Bella and her 4 mice

16.04.2011 Marsya's Spell It Right

Marsya was among the 10 pupil chosen to represent her school for RHB-NST's Spell It Right (SIR) Challenge. The place: Danga City Mall, on a beautiful Saturday morning.

 

I sent her to school, and she went there with teachers and fellow pupils. I went back to fetch the rest of the family as they were still asleep when Marsya and I headed out earlier.

 

The competition was supposed to start at 9.00 am. I arrived there from home at about 9.30am and Wan Zaleha Radzi was still doing a mic check. Well, that's the most important thing for this kind of event. I didn't check what the time was when the emcee finally introduced her as the event anchor, but looking at my camera's timestamp, it must be after 10.00 am.

 

I'm pretty sure the audience (other than those who were nervous) were mesmerized with WZR's opening speech. She elaborated about the wonderful, weird and exciting world of the English language, before proceeding with the competition's details. Her spoken English is excellent. Being pretty is a bonus, actually. I wouldn't mind if it was Adibah Noor on that day, for I know she would fare as good, English wise.

 

There will be 9 - 10 pupil on the stage at one time for the first round, and only 1 will stand to go for the next. For that, each will go turn by turn according to their numbers. Those who failed to spell the correct word within 20 seconds would have to leave the stage (read: can already go back). Those who spelled correctly would have a go for another word if there were more than one who did so, until the last man standing, so to speak.

 

Marysa was number 049, and her turn was at 12.22pm. I could understand the nervousness and being bored at the same time, while waiting for her turn to come. Been there, done that, except for a much different setting. We used to have competitions in a school hall, or an indoor setting not really open for general public. Nowadays the large corporations behind all this decide to do it out in the open.

 

Her word that she has to spell infront of friends, strangers and the general public?

throaty

from the Concise Oxford Dictionary (10th Ed.) it means "(of voice or other sound) deep and husky"

Okay, that's not familiar to me at all.

 

She went "t, h, r, o, a, t"

Pause

Cleared her throat

"t, r, o, a, t, i"

Teeeetttt, the buzzer went off denoting the time limit.

Marsya went away from the stage.

 

Hmm...

Well, I must say that she did well amid her nervousness. Anyway, I'm sure the experience is the most valuable thing she got from the event. And I'll support her for every other such events in the future, insyaAllah.

 

All the best, Marsya.

 

More photos in here.

bus ride

I'm longing for a bus ride.

So that I can read the whole book, uninterrupted.

Without the aircond blowing full blast, of course.

Book: Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton

 

My review for MC's novel in Goodreads. 

I had a 'like' yesterday morning, so I thought I'd share it in here too...

 

=====

It took me quite a while to get the momentum rolling at first. I find the book giving it's grip after more than a dozen chapters - thence I find it hard to put down, and always looking out for whatever spare time I could have to continue.

In the beginnning I was bombarded with characters who emerge, and new ones continue to be introduced, until a few chapters. Well, it goes to show that MC is crafty, and these different characters have their purposes. They play different roles, and as MC's narration to educate the reader on many aspects that he wishes to tell in this book.

This time, he tells about cannons and maritime warfare in old waters. Surprisingly, there's not much detail on piracy (or privateering). Seamanship and maritime jargon are abundant - make sure you know the terms, for there's no glossary provided.
:P
Thank goodness, having worked with a maritime project, I don't have to get a dictionary to understand the various terms.

As always, there's the plot of cunning, wit and bravery of it's main character, Charles Hunter, in his attempt of getting a considerable sum of loot while no one believed it to be possible. Of course, he's not alone doing the job. His accomplices are a team of colourful characters who complement him nicely, though at times are too good to be true.

Reading this is a reminiscent of The Great Train Robbery, a favourite of mine, and the modern day's Ocean's Eleven. Of course, this one is set on a different mode of transportation.

If Timeline introduced me to the trebuchet, greek fire and other medieval warfare, weaponry and war tactics, this one is about the same. I learnt a bit about ship cannons, sea warfare and its tactics.

Many characters are killed in this one and there are many events taking place, however I find that the descriptions are too brief, and they can be further extended, albeit they are grippy still.

