1957 ~ 2007, 50 Years Malaysia

As we entering into the final month of 2007, we looked back, as we celebrated 50th Anniversary of independence, the nation itself had been in a real sad state. Many unsatisfactory issues echoed & rocked the blogosphere (the only medium for free right to speak) had put the mainstream media to shame. As a blogger myself, I do not want to live in a state of denial of what is happening in my country.

2007 is also a year to visit Malaysia, ushering the world to see the Malaysia but sad things happening had overshadowed all these. Democracy & right to speak, I seem to find a different set of definitions in this country.

When we try to voice ourselves, fight for our rights or make our stand, somehow rather there is fear to put us down. Even my family & some of my friends who are following my blog had adviced me to tone down my political view in this country. Not too long ago this year, a fellow blogger, Nathaniel was arrested & put to jail for a few days. Many times bloggers were caught in troubles with the authorities, are we such a threat to them if they do play their role well?

The authorities have no idea the power of blogosphere. We might not experience eating rendang in angkasa before, but that does not mean we are not civilize enough to differentiate what is right and what is not. We do not need US25million to 'mengangkasakan tamadun", sometimes you see our politician antics, whatever they said, whatever they uttered can be seriously an insult to our intelligence.

I believe bloggers play a major role in the new Malaysia transformation. The mentor for all Malaysian bloggers, Jeff Ooi who blogged at Screenshots joined the fight for a better Malaysia too. 2007 will indeed special for the Malaysian blogosphere. We have so many heroes who dare to speak up, some chose to rap up :P





Who are the one that revealed the conspiracy of the appointment of Malaysian CJ? Imagine if it's true, the No.1 man in Malaysian judiciary system. OMFG, it makes me really wonder if there is justice in the first place. Still remember the explosive 8 minutes "correct, correct, correct" video?



Pictures below are courtesy of Screenshots summarized the rest, looking at some of the pictures below, really angered me. In my schooling days, we were taught to respect each other regardless of race & religion which is one very important component in this country of masyarakat majmuk.

Tear gasses & chemical water were sprayed into the holy Hindu temple in Batu Caves which happened to be a tourists spot as well. Sad isn't it? First they demolished temple, second they shot human in the temple with tear gasses & chemical water, wtf??? Karma, believe in karma....









God saves my country, please.....

Viewty & BZ

Over the past week, it had been an eventful week for myself, I am so tied up with my work that I am neglecting my blog totally. My company had just launched a new gadget, by now I believe many photography enthusiasts had already know what I am trying to talk about or what's the topic above meant.

Unveiling LG KU990, pet-named Viewty, 5.0MP Camera Phone with the capability of up to ISO800 & video capturing at 120fps. It is one of its kind in the market at least for the current moment. Above KLCC night view taken with the camera phone courtesy from TV Smith, and this particular gadget had been main review item among LensaMalaysia members, check out pictures taken with Viewty here.

Last week alone, I had been busy toying myself with this gadget, preparing for the launch which was held last Friday @ JW Marriot. I am expecting this model to be a hit for tech savvy seekers, check out the Viewty product film below. Stock as of the time I am updating now is not available as yet, but please do make your booking at the nearest LG Mobile kiosk in your area.



I would not elaborate further on the phone itself, as this is not a paid advertorial, just sharing what's keeping me busy for the past week. My sincere apology too to my ex-schoolmates who held a small gathering back in KL, am suppose to join them @ Bar Flam but by the time I finished the launch and dealers grabbing me for beer, it had already past midnight. Guys, let's meet up Christmas ya! Sorry mates!



Saturday, again I sacrificed my personal time for some work back in office, coordinating sales counter & my dealer for the long awaiting TVXQ 2nd Asia Tour concert in Stadium Merdeka in which LG Mobile is the presenter. If I am not part of LG, I mean, I would not have know who the hell is TVXQ but frankly their performance I would rate a good one, the whole setting up, chronography, much better than some Hongkie or Taiwanese performers that I saw before.



Lucky me, I am on the VIP seating but it made no difference to be in that zone compared to the free standing LG Rock Zone because even the crowd on the VIP area could not behave themselves, all would stand on the chairs making us almost impossible to see what's on in the front. Very unlike concerts that I attended in Bangkok where crowd will behave and it will only made those who really paid RM400 for a ticket frustrated. Or should we blame it on the security & organiser? Hopefully the same thing does not happen during the upcoming S.H.E concert this Saturday.



TVXQ certainly have more followers than I expected, although I do not understand what the freak they singing about but I think pretty faces & a decent voice can be a killing package for some. Ending up with one of their catchy tune slow ballad.



Deep down, I hope Namewee will hold a concert here :P TMDCCB!!!

BERUKS

Picture courtesty of theCICAK.com

Still remember the above historical day? I was in Cambodia then and kudos to CNN & Al-Jazeera, I was kept in the loop through news reported about the event. My super salute to all who had come together for the betterment of our next generation.

