Forbidden City

Window of The World

Dinner with Friends at Sunway Penang

Here the photo at Sunway Hotel Penang.

:

From left:
Mr Teoh, Mr. Chandran
Ms. Sree, Ms. Goh and me.

Elephant Show in Bangkok Thailand

Journey to my old days - Sek Keb Pendek, Jalan Salor

Here is my first school.
Sekolah Kebangsaan Pendek, Jalan Salor, Kota Bharu.
This is a new look which I took few years back.

In my old days, there was only one single-storey building
with small wooden hut at the backyard.
Now there is new building with a bigger 4-storey block expansion.
Still bordering with rubber estate on the left, right and the back.
Further away from the back of school, there is still a small canal
which used for irrigation purpose. But the water is not too deep
now due to poor maintenance.
In the 70's, we normally spent our time after school by
swimming, skiing and mud-sliding with our hardcore friends
and seniors in this canal. Playing "guli" and "congkak" at the
school backyard. Playing football with the ball made up from
dried rubber molded from the rubber tap. It was much fun
compared with today's gadgets. Kids now spent most of
their lifetime with computer and PS2.

Our village is about a kilometer away from school
and we walked barefooted across the swamp land, rubber estate
and passed through the canal before we reach school. During
rainy season, all our clothes got dirty and wet due to
high tide.Once reached the school, we put on our shoes,
cleaned ourselves and tidy up before joined the class.


Initially I was not enrolled to any school because my mum
was passed away by that time and we had no money.
Even my brothers had to stop schooling half way.
My late father was just a farmer and could not afford to
support all of us. I was adopted few times by other
close relatives. Once by old great uncle then by my late
grandma and lastly by my uncle from my mother side.
Life that time was hard and just enough to support
a very basic daily meals but full of fun.

I was considered lucky as one day, when I was playing
around the school's corridor (as my friend with the same age
were all in the classroom and I got no friend to play with),
one of the teacher called me.
He brought me to the Headmaster and we had a very
long conversation.

Few days later he allowed me in to Standard One
with all the books and stationery provided.
It was already in 2nd term and my first record book
taken from other pupil which left school earlier. Till today
I still remember that teacher's name, Cikgu Jaafar.
I owe him a lot and because of him, I am able to be somebody today.
Thank God.

In the old days, you can make money by helping
others like planting or watering vegetables, tobacco
and harvest in paddy fields even if you are kids.
Planting paddy was not that tough, only that you need
to stand the hot sun and muddy water. There were also
a lots of leeches and water snakes around.
If you are skill enough and hard-work, you can get
RM 1 to 1.20 a day. Your school expenses was only
10 cent per day. You can use the balance for your
books and stationaries.The rest can go to your savings.
But it's depend on the seasons as well.

My secondary school was Sek Men Keb Kota,
Kota Bharu. It was 6 km away toward town.
I used old bicycle to school everyday for 3 years.
Later, I managed to get a good grade in final exam and
was offered to join a boarding school in town.

The rest is a history and life is still going on for GOOD.
Happy Living to all of you too.

Nice view from Ketam Island

Come and visit on your own to appreciate this view.

"Love is in the air" passing thru My Past Journey

Dear friends,
We are getting older by days. Every single day, we travel
through our time and time is passing by without fails.
No matter whether you travel to a very far away
land or be it in short distance to work, your mind could not
do away of feeling missing someone that you love.
Or you are worried something will happen to him,
her or them. You feel that you have not done enough
to show that you love them very much.
This is normally happen to me and might as well you too.
It is a God creation on human being.
You will gain LOVE as much as you give.

And it is getting worse when you are in last quarter of your life.
Love to your family is so much a blessing to compare to other
love. You will feel and enjoy every minute of it. It will shine in
everything you do. it will reflect in your work, it shows in your
tea talk, and will give you sort of happy feeling through your daily routine.
And God has given you a happy family.

Yes there are other loves as well. Love your work, your hobbies,
your friends, etc. Finally try to find God's Love.

image from:
http://www.myspace.com/dom_is_gone
For young people, the feeling of love is sort of temporary.
Their life is full of activities and lots of things to go for. And the
side effect of being failed in love is a learning curve. Then it will
come again and again to tougher up their mind and finally they
are able to claim themselves as a man or woman.

But these younger generations seldom fully understand
the meaning of love and unable to look beyond it.
When they are in love with someone, it is hard to let go.
They devote their whole life to their partner and could not
see the other side of it.

