Would you take a photo a day - Project 365

Stumbled across TheBackpackr.com at PPS and found that few (and maybe a LOT MORE) is embarking on this project - A photo a day for 365 days to document your life in a year. Sounds exciting isn't it?

Will give it a try starting tomorrow! Damn excited.

As a cheer to my upcoming project - Mr pre-Project 365 photo:-

This photo means that I'm stuck at work on New Year Eve. I remember last year I was having holiday. Well, at least I have Ferrero Rocher as my friend. The missing one is already the stomach. Yum!

Phone policy

Office Phone

There was once I spoke to a partner of a firm and he asked, "Karen are you sick? You sound very weak". 

People at the other side would always bellow, "Hello! I can't hear you!"

For this, I think it must be the office phone's fault. If only I can make it louder. 

I feel like a total idiot speaking to an answering machine. Let alone when other people is looking, and waiting for a reply from me. "Sorry, it was the answering machine".

Handphone

I will spend half of my conversation saying for the 50th time "Hello?Hello? Can you hear me because I can't hear you".

I will spend another half saying, "Sorry can you repeat that? The line is breaking".

It must be "B"okia's fault.

House Phone

An antique at my house. Rarely use. As rare as a piece of rare steak.

All calls will be directed to my mom.

Skype

No interruptions for the first 5 minutes. Subsequently the same as handphone, sometimes worse.

Gtalk

The best so far. But if only I can change the ringtone.

This mode of communication depends on internet connection. Oh well, we all know about Streamyx. 50% of my online time is 'well-spent' reconnecting.

Voice communication is not easy, is it?

My Top 5 Likeable Male Characters in Movies - year 2009

I've always wanted to do this in year end ever since I started blogging but always 'missed the dateline'. Finally I've got the time!

I hereby announce my Top 5 Likeable Male Characters in Movies for the year 2009.

I like these actors because they made me drool. HAHA! Ok, aside from that, perhaps there's one or two particular parts in the movie/drama that I like about them, eg: how they express their disappointment. I enjoy watching good movies. I will always watch out for good storylines and good actor/actress. Even if the movie is full of hotties but the storyline or acting sucks, I wouldn't waste my time drooling over it. Yes, trust me.

The top goes to................................

1. Leonardo DiCaprio in Revolutionary Road - He's awesome, awesome and awesome. Aside from me drooling over his good looks (and the pair of blue eyes), I think his acting is even better. What more it's together with Kate Winslet, his onscreen lover. It's interesting to see Leo in a non-macho character but at the same time oozing all his sex appeal when he tries to take control.

I bet that the movie will just be plain boring without the Kate and Leo.

2. Lee Jun Ki in Iljimae and Time Between Dog and Wolf

When I first saw Lee Jun Ki in Iljimae at 8tv, I thought he was Jaycee Chan. After finishing the whole series, I again searched his other series and found Time Between Dog and Wolf.

I like him at Iljimae simply because I like him. He acted as this boy (guy) who saw with his own eyes of his father's murder You can read the synopsis here. Later, he and his family went into separate hidings. Government officials were looking all over to kill his family. When he found out where his sister was, the government officials hanged his sister in order to bait him. And his sister died before his very own eyes. SAD RIGHT??! Throughout the series, he appears to be goofy but deep deep down, he's very sorrowful. And Lee Jun Ki has shown us his abilities to display these mixtures of emotions.

And in Time Between Dog and Wolf, needless to say he looked even more handsome (except the last haircut in the final episode! damn sissy wei). Lee Jun Ki suddenly became very tall in this series. His face has not much expression and his eyes did most of the talking. I like it when he transformed into a 'bad guy'.

Lee Jun Ki, he's very pretty but at the same time, he won't make you feel that he's just a mere pretty boy. Well, all these is true provided that he doesn't lose any weight.

3. Qi Yuwu - Little Nyonya

When I first watched The Little Nyonya, I was asking myself, "Where are all the lengzai(s)??". I was probably watching the wrong episodes because I started at episode 23 when NTV7 was showing it. During that time, Chen Xi (by Qi Yuwu) have only frowning scenes. Of course lah, he couldn't be with Yueniang.

But then when I watched back the episodes from beginning, and then starting from episode 11, I thought.."Eh, not bad wor". I like him when he teased Yueniang over the chicken soup. I also like the moments when he and Yueniang were kidnapped by some local thugs.

Actually his character is quite sad. Spent most of the time being sick at the hospital and feeling anguish because he can't be with Yueniang. Kesian, kesian.

