nite ride: jln tun razak - titiwangsa

here's the reading for last night's ride:
ride: 17.3km
ave: 20kmh
max. speed: 35kmh
route - the forum (jalan tun razak) - taman tasik titiwangsa - the forum

not a long ride, just to see the functionality of my new meter.
:)

xs mini project - finished!

here's the finished project.
total 17 days. not too bad.

xs mini project - nearly finished

got my meter!

I've wanted one of those for years.
It's a bike meter. Or cyclocomputer, in bike geek lingo.
A Cateye Velo8, for rm58 from Zaidi aka mr.beskal thru BBS.
Apart from the cool appearance of having a digital gizmo on my cockpit, the real reason for it is to gauge how I'm doing on the bike.
Here's the functions that it boasts:
Current speed
Maximum speed
Average Speed
Trip distance
Odometer
Clock
Elapsed Time
Calorie Consumption

If you took the time to count, they are 8 functions altogether (hence the name Velo8... duhh!)

retracing the past

Through my yahoogroup, i received the article below.
On a personal level, i find it very true.
My posts starting around 12 months ago are about recollecting my past hobbies.
To name a few: cross-stitching, cycling and lego.
All those are hands-on hobbies - making something tangible out of my time.
And no, they do not give me stress - just simple pleasures. What hobbies are meant to be, in the first place.

As for this blog, I send posts for my kids and myself. I'm sure there'll be some use later in life.
__________________
It's knitting needles you want, not iPhones
As adults discover Facebook and Second Life, the cool kids are realizing that one reality is enough for anyone
By Rupert Steiner
Published: 18 November 2007
Britons might be the "social networking" champions of Europe but new research being used by some of the world's largest firms shows a backlash against Facebook and mobile phones in favour of what's being called "analogue living".

Young people, under pressure to communicate through so many media channels, still crave their gadgets, but also want some low-tech time out and one-dimensional products.

Pub chains have started re-installing black and white televisions; mobile telephone manufacturers are making handsets that just make phone calls; stressed-out executives are heading to craft fairs, and adult spelling-bee events have become big business in America.

Firms such as Procter & Gamble, Virgin, Nike and Diageo are being told the future is in back-to-basics designs, simplified packaging and linking up with events that used to be totally "uncool".

The findings come in D-Code, an annual study produced by Henley Centre Headlight Vision (HCHV), a strategic consultancy owned by the advertising giant WPP, which tracks youth culture. Due out at the end of November, the study is considered the manual for future trends. It forms the basis for brand campaigns and new product launches at leading multinationals.

HCHV's chairman, Crawford Hollingworth, says this year's findings were unexpected: "Young people's circuits are overloaded. They can't keep on top of their email, surf their Facebook, handle their Second Life avatar and upload their Flickr. They find all this technology that is designed to connect them is in fact disconnecting them. They are actually in multimedia meltdown."

The result is a knee-jerk reaction towards the less sophisticated, as young people seek temporary salvation from the cutting edge. They are being driven to activities reminiscent of their childhood and more familiar with their parents' generation. Out goes MySpace, PS2s and iPhones, and in comes knitting clubs, craft fairs and cloud appreciation societies.

London's Notting Hill Arts Club hosts a weekly craft night where young people congregate to drink tea, listen to music and knit together. They find creating something tangible and the sense of nostalgia relaxing.

Others are shunning eBay for some low-tech trading in second-hand garments, swapping unwanted clothes on the dance floor of a London nightclub. At the sound of a klaxon, party-goers at the monthly Swap-A-Rama Razzmatazz night at Favela Chic in London's Shoreditch place something they are wearing on a washing line strung across the dance floor.

They then put on an item left by someone else, and end the evening leaving in an entirely different outfit. The trick is not to start the night wearing your finest from Prada.

"This is a backlash to auction sites on the web," explains Liz Chernett, co-editor of D-Code. "It is a playful way to get rid of unwanted clothes – everyone has clothes in perfect condition they never wear. People live in such fast-paced, stressed lifestyles, with fixed definitions of success and an expectation to succeed.

"There is this need to have a counterbalance to stress and anxiety, and this is an antidote to new tech and new media. Young people are looking at the pastimes from their youth when they didn't live with the same pressures and responsibility."

