Eye of typhoon hit Boulevard area?

More photos on my facebook.

Boulevard, Miri, looks like a war zone this afternoon. Many roads were blocked ...

 ... due to falling trees.

 Cars were damaged as branches came crushing down.

 ... more casualties...

 Branches snapped like matches!

So these unlucky few who parked under the trees will have surprises... I was told by one of the owners that   the insurance will not pay as it is an act of God. So I asked a shocked man, do you believe in God? He was not sure!

The huge damage was the driving school at Boulevard. The steel structure literally ripped off. In fact not a single roofing material left.

The classroom was wrecked ...

  Nearby the driving school, you can see the strength of the wind... this huge branch was of no match!

 ... another top of the tree was literally pinched off it trunk and thrown some 20 meters away!

 Nearby, the religious school has two gaping holes on the roof. The fire engine was on site just now.

 Surprisingly, or rather thanks God for it, the squatter areas was not too bad.

This huge branch was ripped off it trunk.

We have not seen such huge wind in Miri before.
More photos on my facebook.

This cat has perfect heterochromia

This is the first time in my life to see a cat with different eye colour, one blue and one brown!

 I just wonder how is the vision like...

According to my son Jonathan, this is a condition called heterochromia iridum. Read up more about it here.

Update: After I publish this blog, the cat has mysteriously disappeared from my friend's shop in town. Could someone had stolen it or whatever, no one knows.

5Cs no more!

The traditional 5Cs that define wealth in Singapore are no longer that relevant today, according to a survey on what people in the city-state strive for in life.

Singaporeans prefer to pursue intangible goals in life such as having a happy family (70 per cent), travelling around the world (52 per cent), and be healthy at a ripe old age (53 per cent).

The traditional Cs — cash, car, credit card, condo and country club membership — that people hoped to achieve in the past are now overshadowed by another set of new Cs made up of non- material possessions.

The new Cs are Control, Confidence, Community, Can and Career.

Some commented that this kind of mentality will cause death  or serious injury or just drop dead all because they have goal!

But on the other hand, without goal, where is the motivation in life?

I would say, the new Cs are quite good but whatever, don't overdo or they really kill!

Is there heaven?

Life after death experience by an American neurosurgeon. Read more here and here ...  

What are they actually selling??

I looked at the label and saw "Thai Style Rice" and without looking at the ingredients, I thought this is Thai Style vermicelli, ie, rice noodle.

They look like reasonably good. So I bought two packs home!

I cooked it two days ago and found that it is tougher than I thought. It is definitely not made from rice. At one point, I thought it is the green pea noodle （东份）. It is chewy. So I decided to check the ingredient...

... it is actually made in China and made from corn starch. Not rice at all! How upsetting.
Although honest (I hope) on the label, it includes Sodium polyacrylate which is a super absorbent polymers (sometimes taken to refer to plastic).  Next is Sodium dihydrogen phosphate, which is supposed to be used as laxative.
The last item is Xanthan Gum which seems to be a very interesting. It is widely used as food additive.
Now, I am unsure ....

... can this thing be eaten?! No wonder it has such a foul chemical smell when I opened it.

Inflation or profiteering?

Malaysia is reporting low inflation rate all these years. But is this really true? We all know that we are getting less and less for the money we spend! The mee (noodle) on the plate is getting less and the drink is getting more expensive. So in reality what has been happening? Let's see....

 This cracker was 410g until last week. Now the cracker is only 385gm but selling at the same price. So, this is a reduction of 6%. Look at LUX soap ...

It use to be 100gm per cake of soap! Ok, that was quite sometime ago, perhaps not that long ago since I still have them! The price used to be RM2+ for three.

Then, it went down by 10gm to 90gm. And at the same time, price gone up.

Now, if you go to the market, this same soap is now only 85g. The price today is RM3.30 for three. We bought some last week at a discount! Ok, now the sugar subsidy is 20 cent less. The minister said that traders and businessmen must not have exorbitant price increase of food! This is interesting ... he used exorbitant, ie, the price can still go up a little! However, have a look...

Drink in the coffee shops used to be using the bigger cup on the left, ie, 300ml. Now, everyone changed to the one on the right, ie, 250ml. So, a reduction of 16%. I know that prices of drink is now RM1.80 to RM2.50 from around RM0.80/1.20. In another word, the prices have more than double over that last 5 years.