4. Zzen Zhang - Little Nyonya

I couldn't believe that this actor is not a bad guy in real life. In this drama, he is very evil! Always plotting to  create troubles. Not only did he rape Yuzhu, he also drive her into madness. His expression is very believable. Of course, of course...he's quite good looking. That is why even though he is the most cunning villain, I still find him quite watchable. Too bad he has to die in the end.

5. Show Luo in Hi My Sweetheart

Owhhhhhh who can forget that mushroom head Da Lang. But that's not because why I like Show Luo. In fact, I cannot even stand to look at the unnaturally thick mushroom hair. It is his facial expressions as Da Lang acting with the infamous hair that caught my attention and the small 'Da Lang' moments after he transformed back into Hsueh Hai.

The series is still airing.....

The 'idiot box' is never more enjoyable without good faces acting.

My world in 2009

2009, aside from my holidays, was a great challenge to me. So I thought life after the horrible CLP will be blissfull. Whoa! Life as a chambering student is worse - like taking 10 subjects for CLP. All I remember about 2009 is that I was constantly tired. I see tired, eat tired, sleep tired. The only word  I could only mutter is t-i-r-e-d. That explains the massive drop in blog posts for this year.

Now that I'm back at Kota Kinabalu, I have more personal time for myself. I can finally breathe peacefully [unless I'm required to rush last minute work beyond midnight!].

Let me recall what I've achieved in the year 2009:-

1. Called to the Bar

2. Chambering for the 2nd time

3. Travelled to Cambodia and totally loved it!

4. Found a good hairstylist

5. Helped a foreigner to be released from jail

6.  Learn sign language

7. Watched movie with Deaf friends

8. Pack and move house/room 3 times - ENOUGH OF MOVING ALREADY!

9. Took an exam and failed terribly...hahahahah!

10. Growing more and more grey hair. OMG! Too shy to let my hairstylist see.

11. Fell really sick on my birthday, for 2 weeks. Somemore during H1N1 season.

12. Watched the greatest sunset from airplane before touching down at KKIA. God's best gift for me this year.

Serenity at Siem Reap, Cambodia

 

Yummy strawberry yoghurt at Cameron Highlands

The sun and the fisherman at a hazy sunrise- Kuantan

Reaching up to the high sky - Pangkor

 

And I still haven't own a DSLR.

For last year's compilation - [see here].

Gaya Street

Kota Kinabalu most famous Sunday market - Gaya Street.

You can find everything there from newspapers, vege, exotic plants, rattan canes, handicrafts, memorabilia, tidbits, clothes, pillows to pets.

The traffic jam is even worse than normal weekdays when most folks will visit the area for banks, errants and food. Some cars when they are waiting for parking, they don't consider the long line of cars waiting behind. Then some car owners will take their own very sweet time before reversing.

Some scenes at Gaya Street:-

Cute Persian Tabby!

Cat: Hm..my tail is very beautiful and long

A playful grey one

Only these 2 cats are still active by 11am. The weather was damn hot! Pity those cats. I want to bring them home!

Handicraft stall

The crowd

The plants stall

The 'gong' stall

And our new Suria Sabah, facing the sparkling blue sea.

Merry Christmas all~!

Merry Christmas everybody!

I'm also having a Christmas theme for my 'original' blog at Paw Scribbles for a festive cheer (I still keep the blog address).

Happy Holidays!

The scene at Sacred Heart, Kota Kinabalu after midnight mass. My first try on my Sony Ericsson's C905 panorama feature. Everything looks perfect except for one part.

The proton Iswara looked as though it whizzed too fast. But actually I din't connect the pictures properly..hehehehe

1st try lah!

25.12.2009

Finally changed my blog's theme! 
I'm so not used to not being able to post my pictures extra large. Have to resize one of my Pangkor pictures.

Hot Lookalikes

When I watched Inglourious Basterds last month, I thought the guy who acted as Private Frederick Zoller was the same guy from American Pie 2. Just as I thought August Diehl was Macaulay Culkin!

This is Daniel Bruhl of Inglourious Basterds. Quite handsome.

Because he's good looking, his character in the movie, Private Zoller, is forgiven for irritatingly pursuing Shosanna Dreyfus. His insistence came too strong towards the end when he became frustrated that Shosanna wasn't returning the same feelings. He even shot Shosanna and both died in the theater room. Why did you shoot her??!!

But never mind. Because he's handsome, I will forgive. And I like the way he speaks his French (was French, right?)