Somehow I find it hard to believe that this is a complete work of MC, as reported to be found in his computer. It seems like there's something amiss; not really meaty and lacks a bit of punch. Nevertheless, it doesn't feel like it's not MC at all. For that, it is a great read. That is, when you've gone past the characters introductions.

=====

CD: Reza Salleh - Realize

I bought his six song CD, Smoke City, released a few years ago at KLPac lobby, during intermission at KL Sing Song gig. Listening to him while admiring his fingerworks on the guitar, live, was breathtaking. Unfortunately I haven't got the chance to attend his Moonshine gigs as my stint in KL was over, just as I had gotten to know about Reza Salleh.

 

As the usual about me, I get to know about news very, very late. He realized and released his latest CD in November last year. From the listing of places available to get my hands on his offering, I had to resort to online order. Available in music stores only around KL, Singapore and Thailand. Well, that makes it easy for me to decide, then.

 

I placed an order and made payment on 1st March, and received it this afternoon. 4 working days is not laju at all. Compare that with having to go to KL myself, well...

 

There are 16 tracks on the CD, 5 of which appeared previously in Smoke City(underlined), either as demo tracks or acoustic version:

kasih

stracciatella

soultune

what the hell just happened i'm not really sure

sunsets with you

a relic is what i live in

the dotted line

angan-angan permata

ocean spanning sorrow

rest & relax

for her

need

50 down the way

battery

smoke city

for her (solo acoustic)

6 tracks in Smoke City can't give me enough of Reza Salleh. Hope that the newer 10 numbers are as good, if not better (I have only had a round of listening for now, and my favourites are sunsets with you, battery - the full version music arrangement is awesome and for her - solo acoustic). However, yeah, I bet it wouldn't top his acoustic, live performances.

 

I believe so.

36

I was pleasantly surprised this morning when I logged into my gmail and got more than 40 new messages - mostly tagged as 'facebook'. I received notifications from fb on friends' (and relatives) messages left on my Wall. Whaddaya know, friends even those whom I have not contacted for a long time wished me happy birthday.

 

To all of you, thank you very much for your wishes and do'a. May we all grow wiser and better as we age, and may our ibadah and 'amal increase as years pass.

InsyaAllah.

 

You know, it's nice to have private messages from your friends and acquaintances once in a while (okay, once a year in this case). Y'all made my day, truly. Can't thank y'all enough.

 

Shall I get a birthday present for myself?

Hmm... tempting.

 

As of now, wishes kept pouring in. Nice. I'm enjoying it.

FASTer food at McD?

Wanna get your McD meals without the hassle of standing in a line waiting for your turn to get your orders taken? Go to their drive thru whenever possible. You'll be sitting in your car, your orders are taken real quick, and best of all, you don't have to wait for long compared to standing in the line at their walk in counters.

 

After that, you may opt to stay in your car or bring the food into their premises to enjoy after you found a parking spot (free wi-fi, mind you).

 

Bonus: you get a brown bag and cup/drink holder too.

 

Neat.

Goodread's Barcode Scanner

what a cool idea

 

You're browsing for books in a shop, and you're wondering whether the titles that caught your attention are worth a read (and/or buy). You know, we always have this feeling of getting highly motivated and a heightened sense of wanting to absorb the texts of all the books surrounding us when we're in a book store. Many of my trips would always end up with me tugging a book or two and lining up the checkout counter. However, there's no way to know whether the books are as good (apart from the words of praise in the book itself, which sometimes quite suspicious to me).

 

Enter the GR's Barcode Scanner app. It's developed for iPhone, and iPod touch too. Scan the barcode of the book's ISBN and you'll get the details of the book, plus (more importantly) the reviews and rating of the book by fellow GR members. Now we have a tool to help us make better choices.

 

Click here to find out more about it.

 

If only I have an iPod (or an iPhone)...

:P

Pearl Jam's Ten Reissue

lots of stuff from four different packages

 

Coinciding with the 20th Anniversary of their Ten album, PJ released a reissue of the album on 24.03.2009. In FOUR different packages. I had the cassette back in 92 I think. And was hooked with PJ since then. They'll reissue their Vs and Vitalogy albums this year, too, according to RTT's news on 22.01.2011.