The blogosphere coverage on this simply marvelous, "they, they, they" want to control us but the technology got its edge over "them, them, them". I can see a NEW Malaysia coming, we do not need rapper politician to represent us, if we would have we would rather opt for TooPhat instead :)



You know, the "son in law" call the protesters BERUKS, if we are BERUK, check this out, the Papa of All Beruks.



Hats off to Al-Jazeera, at least you let the world know what is the real political & media state in Malaysia. According to a minister, water cannon & tear gas used to disperse the protesters cannot be considered as the use of force. wtf? What's on your mind? Songkran festival in Malaysia? Check out the 2 part interview from Al-Jazeera here.

Last but not least, I wanna dedicate this song to some of the rappers, brush up your skill my mate...



TMD, CCB....

Silence!!! I'll Kill You

This is pretty random. I am so stucked up with my work, with the launching around the corner, there is so much to do but too little time, check this out, feel free to check out my new product.

Again, I need to put aside my posting on my trip, so sorry kept you guys waiting. It's 10.28PM now and I am still in the office to get things done, meetings after meetings, discussions after discussions, it's killing me. And today itself, I single handedly sent out 50 invitations for my launching, someone please help me!!!

Indeed I need someone to cheer me up a little, thanks to Tim who MSNed me & sent me this cool link... Now SILENCE!!! Or I'll kill you... check the video out...

Finally... OMFG, I Blogged!!!

I thank Lord Jesus, Kuan Yin Ma, Lord Siva, etc that I finally posted something here. I have to apologise to all readers who never fail to drop over and I am sorry I had let you down. Ever since I came back from the long break for my trip to Cambodia, it had been nightmare. Things piling up without any assistance & follow up while I am away, but I am strong enough to take the challenge that I got no choice but to neglect my blog for a while.

Sorry guys, it had been a mixed one week, filled with joy, stress, upsetness, happiness, surprises. And now here I am standing strong. Something good to share with everyone, in 2008 I will be handling altogether a new portfolio (to share when everything finalize), so forgive me as I am doing some clearing & cleaning at this very moment, I am indeed thankful & happy for this piece of news. I had to postpone my Cambodia posting to a bit later as this week been dramatic in a lot of ways.

Came back from my trip, I met up with one of my favourite girl, Vivienne Ivy for lunch and another belated birthday gift from her & a lovely card, I almost cried ya.



And indeed I like this special gift, thanks for the short but I will definitely cherish the memories. I wish you the best of everything and hopefully we can cross path in future pretty soon.



That night, I brought her to Scarlet, Cineleisure with bunch of colleagues & new friends. It's my first time there and managed by the same team of Sanctuary, The Curve. Frankly if you ask me, i prefer the latter although the play almost the same kind of music. I am a retro man :P



Reached there about 10.30PM, had light dinner with Vivienne (she's a gem) then proceeded to join the rest of the gang. We had great fun, crowd was not overwhelming but alcohol took its effect on us, and we enjoyed ourselves.



Picture above, my bunch of colleagues KarJun, Li Chin, Andrew, myself, Vivienne & Stephen. At the back my new found friends (hell of a great pair), Jayden & Kenji, you guys ROCK!!!



The following night, I again went entertainment with my clients till wee hours, they said it's payback time as I had been neglecting them for a while for my trip (actually they missed me, I guess, *perasan maximum*) :D

And on Saturday, I accompanied two of my best girlfriends to get their dream bodyart. Welcome to the family, girls!!! You girls are super sexy now, I love both the designs. And for those who are into bodyarts or tattoos, I highly recommending this famous parlour in Desa Sri Hartamas, Borneo Ink. They are masters for Iban designs & had been awarded numerous shows around the globe. Clean & safe, that's the most important thing.





And speaking of the devil, I cannot help myself by making myself happier with this present for new year, so guys stay tune, I hope I do not scare some of my underage readers :P



And on a beautiful Sunday, went out with a super friendly blogger, I guess who read blogs might know this lovely girl. Camwhoring for 2 bloggers :P



Looking at most pics above, I do looked like I am a walking zombie, not enough rest, having late nights on both work & social, and coming this Friday I will be having a new launch, and imagining this, it is at times seriously hard to juggle time to please all. And thank god, finally I freaking blogged!!!

Next, Angkor Wat, I promised!!!

Siem Reap - Day 1 (Part 1)

This post is going to be a super long post with plenty of pictures, as I promised to my other travelling companions, I am going to share our backpacking experiences in Siem Reap in details here.

Upon checking in the hotel, I sat down to discuss with our tour agency manager, Mr. Panha Ou from Amazing Angkor on the rest of the itinerary planned for us throughout our stay in Siem Reap. Managed to strike a reasonable rate for tour which inclusive of an English speaking tour guide, a driven van with supply of cold bottled water & wet towels. The rate given to us was USD55 inclusive of the above mentioned for a full day tour for 4 pax (pretty reasonable in my opinion).