And here we have a TVB Hong Kong version of Bruhl - Leo Lee Wai Kay. It's extremely difficult to get pictures of Leo in websites simply because he hasn't been in any lead roles, or the least any supporting roles in drama series. I got this nerdy photo of him from the promotional advertisement of At the Threshold of an Era where he acted as Jason Yip.

When I watched Legal Entanglement which is airing at TVB XingHe now, I thought, "Hey he looks somewhat like Daniel Bruhl". Don't you think so?

And of course, how can I forget Seann William Scott, the goofy guy at American Pie 2 and Evolution. He looked surprisingly gorgeous in recent photos, with stunning smiles. How can you not like him. How can you simply not????

Say "NO" to coal-fired power plant in Sabah

Please help us fellow Sabahans to say "NO" to coal-fired power plant in Sabah.

Click here and here for more information and here to sign.


the process of a coal-fired power plant

I don't know how this diagram works. But I know the result of this diagram is something like this:-

http://www.flickr.com/photos/davipt/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Jerada coal power plant: The stacks pump black smoke into the atmosphere. There is coal dust everywhere. This pool of water is black from soot and the soil around it is too.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/colin_n/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Read also here: Coal energy is rather efficient, and was cost effective, but is no longer used in many places for two main reasons: the first one being supply and the second being pollution. Coal is a non-renewable resource, and therefore, we will inevitably run out of it. We must be conservative with our coal use now so that we will have some left for later use. The major reason that coal power plants are not used though is the fact that they were huge producers of pollution. Coal is a fuel that burns with a thick black smoke that is released into the atmosphere. The smoke causes problems ranging from emphysema to discoloration of paint to even acid rain. These polluting effects of coal are caused by impurities within the coal itself. Because it is nearly impossible to strictly control a perfect ratio of fuel and oxygen, impurities such as sulfur and phosphorus will inevitably lead to the release of sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide and other such pollutants into the atmosphere.

As we look towards the future of energy, we can see that coal energy is not an environmentally sound source for many reasons. The sulfur dioxide and nitrogen can bind with water in the atmosphere and create sulfuric and nitric acid, or acid rain. Acid rain can erode marble statues, kill wildlife, and pollute bodies of water. The large amounts of carbon dioxide released from the burning of coal increase the thickness of the atmosphere, leading the reality of a global warming disaster.

..............................................................

If SESB and TNB still insists on coal-fired power plant, then perhaps Malaysia should just pull out from the climate conference at Copenhagen. Just pull out lah...don't embarass us!

My all time favourite duet

"Lucky" by Alyssa Bernal and Kris Mark

Higher price of goods

The price of goods in Sabah is high. A piece of Padini office wear here cost RM119.00, whereas in KL may cost RM109.00. We pay RM10 extra here. In Cosway, you can see the price different between East Malaysia and West Malaysia. A bottle of Loreal PureZone here may cost RM23.90 while in KL is around RM21.90 (Watson's price). A copy of Cleo magazine here may cost up to RM10.50!

Why? Why are the prices here higher?

Wake up call to Sabah lawmakers who are also lawyers

I was at the Long Call at High Court 2, KK yesterday because I was applying for a Part Exemption. And I had the opportunity to witness this event which made to our local Daily Express's headlines today. (I'm quoting from Daily Express directly as its website loads slower than the snail). Read on.

Legal profession precedent

Kota Kinabalu: The definition of who can practise law in Sabah saw a historic precedent being set Wednesday when the High Court here granted an application for admission by a 27-year-old Sabah-born as an advocate of the High Court of Sabah and Sarawak.

Judge Datuk Clement Skinner said the applicant, Wendy Chan Poh Lu, whose father is a Bruneian and mother a West Malaysian, is qualified to practise in the State because of her birth in Sabah, thus dismissing objections from a senior lawyer.

"I therefore dismiss the objection because by virtue of her birth in Sabah, she is deemed to have Sabah connections which is the sole criteria for admission as an advocate to the High Court in Sabah and Sarawak," he said.

................

Counsel Puan Sri Marina Tiu, in proceeding with the objection from counsel Christina Liew, who was not robed and therefore could not appear before the court, contested that the applicant although born in Sabah is not entitled to a Malaysian citizenship and, therefore, not a Sabahan in particular.

"The petitioner's father is a Bruneian and not a Malaysian while the mother is a West Malaysian. Therefore, under the immigration law, the petitioner is in fact not entitled to a Malaysian citizenship, in general, and she is not a Sabahan in particular," said Tiu.

She argued that under the Advocates Ordinance, a person must have Sabah connection in order to qualify for admission to the Bar in the High Court of Sabah and Sarawak.