It is good when the relationship last forever. But it does not
apply to all of us. The thing might last in short life span and need
to work out again for a new love. But as people said " Love is blind"
then you will not be able to find way out and this will spoil you.
And God's Love will help.

LOVE IS IN THE AIR (John Paul Young)
Love is in the air
Everywhere I look around
Love is in the air
Every sight and every sound
And I don't know if I'm being foolish
Don't know if I'm being wise
But it's something that I must believe in
And it's there when I look in your eyes
Love is in the air
In the whisper of the trees
Love is in the air
In the thunder of the sea
And I don't know if I'm just dreaming
Don't know if I feel sane
But it's something that I must believe in
And it's there when you call out my name
(Chorus)
Love is in the air
Love is in the air
Oh oh oh
Oh oh oh
Love is in the air
In the rising of the sun
Love is in the air
When the day is nearly done
And I don't know if you're an illusion
Don't know if I see it true
But you're something that I must believe in
And you're there when I reach out for you
Love is in the air
Every sight and every sound
And I don't know if I'm being foolish
Don't know if I'm being wise
But it's something that I must believe in
And it's there when I look in your eyes

----------------------------------

Yes, God's love will last forever.
During My Past Journey, I came accross to
The Meaning of Love as below:-
http://www.themeaningoflove.net/

Wassalam.

Foods in Penang - "Restoran Tepian Sungai"

Whenever you fly to Penang, on the air, your mind
will splash with all kind of "hottest" foods available
awaiting you once you landed.

Yes, "Nasi Kandar Restaurant" is a most popular
spot among local folks and tourists. Every corner
of the state you will find more than one and sometimes
next to each other. Yet it is "full house" with long Q especially
during lunch time.
Some of the names which is very popular among "Nasi Kandar"
Lovers are Pelita, Kayu, Subaidah etc and most of it operates
24 hours.

But I do not want to tell you further as it is a well known
phenomena in Penang.
I would like to bring you to a new food village site.
It is not new among food lovers here. It is on the mainland
of Penang or "Seberang". People in the island call "Seberang"
for Penang mainland.

"Restoran Tepian Sungai" situated on the roadside village
on the way to Kubang Semang if you drive from Permatang Pauh.
Look at the highway signboard above.

Easiest way to drive here is from PLUS highway at Seberang Jaya
Town.  You drive toward BKE Expressway and turn left just
BEFORE the bridge to enter toll gate.
Then turn right under the flyover toward Permatang Pauh.
At T junction traffic light, take left to Kubang Semang.
The place is just 300 meter from here.

It is open daily except Friday.
I advise you to come early around 11 am as by this time the crowd
has not build up yet. By 12 noon, you have to line in long que and might
not find a vacant table to sit.
By 2 to 3 pm, the food is almost finished.


There are a lot of dishes available on self service.
From herbes recipe to hot and spicy curry fish plus
other variety of foods.
From salted fried fish, fried chicken, curry chicken,
"Ayam Kampung", variety of soup mostly curry soup,
veggy, fishball soup, prawn, "sambal belacan, petai, ulam kampung,
pegaga, daun ceylon", etc.

It is not just the food is good, the environment and location of this
place is unique. Under the bamboo trees and next to the small
river that flowing down under. Very cool.
That why its called " Restoran Tepian Sungai",
meaning the restaurant near the river.

I hope that you come personally and you will know
the many taste of it then judge for yourself.
Enjoy eating Malaysian Style.
See you then.

My photo on trip to Zhuhai and Macau

"Welcome to Zhuhai",
read one out of many signboards along the road side
to Zhuhai.
Here are some photos taken during my recent trip to
Zhuhai and Macau. We took ferry ride from Hong Kong
then buses and also by car.

The photo below with a very unique and "rare "car below is taken
from one of my friend's office. It is a very expensive car.

Zhuhai is one of beautiful city situated at Southern China.
Below is a bit of summary from "visitZhuhai" website:-

Zhuhai is situated in the southwest of the Pearl River Delta of Guangdong Province. It faces Hong Kong on the east across the Lingding Ocean, Macau on the south, Xinhui and Taishan on the west, and Zhongshan on the north. It is 150 kilometers away from Guangzhou. Zhuhai has jurisdiction over Xiangzhou District and Doumen County. Its total land area reaches 1,300 square kilometers.