And they are not the only ones benefiting from the trend – big business is cashing in with analogue products and campaigns aimed at connecting with the back-to-basics consumer.

Absolut Vodka recently launched a television commercial featuring hundreds of protesters in a stand-off with heavily armoured police. When one of the rioters hurled a cushion over the police line, the crowd erupted into a pillow fight on a scale of children's dreams all to promote the drinks company's "In an Absolut World" campaign.

There has also been a rash of print advertisements that involve Blue Peter-style do-it-yourself activities. Sports giant Puma promoted its new Train Away clothing and trainers kit with an advertisement comprising perforations that when separated made hundreds of tiny numbered cards. Put together in order, these formed a flip book that gave the illusion of a runner in Puma gear. This marketing approach was aimed at engaging with the consumer.

But it is not just commercials – the theme has even migrated to do-it-yourself products. Trendy footwear maker F-Troupe created a limited-edition assemble-your-own moccasin.

"Some of the world's biggest brands are tapping into this," says Ms Chernett. "Others are bringing out products with retro design and packaging with a low-tech look. But this is not a fight against technology – youths want to be at the leading edge, but they also need a time for back to basics, where analogue living provides some respite."

The trend is not limited to Britain. Americans have taken the shift to another extreme. In New York there is a cloud appreciation society where groups of adults get together and lie in a park looking at clouds and discussing the different shapes.

In Canada, the Retro Brewing Company has differentiated itself by adopting 1950s styling. Beer is delivered in an old school milk truck and the in-house bar is fitted with a black and white television.

In previous D-Codes, companies were told to associate their products with crime or criminals. This was because public attitudes towards immoral behaviour had softened so much that poster campaigns based around figures such as the Krays gave a product "criminal kudos".

This year's report is more about times gone past, and the only criminality firms will need to embrace is to steal some ideas from yesteryear.

xs mini project - sequence

riding: road and off-road

i bought a bicycle in august. a mountain bike (or mtb). since then I’ve been riding the bike on KL streets every now and then. generally the streets are always with vehicles all the time. It’s just that the timing has to be right to ride safely.

i do take precautions for a safe night ride - front and rear flashers, helmet, long sleeve shirt with reflectors, side reflectors (on the wheel spokes). usually I’d go pedalling after 11pm. the streets are not as busy, the surroundings are quiet, and the air is cool sans dust and smoke.

one time during ramadhan after sahur i rode to jalan raja chulan, took a turn at menara kl and straight to jalan ampang via jalan p. ramlee. From jalan ampang i went home in jalan inai through jalan tun razak, jalan bukit bintang and jalan delima. one thing i hate the most: dogs. They’ll bark at me like mad.

my road rides are not that far. usually I’d take around 1 to 1½ hour each trip to and fro. from Jalan Inai, so far i had gotten to jalan raja chulan (near the weld), jalan sultan ismail, jalan bukit bintang, jalan pinang, jalan p. ramlee, jalan conlay, jalan stonor, jalan kia peng, jalan tun razak (and continue to jalan semarak). once i took jalan semarak right to the end (pulapol). turned out that it led to jalan ayer panas. man... that’s already setapak. the next road ride would be to taman tasik titiwangsa insyaAllah. I’d love to ride to sentul west area someday. and revisit jalan strachan. it would be best if it is during the day - perhaps during a public holiday that falls on a tuesday, wednesday or thursday.

i don’t know if i could do it, but I’ve had ridden a few times from jalan strachan to kampung pandan (nearby tesco ampang). those trips were back when i was young - 15 or so. i used to live in jalan strachan. i made the trips to kg pandan to learn play the guitar with my cousin. or just for the challenge of riding far. Here’s my route to kg. pandan: jalan strachan - jalan ipoh - turn at plaza pekeliling towards jalan tun razak - bulatan kampung pandan - jalan kampung pandan - kampung pandan (lorong C9). those trips were using a road bike (or we call it ‘racing’ bicycle) – a gift from ayah for my SRP results - pearl white Raleigh Rapide with 21 gears.

yesterday (public holiday - deepavali), i went off-road riding with Zulhisham (of Technip KL) and Shah Rafzee (the guy whom i bought my mtb from). we went to forest research institute of malaysia (FRIM) in Kepong. all my life, I’ve been there only once (and i can’t remember how i got there). yesterday was the second time. i enjoyed the ride. and the challenges that the trail offers. it has been quite a while since i last breath fresh air in the woods. riding in tranquility.