She also said the constitution provides as to who can stay and work in Sabah, and the fact of the person being born in the State alone should not qualify the person under sub-section (2)(a) of the Advocates Ordinance.

Tiu submitted that the objection is to protect the integrity of the Bar and to prevent fly-by-night lawyers from coming in to practise in Sabah but residing outside Sabah.

"If this petition were allowed, it would create a dangerous precedent which would allow non-citizens to apply and to be admitted to the Bar. In theory, even the children of the holders of the IMM13 document (which gives the holder a refugee status and gives the holder the right to stay and work) to apply and be admitted to the Bar.

"It's a matter of public concern because even an illegal immigrant who is born here and we have millions of immigrants here who can qualify under paragraph (2)(a) provided he also satisfies the other requirement in the Ordinance," said Tiu.

Meanwhile, Sabah Law Association President Datuk John Sikayun stated that they did not object to the application because on paper the applicant had complied with the requirements under the Advocates Ordinance that she was born in Sabah. Sikayun acknowledged the applicant is a holder of a Sabah identity card. But he expressed concern that the Advocates Ordinance is outdated and that it needs to be amended.

................................

Under Section 2 of the Ordinance, a person can only have Sabah connections if the person is born in Sabah, has been ordinarily resident in Sabah for a continuous period of five years or satisfies the Chief Judge that here or she is at the time of the application domiciled in Sabah.

In responding to Sikayun's submission, Skinner said the Sabah Advocates Ordinance was enacted in 1953 when it could not have been foreseen the problems which have been highlighted during the hearing of the present objection.

However, Skinner said: "It is my view that the remedy does not lie in this court but in the legislative process."

He earlier said that it is expressly stated in Section 2(2) of the Ordinance that a person "shall be deemed" to have Sabah connections if that person satisfies any of the three conditions.

"With this deeming provision, as the law stands at the moment, once a person is born in Sabah, he or she is deemed to have Sabah connections.

That is a statutory deeming and I see no further requirement that the person must go on further to prove that he or she is entitled to Malaysian citizenship.

"As far as being admitted to the Sabah Bar is concerned, once it is deemed that a person has Sabah connections, the requirement of Section 2 (2) have been satisfied," said Skinner.

-end of quote-

oooHHH wowow.....

Now it seems like becoming a lawyer in Sabah is not so difficult afterall. 

There's actually 3 different criteria to established a Sabah Connection; you either have to be born in Sabah, stayed in Sabah for continuous period of 5 years OR domiciled in Sabah.

The decision above does have great impacts. You see, we had LOADS of illegal immigrants in Sabah since 1970s. The lucky ones managed to somehow obtain a blue IC. The not so lucky one continued to stay illegally and gave births in Sabah. So these children of the illegal immigrants are indeed Sabah born. So what if they are not Malaysians. There's no requirement in the Advocates Ordinance to say that lawyers in Sabah must be a Malaysian. Section 2(a) of the Advocate Ordinance provides that "A person shall be deemed to have Sabah connections for the purposes of this Ordinance if, and only if, he - "has been born in Sabah". Satisfying the remaining to criteria is even easier for them, although its not necessary.

Perhaps lawyers in Sabah who are also politicians can do something in the August House.

Otherwise, when this profession which most senior lawyers of Sabah is trying to protect is being 'diluted', you have no one to blame except:-

1. The judge who has set this precedent;

2. Sabah politicians;

3. Member of the Bar; and/or

4. Yourself.

With the Federal Government pressuring the Sabah Bar to open up their legal profession, this task is not easy.

When I read the newspaper everyday

At one point, I quit reading newspaper (except the cinema showtime part and probably the entertainment section) to  prevent the increase of stress level. I know, I just happen to know every single day and without a miss, there will be some silly news provoking some weak nerves. Those are news on what the politicians have to say on a certain subject matter. They appeared as though they are very smart. And they sound like they have a lot of time talking and doing nonsense.

Number 1 : The PKFZ saga. It's never ending. The moment I saw "PKFZ", I just skip to a more interesting headline.

Number 2 : What the PM said and how the DPM and following Ministers subsequently contradicts each other. Can't they decide what statements to issue before publishing it?

Number 3: The May 13. Is it going to happen again? I don't know. As far as I am concern, I am living harmoniously with other people. If we have 1Malaysia, then why is Utusan Malaysia always think that certain race is under attack? Hello, everybody is busy trying to earn a living....I suggest Utusan to publish more meaningful news if they want to earn more sales.

