About one a half weeks ago, I was restless in the office and thought I should be on a holiday with my family during the school break. So…. after some googling and MSN chats with similarly holiday-deprived friends, I booked myself 4 days in Swiss Garden in Kuantan. And after a busy week of work, Thursday came. Didn’t do much research, except some googling, with my printout of wikitravel.org on Kuantan and a full tank of gas (not to mention my family, too) so began my little short road trip eastwards. First stop, lunch on Thursday. To be frank before last week i hadn’t even heard of Sri Jaya town…

Most of us have bombarded with images of the Tokyo earthquake / tsunami and its aftermath, either through the papers or online. Personally I don’t most Malaysians have fully come to grasp with the magnitude of the disaster and its long term impact on Japan’s economy and environment, let alone the lives of millions of their citizens. But anyway, that isn’t what I’m going to talk about today. I’ve seen many photos posted up via Digg this past week, most of them devastating to say the least. But the one photo that really stuck to my mind is a positive one – it speaks to me how cultured and matured…

Yep I’ve been bitten by the Android fever since I got my new Samsung Galaxy S. I briefly flirted with the idea of getting the iPhone 4, until i found out there’s a 2 month waiting to period to get one. Anyways now when i compare the Galaxy S side by side with an iPhone 4, I really have no regrets on my decision. Having a smartphone (so how do I call all the other phones? Dumbphones?) is cool, but the thing that makes it all the much cooler are the apps. I’ve been testing lots of app these past few weeks (thanks to the pan mee shop near my…

I’m watching the super-long series “Three Kingdoms” on DVD, currently also showing on Astro on Demand. There are 95 episodes (yes, NINETY FIVE) and I’ve only passed episode 13 so its a long, long, long way to go. I’d thought I would have given up after 1 or 2 episodes since my Mandarin (listening and speaking) is rudimentary at best, but actually the series isn’t so difficult to follow. Of course, I definitely need to pay close attention and have the Chinese dictionary on standby on my Android phone (this awesome app). And after every episode I usually have to go online to read up a little on the story…

It’s been awhile since I’ve been here, was back in Ipoh for 3 days for my father-in-law’s funeral. During CNY in Ipoh, I went looking for a cendol guy who purportedly makes the best stuff in town. Finding him was a little difficult, though, I had only sketchy instructions like ‘just before the Padang Kilat in Pasir Pinji’. If you’ve been to Pasir Pinji in Ipoh, you’d know there are many roads with even more stalls everywhere. Finally found him matching the description. Yes, his stall is located under a tree in front of a row of homes, just before the Padang Kilat. An old blue tricycle cart, a few…

Happy Birthday, everyone. I’m actually on medical leave today, the cough and sore throat i’ve had over a month has finally caught with me this morning. Anyways it was a pretty subdued CNY for us, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. The weather was cool (for once!) As usual we took our time to taste some of the famous foodstuff around the city, mostly through recommendations. It was a bonus that we were in Ipoh one week before New Year, everyone was still full swing in business. This is one of the best kaya puffs I’ve ever tried. My brother in law says the lady boss was very arrogant, but she…

First i got to thank my good friend Pat for introducing me to Ian McEwan. I’ve read somewhere that he’s been recently described as one of the greatest living British writers, and although i don’t read that many British authors, I’ve got to agree with that. I’ve to add cheekily that I do not own ANY of his book, all of the ones I’ve read have been mooched off Pat 🙂 It all started with Atonement, probably his most popular work. I’ve loved it, and wrote a piece about it. Then came On Chesil Beach, a tiny little book of about 100 pages. I think it took me less than…

“I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die.”

So let me be honest. I didn’t know much about City Harvest Church KL in Bandar Sunway before this, except that it was made up of mostly college-age and young adults. But after spending two long nights there on Tuesday and Wednesday, I was very impressed and touched by the vibrancy and hospitality extended by them. (did you SEE the disco ball?) The reason i was there was ACT-Asia brought Rev. Dr. Ron Choong to speak to them on two special topics: Philosophy in Christian Doctrines (Tuesday night) then Science and God (Wed night). For those of you who missed it, well, all I can say is it was REALLY…

So 2010 is coming to an end tomorrow (which by the way is also a holiday, thanks to the awesome Malaysian football team). Its time for me to look back to the year (for past years see 2009 and 2008). This has been a very busy and eventful year to say the least, so summarizing this to 8 or 9 points was a little difficult so here goes. Bali As always, spending quality with family is my priority, and this year we did quite a few short holidays. But this was the major family outing, and it was thoroughly enjoyable. Good food, fantastic sights, cheap shopping, hot weather. (Travelogue can…