CNY 2009 Lion Dance

January 28th, 2009 at 23:10 · Filed Under At Home, Blogging, Chinese, Days in My Life, Holidays · Comment 

Last year, I took quite an amount of photographs without video. This year, I decided to take video and photographs to make some DVD home movie for the family. The video was actually taken by my niece, Lilian. Not bad for her first time taking video. Here’s a digest version of the vIdeo I made for my blog. Pay attention to the way the lion played with the firecrackers. Dangerous though, but never see this in the southern part.

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A good head start

January 1st, 2009 at 23:46 · Filed Under At Home, At Work, Call Me a Geek, Computing, Days in My Life, Hacking, Holidays, Mac OS X · Comment 

Happy New Year 2009 buddies!

It seems like a good head start for me. Everything I planned for today seems to be smooth sailing although I am having one problem which I do not know why it happens. I guess I will need to toy with it and/or hack it to learn why it isn’t behaving as it supposed to be. If everything is running perfect before end of this month, I will acquire an iPod Touch to proceed further. This will be my first wish on this very first day of 2009.

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Kids’ first karaoke

December 28th, 2008 at 11:25 · Filed Under At Play, Days in My Life, Dietrich, Dmitry, Dominik, Eating Out, Family, Holidays, Petaling Jaya · Comment 

We were invited by LA’s sister and her husband to Su-Ann’s be-lated birthday celebration. We embarked to PJ around 1100 yesterday and arrived at her brother’s house around 1400. Almost all of LA’s family members were there. We had some light food for lunch then took a rest.

We headed to Neway Karaoke Box in One Utama at 1700. The karaoke box was huge. The lounge was big enough to fit in all 20+ of us. It was a buffet dinner with free karaoke. The food was very nice and everyone was enjoying and had a full tummy.

As for our boys, this was their new experience, a new one. They had no idea what karaoke was about. Dmitry was really enjoying singing with his cousins. He sang Beauty and the Beast and Reflection (theme song in Mulan). I would say not bad at all at his age. He could recognize all the words in the lyrics. He was good comparing to his old daddy. Ha.. ha..

Dietrich joined him for a few kid’s songs. Dominik roaming around and having fun with all sort of food. He really enjoyed the food and the noises there.

We left for Melaka at 2245 and touched base at 0115. The kids were soundly asleep after a fun karaoke and tummy filling buffet session.

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A relaxing Christmas at home

December 25th, 2008 at 23:11 · Filed Under At Home, Days in My Life, Family, Holidays · Comment 

First, we wish all our family, friends and readers a Merry Christmas.

We decided to stay home this Christmas. The main reason was recession and heavy traffic everywhere. The price of petrol had fallen to RM1.80 per litter causing everyone to start taking to the roads with this more affordable price. Our petrol consumption has become even lower because of the cheaper price and the driving habit we picked up after the price hike a few months back. We planned our outings and routes so that we hit the roads less often.

On Sunday night, we went to the Portuguese Settlement to see Christmas decoration. Nothing unusual, same as it is every year, but for the fun of the kids. It was a four days before Christmas and the traffic there already built up. Some silly-no-brain drivers were part of the cause of the traffic jam in the settlement.

We spent whole day watching movies and listening to Christmas carols at home. What a relaxing Christmas.

Oh yea! My wishes this time… you know, don’t you?

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Happy Diwali and a great start for Richie

October 28th, 2008 at 23:05 · Filed Under At Home, Blogging, Days in My Life, Dietrich, Dmitry, Dominik, Family, Holidays · 2 Comments 

First, our warm wishes to all our Indian friends a very Happy Diwali. Nothing special over the weekend and on the Diwali itself yesterday. Except we watched a Hindi movie, “Om Shanti Om”, on Sunday night. Yesterday, we visited Dmitry’s classmate and her parents who were celebrating Diwali. At night, we watched a Tamil movie, titled “BOSS”.

Today? Richie went to school for the first time to get him familiar with schooling life so that he can accustom easily when he starts his school officially next year. It was quiet at home with only LA, Nik and I. Nik was able to enjoy quiet moments without Richie bullying or disturbing him.

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Bukit Bendera

March 13th, 2008 at 21:51 · Filed Under Holidays, Malaysia, Penang, Photography, Scenery · 1 Comment 

Bukit Bendera or Penang Hill is one of the famous tourist spot. The weather is cooler up there. We took the 2:00PM funicular train up the hill. Single trip takes about half an hour to reach the top. It was the first time for my kids and I to go up the hill. The first time I visited Penang about 30 years (and the last time was about 10 years) ago I did not go to Penang Hill due to some reasons I could not remember. It has got great views along the track and on top of the hill. I recommend to go Penang Hill off peak season when the funicular train is not packed by tourists, otherwise it will be a humid and uneasy experience especially with younger children.

At about 410 meters above sea level, the weather is cooler but no cooler than Fraser Hill. The visibility is not good, indicates pollution on the island. Here you can see the Penang Bridge and Komtar.

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Pulau Tikus

March 13th, 2008 at 21:50 · Filed Under Buddhism, Holidays, Malaysia, Penang, Photography, Scenery · Comment 

Pulau Tikus (Rat Island) is neither an island nor an area infested by rats. It is a name of a place on Penang Island which is said to be named after the actual Pulau Tikus Isle. Despite of its name, it is one of the upper class neighborhood with many mansions, bungalows and colonial buildings, and many high-end condominiums such as those along Gurney Drive.