Number 4 : Politicians never ending, never tired attacking each other verbally, physically and emotionally and maybe financially (maybe sexually too!). Oh please! Bring your spat out from the newspapers and newsportal.  Such an embarassment to the country. Shouldn't their time be spent on thinking ways to improve our economy and our paycheck to correspond with the escalating cost of living?????!!!

All talk only, no action. Smart.

'Very wise' of the politicians to tear, and now step on some so-called glamorous posters. Sigh.

Power cut more frequent in Sabah

Actually Namewee's infamous TNB video was posted some time ago. Only now the government has discovered it. Slow, right?

Read also TheStar here

Oh well, I must add one more thing. I believe West Malaysia's power supply is a lot better than Sabah's counterpart. But really, power cut is damn irritating when you are in the midst of something urgent.

This was what happened on a fine Monday afternoon when I was to finish a submission with my boss due the next day. To everyone's dismay, there was a power cut at Jalan Pantai, Kota Kinabalu for 2 1/2 hours! We finally finished our work in the office at only around 2 am. If there wasn't a power cut, all of us (including the support staffs) could have gone back by 11 pm.

Would you still be complaining politely then?

Perhaps SESB and it's independent power suppliers should also apologize to us Sabahans? In the month of October and November, I've endured 5 power cuts; 3 at the office and 2 at home.

Read further here

Make sure this Gas-powered plant is not second hand!

Pangkor

I think I owe my blog some nice holiday pictures. The last holiday I blogged about was my trip to Cambodia . Worse still, I only had time to blog about my first day at Siem Reap. I owe Angkor Wat the beautiful pictures I took. Soon, soon!

Ok back to Pangkor, I had the chance to go with Phang, Dom and Serena during my 'career break' after finishing chambering on 12.9.2009-15.9.2009 ( a night at Sitiawan).

No, no..we are not at Pangkor yet...

Look at the beautiful emerald green waters

The hotel we stayed - Anjungan Resort

We checked in to a family suite. It's a 2 floored room. The lower floor house has a Queen sized bed while the upper floor has 2 single beds. I love the ambience.

this is the upperfloor. One would think they can have a good nap or sleep overlooking the outside window. Aside from aircond, they will have a stand fan to boost. HAHA..No...as you can see, the upperfloor is the zinc roof directly. So instead of enjoying the perfect panoramic view of the room while sleeping, those unlucky fellas to sleep upstairs will have to battle with the heat from the zinc roof and moths flying around. The aircond unit is only enough to keep downstairs cool.

But the the upperfloor still looks nice.

Overview of the hotel. Very clean.

The Pangkor Experience

Ok, when we were there it was still Ramadhan month. So the whole island (aside from its residence) basically belongs only few tourists like us. Even the hawker stalls along the beach did not open, not even in the evening. We stayed opposite Teluk Nipah and 5 minutes walk from Coral Bay.

Our food source came from the town. 
Food in Pangkor is very cheap - RM2.50 for a bowl of noodles!

Teluk Nipah...nice beach free for us, anytime anyday - night time also can

As we rented a car, we conquered the whole island within 30 minutes drive. Cool eh?! No traffic jam but need to watch out for 'Initial-D' like bends and motorbikes. The road only cater for 1 car per way and only 1 way. Some sites even recommended that you can even cycle around the island. Unless you are training for some cycling marathon, don't even think about it! There was when we drove past a very exhausted cyclist, he can't help but looked totally envious that we're comfortably in a car wheezing past him.

The Dutch Fort

Pangkor Town

Sunset at Teluk Nipah

Coral Bay

Snorkelling near one of the smaller islands...look at the fishes!

Inedible black sea cucumber

Corals

A glimpse of Pangkor Laut

As we're not rich (and no sponsors) all we can do is to catch a glimpse of the famous top resort - Pangkor Laut Beach Resort.

 Must take group photo

Emerald green seawater. If only there's emeralds buried under.

The Fishing Village

Fishing dock belonging to a friend of Serena

The Jetty carpark and the famous pink vans

Oh and also one thing about Pangkor is that aside from Pasir Bogak and the residential and town area, the rest of the island is pitch dark at night. Fret not, I did not encounter any supernatural experience while being there. Only sounds of waves will fill your ears at night (and maybe your friends' noises).

In fact, I couldn't forget the moments when me and my friends visited Coral Bay on our final night stay to search for for the blue simmering don't-know-what-is-that on the beach. It's so pitch dark and yet peaceful. And only the sound of waves to keep us company.

Would I want to visit Pangkor again? YES.

p/s: Special thanks to Foo Woei and Serena's friend for the company spoiling us with food.

YUM!