Look at this franchise drink from Taiwan which is coming to Miri. It comes in a hefty 700ml cup! 700ml is almost equivalent to 3 cups from the coffee shop. No wonder youngsters love them. This also means that it is not as expensive as we all thought!
Ok, this is Miri. How about other town in Malaysia?

Try this drink - 5 greens for health

I have been so busy lately that time flies without me realising it! Whatever, taking care of oneself is important. The saying goes "anything tasted good is not good for your body". I am not going to debate on this. But this drink (so called five (5) greens) I made for myself is definitely not going to taste good. Jonathan, my eldest son, described this as "a heavenly drink"! You know what he means!

 I will not attempt to describe the taste and you will figure it out for yourself...

I put green pepper, cucumber, bitter gourd, green apple and celery into my high speed blender and out it comes, a drink like above. This is the famous "five greens" health drink. It is supposed to lower your cholesterol and high blood pressure.

The trick to drink this juice is to blend it and without thinking, swallow everything down in one go! An ex-colleague told me that this drink help to put the cholesterol back in order! So, have you tried this and how was your result?

Recipe:
Half Green pepper
Half cucumber (3-4 inches)
Quarter bitter gourd (2 inches)
2 stalks of celery
One medium green apple
100-200ml water

Above should make about 500ml. If you cannot finish everything in one go, you can always share it with someone or use it twice.

Go and check your cholesterol and BP now and then drink this "heavenly drink" for a month. Check the results of your cholesterol and BP again.

What is in the food you are eating?

More than a month ago, I left quarter can of evaporated milk in the kitchen. I opened the top and left it there thinking that mold will grow and ant will come to make a feast out of it. But I was surprised that after a few days, nothing came to have free meal. I continue to leave it there and finally, after more than a month, some black mold formed.  I decided to scrape the brown solid which has now formed.

 So what did the manufacturer added into the evaporated milk to make it so poisonous to mold and other insect? Looking at the label reviews literally nothing!

For the benefit of those who don't understand bahan-bahan (ingredients), google translated it for me: milk solids, refined palm oil, contain stabilizers and permitted food emulsifiers, vitamins A and D3

There is no mention of preservative, etc. Am I right to assume that there are a lot more to the list?

Just in case you are not aware, this "milk" is a vital ingredient in a lot of food - ice kacang, cake, drink, etc. So better eat less! The above is from a very famous brand with two red letters only.

Mangoes and mangoes

In Miri, many households have mangoes. For some reason, mangoes grow very well in the soil here. This year, we have quite a few mangoes, although I wish I could have more.

 Due to the size of the tree, we normally wait for the mangoes to drop. Also, there are so many leaves that we can't even see where are the mangoes. So, if we let the mangoes drop from the tree, ...

 ... the fruits are always badly bruised. With fruits like this, we don't even dare to give them away! Anyway, how do you cut mangoes and gui nin (local mango)? You notice that I cut it along the seed...

 ... and then use a spoon to scoop out the soft flesh, No mess and clean. Literally untouched by hand...

 ... and the cut is clean. But remember to use a spoon that is rather flat and thin. Ok, the ugly part of this mango business is the pests! Birds and rats loves them. I would say that they ate to their fill and the remainder is left for the human....

 ... this is common sight. A real pity! Whatever, God always provide enough. This year will be a bumper crop...

... Literally hundreds of them drop off and there are a lot more on the tree. Forgot to mention that the tree has lots of fire ant and therefore it is not practical for me to climb the tree. Beside, it is also dangerous to climb this tree.

Hasselblad releases H5D!

Hasselblad is to update its full line up of H System medium format camera and lenses, promising better focus features and 'the largest, brightest viewfinder image on the market.' The H5D series is expected to start shipping by December, and will include 40, 50 and 60 megapixel models, as well as 50 and 200 megapixel multi-shot versions. The latest cameras feature an updated user interface and revised image processors for improved JPEG output. The Swedish company will also introduce a 24mm F4.8 lens, equivalent to a 17mm lens on a 135 format DSLR.