We were given a map & full detailed itinerary from our tour guide, Mr. Borom and knowing that it is going to be a long high energy straining day, we requested a breakfast stop at the nearest local food stall. We were brought to a local restaurant where all patrons were of Cambodians, we looked like alien as we started snapping pictures in the run down wooden attap restaurant. Check out the menu, would not elaborate further on what we ate, let the pictures do the talking :) One thing I need to stress here, I tasted the best ever instant noodles in my whole entire life in this country :P


Taking orders


The menu


Beef noodle soup


Fried Pork w/rice


Beef Lok Lak


Fried Rice w/Pork


After the satisfying local breakfast, we were brought to the ticketing counter. Please note that our day tour fee is not inclusive of entrance fee. We opted for a 3-days visit pass that cost USD40. The pass will allow access to visit all temples in the Angkor surroundings.




3-Day Pass


The staff at the ticketing counter are really nice, greeting us with smiles and even offered us this some kind of fruit. I do not know what is it called in English, it tasted a bit like bamboo shoot, eaten with salt, sugar & chilli. Pretty tasty really. Something new.






There are hundreds of temples ranging from sizes, so our tour guide suggested us to visit the main temples in Siem Reap. The emergence of Angkor kingdom was traced back in the 8th century. We visited Preah Ko temple, the first project from the 3rd Angkor ruler, Indravarman I.

It is simply amazing just imagining the craftmanship of the Khmer's civilization of more than thousand years ago. We next visit the Lo Lei & Bakong temples, we can now differentiate the temples based on the stones that they used, from laterite to sandstone. Heavy restoration is being done mostly by the French & Japanese archeologists in most temples we visited.

In most temples' gates, we were greeted by Naga, a cobra lookalike statuettes. While carvings on most temples in the late 8th & 9th century were of Hinduism influences. We saw a lot of carvings of Vishnu & Siva (Hindus God) and also devattas (lady with head dress & necklaces).






A great country for photography enthusiast. A lot of small souvenir stalls are located outside the main temples. Scenes of monks meditating in the monastery and kids running around the temple area, trying their best to sell their souvenirs to the tourists.








From various angles, we can actually take fine captivating pictures, just like the below Bakong tower framed by the sandstone gate. Though tired, but it is indeed satisfying for us to see such amazing monuments. We really strecthed our digital camera to the maximum. After about 3 hours, we adjourned for lunch at a nearby Khmer restaurant.

It's been a super duper long post, I am a bit tired myself with my long winded travelogy. So what's installed next???

ANGKOR WAT.... I COME, I SEE, I CONQUER!!!

Siem Reap - First Impression

We reached Siem Reap at about 9am local time (flight about 2 hours). Airport looks pretty modern & neat with traditional carvings & finishing. We were greeted with statuettes of Naga (traditional snake lookalike creature) and King riding on an elephant inside the terminal. Immigration service is fast, custom officers greeted with smiles. A good impression compared to other countries I travelled like Vietnam, Macau & China (service was crap).





This our my first time doing backpacking and it had been good minus a small hiccup during our arrival. Besides the airticket, our hotel reservation was done via internet as well. We booked Earthwalkers, which online offered a real good deal of USD17/room with aircond, bathroom & double bed. Personally I advice all to blacklist this guest house as upon reaching airport, there were no pick up for us. We took airport taxi to Earthwalkers cost us USD5 & to our shock the whole guesthouse is under major renovation. WTF???

But lucky enough, the tour agency we liaised closely with (Amazing Angkor) managed to arrange another guesthouse for us situated in the heart of Siem Reap town, thanks to Mr. Panha Ou for his assistance when we felt helpless. I highly recommend this agency to handle your tour to Siem Reap, they cater everything based on your budget.

Our guesthouse is Mekong Angkor Palace, decent double bed room with bathroom attached & a swimming pool. Breakfast is provided and the staff here made us really feel at home most of the time.





Other impression about Siem Reap, the drivers here drive really slow safe, in the region of 40-60kmph, according to the driver that picked us, accidents are common so they need to be cautious all the time, travelling on a vehicle at that pace can really put us to sleep :)

The city itself, the surroundings look a bit like Hatyai, Thailand. Lots of motorbikes & bicycles on the road, most of the vehicles there are without plate number and motorbike & its pillion riders are without their safety helmets on most of the time. The city is pretty dusty, not a dirty country but I think the nature of the soil there, the dust was of those laterites not due to pollution. Be prepared to get yourself dusty (remember bring disposable wet tower if possible), for us our tour guide provided that to us.

The people - most of them can speak decent English, even the kids. Most of the people here are tanned but you do spot some with fairer complexion but the population in Siem Reap according to our tour guide there are about 20-30% of Vietnamese in the city.



Currency used - most of the time US Dollars. For backpacking, USD300 would be enough for a 5d/4n trip to this city. They do have an official currency which is 'Riels' but most of the people here used USD, the price tags on restaurant menu & shopping items are all quoted in USD. For your knowledge, USD1 is equivalent to approximately 4,000Riels.

Use light sandals to travel around, go for Crocs, easier to clean and so light that you can walk & climb a lot.



So what's install next in mikemmery??? The sandstones, laterites, mikemmery laid his hand on the amazing civilization of Angkor Wat.



Stay tune!!!