the weather was excellent. it was raining earlier in the morning. by the time we were in frim, it was all ok. the sky’s bright, with overcast - not hot and not humid, but breezy. The trail was damp. i had fun riding on the trail. we took the challenge of riding up a hill. Not steep, but long. soon after, came the reward: downhill riding. for this, brakes and poise need to be balanced. my rear tire skidded many times, but still in control. i really enjoyed the adrenaline rush. alhamdulillah, we came off safely.

for the next trip to frim, I’ll need better tires to grip the slippery trail - to steadily scale uphill and rush safely downhill. not bad for my first off-road riding. loved it! looking forward for the next one.

cross-stitch mini project

Masitah's wedding is approaching - well, in a few weeks' time, that is.

I have always had this 'i-don't-know-what-to-get-for-a-wedding-present' situation - and I hate it very much.
Well, I gather that she loves cross-stitch. And I have always wanted to do a project on an evenweave cloth.

And so, I started re-doing my finished project - one of the four cottages for Naza. I figure that it would be perfect: a 'home' theme for a wedding gift, in cross-stitch, on evenweave.

The size is just perfect for the Ikea glass & clip frame that I still have, stashed in a bag gathering dust on top of the bedroom cupboard.

Thus, the stitching began...

recycling has its perks - eventually

many months ago naza bought three big laundry baskets and labeled
(laminated) them:
plastic
paper
metal

from time to time, the household fill the baskets with wastes from our
everyday consumption.
papers - mostly newspapers and supermarket promotional booklets.
plastics - empty bottles and packaging/wrappers.

my job: to empty those baskets periodically.
destination: recycle bins at jusco permas jaya.

i know that what we are doing are relatively small scale towards greener
earth.
in any way, we know that we are saving quite a lot of energy than it would
take to produce our everyday things.
we are not that enterprising when it comes to dealing with recyclable
materials.
we did a few times at giant plentong - they issue coupons redeemable at
their supermarket. not that much, though.
well, i'd like to think of recycling as a charity. plus, doing it without
much hassle: unload, dump, and go off.

i went to jusco permas jaya friday afternoon before friday prayers, a day
before hari raya eidil fitri.
that's the only place i know where big recycle bins are provided. plus it
is on my way to run other errands.

the 'papers' bin is quite full, but not yet to its brim.
to my surprise, there are valuable papers in the bin.
no, not those banknotes (although it would be a nice treat especially on
the eve of eidil fitri).
they are in the form of books. and magazines.
lots of them. self-help books, national geographic magazines, and men's
health magazines.
without hesitation, i took those books. many of them. i ran through the
NGs, and many of them are already in my collection.
i took only 2 of them - one of them with a special report where Steve
McCurry found his subject after many years of searching - the Afghan Girl.
the books, among others:
kiyosaki: retire young, retire rich
don't sweat the small stuff for men
rowling: harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban
carnegie: how to stop worrying and start living
fish! tales
there's another by carnegie, one by dickens, and a few others.
i'd say total retail value worth easily more than RM250.
much, much better than measly coupons at giant (no, not saying that
recycling at giant is not good).
and the value of knowledge: who can put the price on it?

i didn't have the luxury of time (plus don't want to be a dumpster diver)
that afternoon.
so, i just grabbed only a few. there's a lot more in there.
sitting here typing this away, my mind went back to that bin thinking of
the other mags and books left in there.
i hope somebody else who appreciates good reading materials got his hands
on them.
and to the person who left (dump) the valuable papers in the bin: i don't
know what to say.
i have mixed feelings. happy, for i've found books that i wanted/wished to
buy.
regret, for those books and mags can be donated to institutions who needs
them.
they can always be left in a big box in front of a library entrance, or a
school.
slap on the box a label that says 'please take good care of them'.
much like harry potter was left in front of the door in a basket by his
parents.
perhaps he was in a hurry, or didn't know where to dump them, or tired from
packing things for moving away to some other place.
from the genre of those reading materials, and the fact that those are in a
recycled bin (not in just any dumpster bin), i know he's a learned person.
and must have a good reason why those books and mags end up there.
anyway, whoever it was, i would like to say 'thank you very much'.