The camera is billed by the Sweden-based company as 'the latest step in the evolution of the best high-end camera system in the world'.
ok, this camera is aimed at high end professional users.

Why "better" camera

Perhaps the biggest revolution of photography is the invention of digital cameras. Now, everyone can take photos either with their mobile phones or a digital camera. In fact, every household has an appliance which allows them to take photos.
Many people saw my cameras and asked me what is the difference between one camera and another, or why buy a more expensive camera. I find it difficult to answer except by giving them an analogy that they are all familiar with.
Imagine you have to travel from point A to B which is a few hundred miles by a car. If the condition is ideal, you can use any car and you will arrive in quite a good condition and with a skillful driver the passenger will arrive feeling reasonably good, ie, not giddy/tired. Therefore, in ideal condition, any camera will take a reasonable photo. With some skill, the photos actually turn out very good. However, life is never ideal!
The problem arrives when there are patches of road which are sandy, or smeared with oil, or not level, or badly designed, or encountering heavy rain or wind. Using a cheap car with no fancy electronic, etc, the journey may be interrupted, delayed, accident, etc.  Translate this to challenges in photography like poor lighting, strong back light, poor weather, fast moving object/subject, etc, you now need a better camera and also skill to operate in order to get better photos.
I compared high end camera with a high end car. I leave it to your imagination what you are going to do with them. Why someone buy high end car as oppose to a cheap ones? You tell me.

Sect 114A of Evidence Act

There was a protest by major online publication recently on the amendment to Sect 114A of the evidence act. But I never came to know the exact wording of the act until I read the following which was published by Thestar online paper:

 The amended section reads:

"Presumption of fact in publication 114A.
(1)A person whose name, photograph or pseudonym appears on any publication depicting himself as the owner, host, administrator, editor or sub-editor, or who in any manner facilitates to publish or re-publish the publication is presumed to have published or re-published the contents of the publication unless the contrary is proved.
(2)A person who is registered with a network service provider as a subscriber of a network service on which any publication originates from is presumed to be the person who published or re-published the publication unless the contrary is proved.
(3)Any person who has in his custody or control any computer on which any publication originates from is presumed to have published or re-published the content of the publication unless the contrary is proved. - Bernama

I am not a lawyer but the problem here is quite obvious, as one is presumed guilty until proven otherwise! Normal law is assumed not guilty until proven otherwise.
So rightly claimed by many, if your blog, facebook, or whatever online publication is hacked and offensive wording was published by the hacker, you have now got to prove that you are not guilty! The burden is now shifted to the owner of the "publication" to ensure that everything is secured.

中小学书法比赛 Primary & Secondary School Calligraphy Competition

RRSS was the venue for the school calligraphy competition today. We saw more than ten schools participating. Many VVIPs were there to grace open the events. More photos from my facebook.

 Team from Subis, Niah.

A group photo of all the participants and VVIPs.

IEEE Electronic Exhibition, Curtin

This morning marked the official opening of the 2012 IEEE Electronic Exhibition at Curtin, Miri. 

 A famous local philanthropist, Mr Hii King Chiong  officiated the opening ceremony.

 Later, he toured around the exhibition boots.

Ah Jon, my son, has three tables of museum equipment for exhibition, ranging from the largest core memory ever made by Ampex, see picture above. This is probably the only such piece of equipment around in Malaysia. I actually have two of these but one had gone missing.
I encourage all students and anyone interested in electronic, do pay Curtin a visit (recreation hall). It will close tomorrow, Saturday.
More photos on my facebook.

Murder in Sibu. Is life that cheap?!

Price of life: Dead RM38,000 (US$12K), disability: RM28K (US$9K). Wait... apparently this was the price set by a young wife on her young (31) and successful husband! How pathetic!

Recently, there were a few murder cases in Sarawak, one each in Kuching, Sibu and lately in Miri. When I read the news about this particular case in Sibu, I was shocked to see the price placed on his head. The worst part is that, it was set by his wife as was reported in the news.
So, being a little nosy, I asked if anyone knew why she was doing this:
Version 1: The bank manager husband found that she had an affair with a car salesman. So he threatened the boyfriend and the boyfriend looked for someone to fix it!
Version 2: The marriage was on the rock and the husband sensed his life was in danger. So he willed everything to his own parents and only son.
Version 3: The husband willed everything to his parents and only son. The wife found out and was very angry. So, she decided to finished him off!
Anymore version from anyone?
Update, 24 Aug 2012
Now that 6 people had been arrested, police released 3 as potential witnesses. The wife, boyfriend and the young guy who carried out the killing are still in custody.
The reporter asked the three released suspects for comments. They said: "Greed and stupidity - 贪愚!