Zhuhai is a garden-like seaside tourist city, where flowers blossom all year round. In 1999, it was granted “International Award for Best Practices in Improving the Living Environment” by United Nations Center for Human Settlement and was the only winner of the award in China. Besides, it won series of titles such as “Top Tourist City of China”, “State Garden Green City”, “State Environmental Protection Model City” and “State Hygienic City”.
From Zhuhai, we travelled to Macau by road along the seaside.
Very nice panaromic view. We stop few places and also having
our lunch at one of Seafood restaurant facing Souh China Sea.
Such a wonderful view to compare with "hazy" view in some part of
Modern China Cities.
Below is the photo taken with some of my Chinese friends.

Here is the excert about Macau from China travel Guide.

The land of Macau when compared with other Chinese metropolises unlike Beijing, Shanghai or Guangzhou is quite small covering an area of just 27.5 square kilometers. The total population Macau is 469,800 of which 95% are Chinese, the remainder being Portuguese and other westerners. 

Macau Flag

The majority resides on the Macau Peninsular where you can find a variety of both Oriental and Western cultural and historical places of interest and all sorts of old buildings that are either European baroque or traditional Chinese in style. The blend of people, culture and history has influences on every aspect of life in the city. A wander around the Macau Peninsular will bring you into a world of antiques and fashion, traditional and modern, as well as tranquility and glitz.

Most travelers who have been to Macau conclude that it is a location suited to both tourism and living as it is a beautiful city with clean streets, gardens and picturesque hilly landscapes. Sunshine, clear air, green lands and all sorts of delicious food all contribute to its many attractions.

My advise to those of you that plan to come here, do not plan a short trip.
You will miss a lot of nice spots. One week is good enough.
Have a nice journey.

Factory Visit in Foshan

Foshan is growing to become and has been one of an Industrial City
in the middle of Southern China. Most of the population here are
working in various industrial factory such as sanitary products, gourment,
toys, electronics, households and buidings material.

I have visited one of the factory related to printed circuit boad (PCB).
The PCB is normally related to every electrical products which use
PCB assemblies as a based to control or process the function of each
product. To a layman, the PCB is invisible as it is built inside and covered
by outer casing. But to the people who are familiar with electronic and
engineering knowhow, the PCB assemblies is considered a brain to any
design and function of each product and gadget.
On this PCBA, you will be able to see how complicated it has been
done and wired internally or externally via PCB to each components
or processors that control it's product and functions.

This is the factory that produce Bare Printed Circuit Board.
Here you are able to see how they process the raw material
by each step until the final process of finish good that called
Bare Board.  Single layer, double layer or multiple layer board.
Silver plating, gold plating, Imersion Gold and etc.
Yes, it is just only the bare board without any electrical component
put on it. There are other companies that will use this board
to put electonics component onto it depending on kind of
products they are going to make. TV, handphone, toys, robot,
Ipod, computers, car, plane, aircraft, shinkansen, or games.
Every single product need to have a PCB.

Once you have visited this factory, you will be able to
imagine the meaning of each step and process done.
It is a kind of very high tech and advance processes
and required a basic electronic and technical knowledge
for you to understand on what they are doing.

You will also be able appreciate the skill and advance
level of each worker in handling various type of machines
and equipment available today in China.
No wonder people say that everything on earth is able
to be built in China.

It is such as an eye opener and I am wonder what will ever
be a new high tech gadget will come out of it in the next
10 or 20 years to come.
Have you see the movie title "Iron Man".? Yes we alone
can fly to outer space.

Till next time.......
see you soon.

Welcome to KOTA BHARU. Islamic Capital city of KELANTAN

Dear friends all over,

I would like to invite you all to my capital city, Kota Bharu.
Situated in a very harmonius country of Malaysia.
Kota Bharu is a very quite city in northern state of Peninsular Malaysia.

The Kelantan state has a very unique and traditional culture
with varieties of food to enjoy. This is so when you arrive
at Pasar Siti Khadijah in the city centre.
There are also many other cities in the state such as Pasir Mas,
Tanah Merah and further south is Gua Musang.

Here you will find a lot of unfamiliar cookies and many types
of food to suite your taste.
The wet cookies or dessert and 'kueh-mueh" have mostly very sweet taste.
You can enjoy it at any time either in the morning, afternoon or at night.
All these "kueh" can last for 2 to 3 days.

Those of you that enjoyed a curry food, you will find it much
different flavour to compare with Indian curry.
They use a lot of coconut in the cooking to give it a thick curry
and produce a very nice aroma.
It is not so hot and will not spoilt your stomach for those
that not used to hot food.

You are only able to judge it once you have a taste.

So, please do not wait.
Book your flight ticket now and come to Kota Bharu.
Your arrival will be greeted in a most friendly inviroments.
Have a nice stay.