petrosains @ klcc

If you love science in general, and especially petroleum-related science -
have a visit to Petrosains.
The entrance is on the 4th floor of Petronas Twin Tower in KLCC.
For the exhibits (many state of the art), the entrance fee is reasonable
(as the usual case - if it's free, you won't appreciate it that much).
I paid RM24 for 2 adults and 2 kids package (not sure what's the normal fee
- but with the package, kids get in free, sort of)

Largely it is about science related to petroleum. many are hands-on, which
brings appeal to the young ones.
from the formation of hydrocarbon, to drilling, to processing, to
transporting, to refining, to the end product.
there's a drilling platform, right after you step right out of the
helicopter simulator (Marsya thought it was real). among many others, the
platform bears life-sized replica of the xmas tree, lifeboat, cabin, galley
(kitchen), surau, drilling activities, separator vessel (smaller scale),
pipings with valves and fittings, pig launcher/receiver (not that obvious),
riser (with the 5D bends for pig to negotiate).
there's also a hands-on LED sim of petroleum refinery station.

well, you have to have a visit yourself. understand better about the role
of petroleum in modern life.
highly recommended.

oh, and be prepared with strong legs and full tummy. we took more than 3
hours to finish all the exhibits. plus a mini exhibit 'space' - in
conjunction with the recent and ongoing angkasawan program.

building blocks

Adam's birthday is on the 21st September.
for this year, i gave him a 'lego' present, in the shape of a bulldozer -
like 'bob the builder', he said.
it was not the actual expensive original blocks from Lego of Denmark.
rather, it was inexpensive copycat blocks from Ligao of China (where
else?).
i bought it from a stall in tesco ampang for rm8 - real cheap.
the quality of the pieces? on the good side. snaps quite tight as you'd
expect from the original lego.
the plastic parts are without burrs on the edges - really, really important
for blocks.
of course, the models are limited, but perfect for a novice.
one setback is that the roof of the bulldozer comes out quite easily.
i suppose it is the poor 'construction' design of the model. not related to
the block pieces.

legos are my favourite when I was growing up.
my brother and I had a few models in our collection.
It was very expensive, back then (even now, still).
one of my distant cousins went to london furthering his studies when i was
in the primary school.
when asked what kind of souvenirs we would like from london, we asked him
to buy us legos.
my father went to korea for one of his training stints with ktm. he brought
back 'kawada' - much like legos.
when i did my degree in manchester, i bought a lego technic set (big one)
at a flea market - for 5 quids - very cheap! (retailed at rm200++ in
m'sia).
was overjoyed with it, but my mates couldn't understand why.
too bad, i didn't have the opportunity (rather, the drive) to go to
legoland in windsor.

the special thing about lego is that it shaped my thinking and creativity.
i could also very well agree that it also influenced my character.
legos are only pieces of plastics. it is the thinking, creativity, and
vision that makes up the models.
in the lego instruction booklet, you can learn to make a few different
models out of the supplied pieces in the box.
it is flexible in nature - the message is that things are not limited, and
you may explore to make different things.
i learnt to make out things out of only the pieces that i have in hand.
if you've seen the movie Apollo 13, there's a situation where the engineers
in houston have to figure out to make something out of available limited
resources to help bring back stranded astronauts in space.
that's problem solving with use of creativity - helped me in countless
occasion.
perhaps because of lego, i go for things that have multiple usage, although
not necessarily 'all-in-one'.
i'm sort of 'kill two birds with one stone' kind of guy.

Adam and I enjoyed the 2 hours following the instructions in the booklet
and the bulldozer came out just nice.
He's very happy with it, and i'm happy to know that he can do it very well.
just that he hasn't got the grip yet on snapping the pieces together.
within those 2 hours, i learnt quite a few traits of my 5 year old boy.
he's attentive to details (even i missed out on them).
he does things neatly.
he can judge quite well.
i love his determination and perseverence. he didn't give up when it is
difficult.
sometimes i felt like doing it for him, to make it finish faster, but i
learnt that being patient has its rewards.
he needs time, and my confidence in him.
i think i'll get a few more for him and his sister Marsya.
and i hope they'll enjoy the adventures with those blocks.