 

Being me, I don't really have all their studio albums, but I do have loads of their singles. Rare collections which I treasure (sitting quietly in a Toyogo box under a desk in my room). Adlee gave me the Vs CD which he bought while studying in the States. I bought a Vitalogy cassette thereafter, and it was all blurry after that.

 

While in Manchester, I collected those singles. I'm not sure how many I have, and I'm not gonna list them here. However, I do have the Jeremy single which also features Yellow Ledbetter.

 

Ten Reissue is in my list of the CD to get. If you find one, do tell me. Deluxe or Legacy should be fine.

 

 

image taken from here

 

Plastic Bags

tesco's green bag

 

There's a recent move by the government for supermarkets to 'sell' plastic bags on Saturdays. Well, that's the way I see it. The objective is to 'teach' consumers to limit their usage of plastic bags, and be more environmentally conscious due to the fact that plastic bags are a burden to the environment. They degrade slowly, if they do at all. Thus, on Saturdays, supermarkets would charge their customers 20 sen for each bag that they issue out.

 

However, let's look at the alternatives that are being offered by the supermarkets. No bag at all, or at 20 sen per piece, or you can buy the store's own nicely designed reusable shopping bag.

 

That's great. I myself has been reducing the use of plastic bags at supermarkets. Whenever the cashier loads the items that I bought into many different bags, separated according to types of items (food and laundry detergent, for instance, are never put in the same bag), I would try to stuff as many items that I can into as minimum number of plastic bags. I'd say the usual is about 20% of the bags issued are reduced.

 

During my days in the UK (1996-1998), Kwik Save and Aldi sells the bags at 2 pence each. That minimal 'penalty' is enough to deter people from using bags. However, paper boards and cartons were available to be reused in-store. An example of this can be seen in the film Employee of The Month.

 

Personally, for dry items, I don't need plastic bags. However, I still need plastic bags for fish especially and other wet items. Albeit, plastic bags are a little bit porous and thus need at least two linings in order to be totally drip-free. At home, I'm using plastic garbage bag for the kitchen refuse as they are almost always wet. That being said, I use only bio-degradable garbage bags.

 

Tesco and Jusco use oxo-biodegradable bags with TDPA additives from EPI. I don't know, but perhaps it costs more than the normal bags (like in Giant). The oxo-biodegradable garbage bags are comparatively more expensive than the normal ones, definintely. Well, with the 'no plastic bags' on Saturdays, they would save at least some $ for sure. And, at the same time gain $ by selling the 'eco friendly reusable bags' to customers. Of course, for this reason alone supermarkets would be giving thumbs up for the government's push. What more with the 'green' image. However, with the introduction of reusable shopping bags, my house is now finding it a bit scarce of the 'singlet' plastic bags. For a week's dry groceries, I need at least 3 of those reusable bags. And, would have no clean plastic bags to be used for wrapping my clothes and packed meals I bring to the office whenever I ride the bicycle to work.

 

My thoughts:

1. Plastic bags should be at 5 sen a piece, and they shall be of the oxo-biodegradable type. I still need them for wet items. 5 sen is still quite expensive, but that's the smallest change that we can pay. Or, it can be priced cheaper, at 3 pieces for 10 sen for example.

2. The expensive 'reusable bags' need to be scrutinised in terms of their eco-friendliness (how they are manufactured, will they biodegrade, can they be recycled, durability, etc.).

3. Supermarkets need to have the paperboard cartons made available for customers to use, in store.

4. Why only on Saturdays? Make it every day. People would just avoid shopping on Saturdays and hurt supermarkets that way.

 

Other thoughts:

The Malaysian Insider

Wall Street Journal

Organic Lifestyle Magazine - Paper vs Plastic

 

True enough, people would generally think twice to bring their Tesco reusable bags to shop at Giant. At least I do.