Haze, Smog, smoke!

Whatever you call this, the pollution is really bad in Miri. From the smell, I knew that this pollution didn't come from far, just a few KM away. What is our government doing about it? We have law but enforcement is simply nothing. However, when you park along white line, you will be issued with a compound and you are accused to park on yellow line!! No law here.

Last year, it was burning and burning at Asian Bridge and everyone thought that it was wild fire. Now, if you care to go there to have a look, it is now fully planted with crop. So, it is deliberate burning. I can bet that this is no difference!

Lin Dan beat Chong Wei 21-19 at the 3rd round

I don't normally watch games on TV but tonight, my three sons were very excited about the London Olympic badminton game played by two world's giants, Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan. 

In Beijing 2008 Olympics final, Lin Dan dominated and claimed victory over Chong Wei. This time round, we all thought that Chong Wei will win. I personally think that he did a very good job and he really tried very hard. At the third round, the score was very close but finally someone must win. Lin Dan claimed victory again over our Chong Wei with a 21-19 score!

 Whatever, Chong Wei, congratulations. You definitely didn't let Ling Dan off too easily this time round.

And of course, congratulation to the all happy Lin Dan. You did China proud again.
By the way, someone dropped dead watching the game at a coffee shop in Kuching after the final score came out!

Sin Siang Hai Furniture Fair

Just in case you are not aware, Sin Siang Hai is the largest single Furniture Mall in Malaysia. It occupies eight shop lots and I think it is 4 stories. In West Malaysia, there are many large furniture shopping complex but they are rented to individual tenant.

Sin Siang Hai is currently on 3 days furniture fair and sales and they do have very good bargains. So, whatever is your home requirement, do pay them a visit. Sunday, 5 Aug is their last day. 

 Perhaps this is their most hitech bedding set.

I called this Sara's corner as this is her "creation" and arrangement. All the accessories here is meant to transform your home!
To see more photos, click here.

Photo Reconstruction

Recently I was given a black and white and a colour photo to be made into a memorial style image to be printed. The reconstructed black and white photo is as below.

The finished photo is as below.

By the way, if you have photos which you like to be done like above, please do contact me by e-mail (williamting @ hotmail.com (remove space)) or phone (+60123020178).

When you are profit driven ...

I read the finding of the major breakdowns in Singapore SMRT this morning. And the findings are so familiar when a corporation is profit driven:
Quote: "A panel commissioned to investigate last year's train breakdowns criticised metro operator SMRT for prioritising resumption of revenue service over addressing underlying problems which caused the stoppage.

It also concluded that SMRT's metro system had been plagued by outdated equipment and poor maintenance for years, and the company did not have enough engineers capable of overseeing maintenance." unquote

Shareholder return, cut operating expenditure, maximise profit, reduce corporate "fat" (stay lean), globalisation, rationalisation, etc sound familiar?

They were recently fined S$2 million! 

Two more articles to read: click for the first and second article.

But back in Malaysia, do we have law to penalise such corporate wrong doing? Or to bring the issue closer to ourselves, do you regularly maintain your car, house or equipment at home?

Jen Siow Beauty N Fashion Workshop

I went to the workshop last Sunday at Victor Studio, Shriro Malaysia, who is distributor of the world most advanced medium format camera, Hasselblad.
The lighting system used was from Profoto. The course lasted just one full day.

Click here to see a few more photos.

Portrait of a different kind

I took some portraits of birds, cat, etc, during my KL trip... To see more, click here.

Of smoke or haze

Whatever it is called, smoke or haze from the open burning, we were driven nut in Pujut. At midnight last night, the air was pungent and I almost had to use a mask to sleep.
The newspaper already complained that Sarawak still permit open burning... I am not sure whether this is true. But even if open burning is disallowed, I don't think the authority can do much judging from the number of hot spots around Miri.

