having a puppy is pretty fun, however it could get really stressful when the puppy is misbehaving and creating havoc around the house. We're lucky than she has been a pretty good girl so far other than the occasional mischevious stunts that she tries to pull.

Reliable Online Tickets Agent?

I have been looking at the prices of air tickets to Spain since last week and I have yet to make any actual booking yet.

Generally I can purchase the ticket directly from the airlines, through a local travelling agency or an online agency. Prices range from USD 1350 - 2000 depending on the chosen method of purchase. So far, the cheapest airline that fly to Barcelona, Spain from KLIA is only KLM. Well, honestly I am not too keen on flying with KLM again as they're the most boring flights that I have taken so far. Although the services are quite good and the food is pretty delicious.

Buying from a local travelling agency is the most expensive so far and it costs me almost USD 600 more totalling at USD 2000 for the round ticket.

Buying directly from KLM is very reasonable at USD 1400.

Buying directly from online agent (Expedia.com) is cheapest at USD1350. The downside is I have read quite some complaints about expedia.com services and not sure if it's the wisest choice to buy from them.

I think the best option is to go direct to KLM for the peace of mind and I will be able to earn the frequent flyer miles as well.

What do you think?

Official Lauch - Peugeot 407

Check out the specifications of the car here!

I am still thinking of whether I want to attend the function tonight... sigh.. fickled minded me.....

To buy or to hold??

I have been wanting to get myself a new car, it's something that I have shelved a year ago due to the new house that we've bought. Yea.. having your own place and furnishing it could really burn a hole in your pocket.

Anyway, since then I have made considerably progress in my career and of course my bank account and since the begining of 2008 I have been toying with the idea of getting myself a new ride. I have tested quite a few new cars in the market and now I am pretty much settled with these 2 choices - the sleek looking Peugeot 407 or the reliable "New" Toyota Altis. Personally I really love the look at the Pug 407 and the long list of equipments that comes with it. The Pug 407 that I am considering is a new CKD version with the price tag of 135k. The car will be officially launched on 9th July 2008, this coming Wednesday. I have been invited to the launch event but I do not know if I want to attend it now. The problem is again with.... our dear F**KING government.. opss... sorry for the obscenity here but I am really pissed.

If you have read my previous two very impromtu "political" posts, you can pretty much tell that I am not at the most optimistic front about the current political landscape of Msia and the development of it worries me. Simple, instability = unpredictability. Buying a car in Msia is a huge commitment and it's a liability rather than an asset. I am just not ready to make that commitment as I can almost smell huge changes in the country in the coming few months.. maybe it will be wiser for me to just stick with my trusty old Nissan Sunny for now and see how the year will end before considering it again.

Wake up! Wake Up!!!

With all the dramas that is going on in the Msia political stage right now, the way our dear sleepy PM comments on the dramas could be really disappointing -> here

“My main priority is to pay attention to important issues like the rising prices of fuel and goods, and to continue with the development programmes for the people,” he said. -> Are you sure?? You're not sleeping on the job eh? Seriously I have not seen much improvements going into the development of the country. I do not feel that there's less corruption in the government departments & agencies, I still need to pay a hefty sum of "under-table" money to get my foreign skilled workers visa done... so where's the improvements eh? Are you talking in your sleep now Mr. PM?

"I hope the people will join me in focusing on efforts to overcome all the problems and challenges faced today so that we can ensure peace, security and prosperity for the people,” he added. -> Efforts.. what efforts? Where's the plan for the efforts you're talking about? Can't HEAR YOU! Yes, it's very effortless for you to fly around in your private jets to pretend that you're working. Do something already.. you wanna tackle the challenges in the country? Pick one up now and really work on it, not harping on it and hoping the people will forget about it later.

“The general election is over. The people have already given their trust to the political parties of their choice. The people have chosen Barisan Nasional to continue to rule. -> Yes, the general election is over and I am generally very disappointed with how things are progressing. I think the country is degressing since March 8. Maybe you're not sleeping on the job anymore with all these "back"stage events taking place.... but you're still pretty much SLUMBER on your job only.. understand.. SLUMBER LAR YOU! wat-te-ver.......

Best Screenplay Adaptation

Well, I am not going to blog about some movies that I have watched... rather this is regarding the political scenes of Malaysia at the present moment.

Seriously, somebody ought to produce a drama or movie about Malaysian political saga. All the essential elements for a blockbuster is there.. sex, lies... perverted sex.. and more lies.. and it definitely will have an "EXPLOSIVE" ending! C "4" yourself here and here. I think the movie will certainly put Malaysia on the map as the movie will surely win couple of Oscars!

The future certainly looks bleak as the country is being managed by some Mollywood wannabes that crave nothing more than a few moments of glory on the front page of a newspaper.