We went to the Burmese and Siamese Buddhist Temples in Pulau Tikus after visiting Kek Lok Si. Although it is one of the tourist spots, one still can find serenity at both temples comparing to Kek Lok Si. These photos are taken at the Siamese Buddhist Temple which is situated directly opposite of the Burmese Buddhist Temple.


Two high-end condominiums in the background.


The two guardians outside of the temple.


The sleeping Buddha.

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Koi

March 13th, 2008 at 21:50 · Filed Under Animals, Gardening, Holidays, Malaysia, Penang, Photography · Comment 

The koi pool at Kek Lok Si. These koi fishes may worth hundreds of thousands or a million ringgit if they are of pure Japanese breed. Looks like they are not the pure Japanese breed. The kids enjoyed feeding the fishes very much.

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Kek Lok Si

March 13th, 2008 at 21:49 · Filed Under Buddhism, Holidays, Malaysia, Penang, Photography, Scenery · 4 Comments 

Kek Lok Si (or 极乐寺 in Chinese) is a Buddhist temple situated on a hill in Air Hitam in Penang. It is the best known Buddhist temple on the island and possibly the whole Malaysia. My last visit was more than 10 years ago with LA when I was giving talks at USM (Universiti Sains Malaysia).

We climbed up to the temple from the foot of the hill via a passage surrounded by souvenir stores. Sad to say, along the passage way, I saw garbage and many deserted stores. This is an awful site to this famous tourist spot on this pearl of orient.

Nonetheless, the temple is quite well maintained and many beautifying and expansion project are being carried out. IMO, the temple is rather too commercialized. Everywhere money, money, money. Encouraging tourists and Buddhist visitors to donate or buy stuff, good for the island economy (and the temple) but it is overdone. It is no exception in this materialistic world the temple has to seek financial for its survival and continue expansion and beautification to lure tourists. Sad, isn’t it?


The Goddess of Mercy and her two guardians on both side (photos below).

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Happy Chinese New Year 2008 The Rat Year

February 7th, 2008 at 9:53 · Filed Under Blogging, Days in My Life, Holidays · 2 Comments 

It is the first day of the Rat year (in fact the Rat year actually started on Monday when the spring arrived). Feel great after a good rest. So, my family and I wish all family, friends and visitors a very Happy Chinese New Year. May this new Rat year brings you lots of happiness and a successful and prosperous new year. This Rat year will be an exciting year as it signifies the beginning of a new cycle as the Rat is the first animal in the 12 animals of Chinese horoscope.

Be happy and enjoy while heading along the successful path! Gong Xi Fa Cai and Wan Shi Ru Yi.

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Hampers for Chinese New Year

January 29th, 2008 at 13:02 · Filed Under Blogging, Business, Gifts, Holidays, Shopping · Comment 

The year of the golden rat is around the corner. This coming Chinese New Year falls on February 7 and 8. It is once in a year time again to shop for CNY stocks and gifts. LoveAficionado.com has a wide range of hampers to offer. LoveAficionado’s hampers are great gifts to share with your families and friends.

All LoveAficionado’s hampers are bundled with high quality goodies. LoveAficionada ensures all products bundled in the hampers have long expiry date. They offer excellent quality products and good service. So, you can enjoy giving without worrying about the quality.

CNY Hampers

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A holiday out

January 10th, 2008 at 21:19 · Filed Under At Play, Days in My Life, Eating Out, Family, Holidays · Comment 

What a day out! We were at Seleria (a food court in Mahkota Parade) for lunch. There were many people although it had already passed the lunch hour. 3 dinos and the two papa mama dinos were hungry. After I bought the food, I tried to find a baby chair for Nik. I saw 3 were taken and could not find any more. I asked the cashier where I could find baby chair. She told me there were only 3. Only 3? Was she joking? So, I asked her why such a big food court (I think not less than 10,000 square feet) had only 3 baby chairs. She replied, “people steels it away. They just push out…” I shook my head and gave a sinister look and sarcastically replied, “then get more chairs and have a security guard at the door! Damn!”

We went home around 4:30. Rested, took a shower and out we went to buy satay (barbecue chicken in stick with peanut chili sauce) and noodles for dinner.

What a day out for this holiday. The 3 dinos were really tired out. They are now in their dino wonderlands…

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Christmas Carol

December 24th, 2007 at 9:38 · Filed Under Blogging, Days in My Life, Family, Holidays, Karate, Social · Comment 

Here is the video for the Christmas Carol at doukoukai on Friday December 21, 2007. For more story, visit here.

Merry Christmas to all.

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A Joyful Night

December 22nd, 2007 at 11:11 · Filed Under At Work, Blogging, Days in My Life, Family, Holidays, Karate · 2 Comments 

Last night, after giving the grading test to three students at the doukoukai, a group (20+) from Bukit Beruang Methodist Church came to carol at the doukoukai. All, including my kids were having fun. For the first time, my kids saw a large group singing Christmas carols. Dominik, especially, was in “shocked” seeing so many strangers with Santa’s hat!

Uechi-Ryu Zankai Christmas

More pictures and story here.

We wish all our friends and family a Merry Christmas, Happy Winter Solstice, Happy New Year and best of health.

Ganbatte kudasai!

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A great news and a great start

December 8th, 2007 at 11:13 · Filed Under At Work, Business, Days in My Life, Family, Holidays, Shopping · Comment 

What a great news LA brings home. She makes her first sales to two neighbors. Good saleswoman she is! I am really happy for her to have a great start today.

Today is a happy day for me. She got a great start and I received a great lesson from Gandalf.

Thanks, Gandalf!

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