 

 

image taken from the star

Bella Delivered

from left: A, B, C, D and E (tentatively)

 

Bella, the mother cat who invited herself to stay within our house compound some time ago, has delivered 5 healthy kittens 2 days ago. This is her second birth. Her first was a few months before this without any survivor among the 4 kittens.

 

Hopefully all A, B, C, D and E would survive and stay away from the warm car engine compartment, tires, and many other dangerous nooks and crannies loved by kittens all over the world.

 

Hmmm... I wonder what Marsya and Adam would eventually name them.

 

 

Boy Bawang

boy bawang!

 

My Filipino office mates (and boss, too) went back to their hometown for Christmas and New Year holidays. As always, their return to office is accompanied with tidbits from the Philippines.

 

My favourite: Boy Bawang, of course. Some may dislike it due to its garlic flavour ('bawang' means garlic in Tagalog), but I just love it.

 

Can't get enough of 'em.

 

Corn nut, on Wiki.

Main Air - 31.12.2010

anak cina mana ni?

:)

no girls allowed

guess on whose door?

Lebuh Raya Pasir Gudang dinaik taraf

Ok, so expect takde lori lah, kat lebuhraya Pasir Gudang ni tak lama lagi untuk 'sementara'. Dan jem lagi, selama 'sementara' itu...

All the more reason to RTW.

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

Lebuh Raya Pasir Gudang dinaik taraf

Oleh ZULHISHAM ISAHAK

utusanjohor@utusan.com.my

JOHOR BAHRU 14 Nov. - Kerajaan akan menaik taraf Lebuh Raya Pasir Gudang daripada empat menjadi enam lorong pada tahun depan dengan kos RM150 juta bagi menyelesaikan masalah kesesakan lalu lintas.

Ahli Parlimen Pasir Gudang, Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin berkata, kerja-kerja menaik taraf itu akan dilakukan secara berperingkat dengan fasa pertama projeknya membabitkan kos RM40 juta.

"Lebuh Raya Pasir Gudang akan menjadi tiga lorong di setiap hala yang sebelum ini hanya mempunyai dua lorong di sebelah kiri dan kanan.

"Melalui projek naik taraf ini, kesibukan dan kesesakan di lebuh raya itu akan dapat diatasi," katanya pada sidang akhbar selepas merasmikan Program Komuniti Polis Daerah Seri Alam, di Dataran Alhamra, Menara Aqabah di sini semalam.

Turut hadir Ketua Polis negeri, Datuk Mohd. Mokhtar Mohd. Shariff dan Timbalannnya, Datuk Jalaluddin Abdul Rahman.

Pada Mei lalu, Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak semasa melawat Pasir Gudang berjanji yang kerajaan akan menyelesaikan masalah kesesakan di laluan tersebut.

Khaled berkata, apabila kerja-kerja menaik taraf bermula, semua kenderaan berat boleh menggunakan Lebuh Raya Senai-Desaru dan tidak dibenarkan menggunakan Lebuh Raya Pasir Gudang.

Beliau yang juga Menteri Pengajian Tinggi berkata, langkah tersebut adalah untuk sementara waktu bagi mengurangkan kesesakan sehingga projek menaik taraf siap sepenuhnya.

Terdahulu dalam ucapannya, beliau meminta penduduk di sini supaya memberikan kerjasama penuh terhadap program itu untuk memastikan kegiatan jenayah dapat dibanteras.

Katanya, ini kerana bilangan penduduk Pasir Gudang bertambah setiap tahun dan pihak polis tidak boleh berada di setiap tempat untuk menjaga kesejahteraan dan keamanan.

Sementara itu, Mokhtar berkata, indeks jenayah di negeri ini dari Januari hingga bulan lalu menurun sebanyak 24.25 peratus iaitu dengan mencatatkan 5,942 kes.

Bagi tempoh yang sama, katanya, indeks jenayah jalanan turut menurun sebanyak 38.62 peratus dengan bilangan 5,942 kes.

"Kadar jenayah bagi tempoh tersebut yang berjaya diselesaikan ialah sebanyak 42 peratus atau 7,678 kes," katanya dan yakin melalui program itu kadar jenayah di Johor dapat dikurangkan lagi.

SUMBER : UTUSAN MALAYSIA