This picture was taken at Lutong this evening at 6:45PM. The air is pungent again tonight!
More pictures click here.

2012 International Dance for Humanity

I missed a huge chunk of performances this year, especially those from my friend Kevin. Anyway, I managed to capture Cai Yun Fei fei ...

They did a splendid colourful performance. To see all the photos for the last 11 items, please click here on my facebook.
St Columba students also did a nice performance.. I called it break dance.

Miri Dance For Humanity

Remember, Miri Dance For Humanity , is on today at indoor stadium from 1PM! Be there! The schedule as below. Click for a larger view.

Eastwood Valley Golf and Country Club Charity Sales

Eastwood Valley Golf and Country Club organised a Charity Sales last Sunday, 24 June at their premises.

I think the most fun was the fishing. It attracted a lot of people. However, I didn't see anyone catching many "good" fish. I was told that those "good" fish, pading, Sultan, etc, know how to hide away! To see all my photos, click here.

This pool has some very big fish!

The lucky and the unlucky!

Miri Day Celebration

This is a long overdue posting... but after much thinking, I think it is better late than never. So, please click here to see all the photos taken which I posted on my facebook.

The outdoor sport stadium was quite packed with people.

Chinese Association Traditional dress and Duanwu festival celebration

Chinese Association of Miri and Sarawak organised a traditional dress competition and celebrated the Duanwu festival on Friday night at Beach Republic. Photos can be view on my facebook.

Photo above shows the winner of the traditional dress competition.

广州粤语 的＂鸡＂文化

有种失败叫走鸡，
有种忙乱叫腾鸡，
有种恶女叫残鸡， 

有种懒惰叫偷鸡，
有种工具叫辣鸡，

有种指挥叫吹鸡， 

有种车辆叫野鸡，
有种结束叫谢鸡，

有种偷吃是叫鸡，

有种饮食叫糯米鸡，
有种环境叫静鸡鸡，
有种货币叫一蚊鸡，
有种幸运叫执死鸡。

 請 續....

有種竹籤叫香鷄
有種青蛙叫田鷄
有種哨子叫銀鷄
有種起重車叫吊鷄
有種魯莽叫中瘟鷄
有種學歷叫中學鷄 (或小學雞)
有種餐具叫五更鷄
有種困境叫蛋家鷄
有種辯才叫鐡嘴鷄
有種鬍子叫二撇鷄
有種食客叫菠蘿鷄
有種職業叫照田鷄

請 續.....

有種大學叫野雞
有種女星叫銀雞
有種建築叫屹雞 (懸臂樑 cantilever)
有種爛飲之撈女叫醉雞
有時取笑別人傻乎乎時稱之為傻雞
有種木船叫大眼雞
又有種魚叫大眼雞
有種燒味叫金錢雞 (與雞無關)
有種被醜化乾瘦女人叫馬拉雞 (帶有種族歧視﹐不宜用)
有種嘲笑女人唔沖涼的不雅講法叫醃鹹雞
有種環境形漆黑一片乜都唔見叫耍盲雞
有種潑辣婦被稱為霸王雞
有種潮氣愛裝扮的女人叫花顛雞
有種不問事由亂吠一通的叫發瘟雞
有種情況視而不見叫發雞盲
打工仔最怕食既係無情雞 (源于開年時老闆 . . .)

有種尷尬表情叫做呆若木雞
有種難相處的人叫老虎田雞
有種女人叫丹麥光雞 (女士們﹐冒犯了)
有種老襯局叫做捉黃腳雞

<<< 你鐘意哪種 "雞" ? >>>
p/s: No offence to anyone

Sarawak Rep to Mr Malaysia

Cheyene (right) and Jeremiah from Miri have been selected to represent Sarawak at the Mr Malaysia Championships to be held in KK next month.

I wish them best of luck. Keep it up and make Sarawak proud!

Assembly Hall of Church of God in Miri

Some photos taken during the recent conference at the Assembly Hall of Church of God in Miri is now posted here.

This is perhaps the largest Assembly Hall of Church of God in Miri which has the seating capacity of 3-4K people. It has 5 levels inclusive of 2 basements. B2 is for car park and B1 is partly for car park and a large dining hall.
If I am not mistaken, it cost some RM23M to build.