Yes, I Felt It Too

I must post about this, though 3.5 hours later than most other bloggers.

I was at 2nd floor in my office in PJ, which is roughly 10m above ground. One of my colleagues claimed that he saw and felt the light above him swayed, and this caught my attention. I was skeptical initially, but then I confirmed it when I saw a swinging door moves by itself in a calm office. This was the first time I felt mild dizzy all of a sudden, and the dizziness lasted for 30 minutes. Then, I believed that this was a tremor after-effect from an earthquake somewhere near us. The radio then announced that it was contributed by an earthquake in southern Sumatra at 7.9 Richter scale.

It seems like it is Indonesia's turn to be hit by calamity. As far as I can remember, the disaster list started with Taiwan's Morakot typhoon in Aug. Then last week, we heard about the Ketsana typhoon lashing at the Phillipines, and it moved on to Vietnam, Cambodia and today, on Laos. Western Samoa was another victim, when they got double 'presents' with an earthquake hitting at 8 Richter scale and a tsunami that killed almost 100.

It is funny to know that all these are happening during the season where the movie 'Tsunami' is being shown and the movie '2012' coming soon.

Suck Chair 2

Saw this not-so surprising picture on The Sun front page today. The traffic jam happened on yesterday morning at Cheras Highway, heading towards PJ. It was mentioned that the jam lasted for a few hours. It was easy to claim that the jam caused by the huge influx of people going into/away from the city to work after a long Hari Raya break.



But what is in my mind is, whose responsible is it to prevent or minimize such a thing? The authorities do not see the need to solve the traffic jam at all, and it is easy to 'blame' it as a thing that is 'fated' to occur. The developer or highway companies are only good at coming up with ideas to open a new stream of income, in the way of making more toll booths but not at all innovative to prevent traffic jams from occurring. They are happily collecting the money, while seeing others suffer in their cars.

If this picture shows the LDP highway, my car will definitely be one of those among the crowd. Wonder if I want to complain, who should I go to? Ministry of Works, Ministry of Transport, Prime Minister's Office, Ministry of Housing & Local Government, our State Government or my MP?


> My Suck Chair experience: Queue before toll



> Paid RM1.60 and queue again after toll

Aston Villa : Match 6 result

My Villa boys suffered their 2nd defeat yesterday, outplayed by Blackburn 2-1 at Ewood Park. It was a disappointment, as Villa started very promisingly by scoring as early as the 3rd minutes. But the major disappointment came at the last minute when Blackburn scored from the penalty spot. This score brought them down to P7, with Tottenham and Arsenal leaping over.

Again, our golden boy, Gabby Agbonlahor was in the score sheet, and he made it 5th goal in 5 consecutive matches.


> Gabby, celebrating with Petrov and Milner

Anyway, we shall put this behind us, and look forward to the next big match, against the rich boys, Manchester City at Villa Park.

How To : Malaysian Do Europe : Part 7

6) Booking the Room

After doing the necessary and priority steps, which is to choose the destination and book the flights, it's time to search for the place to stay put. For budget travellers to Europe, there are many online booking sites to choose from. They are more or less doing the same thing, which is to help us book a room in hotel and hostel, or bed in hostel. Though they work from different websites, all of them are linked up and they show the real-time status of the rooms availability. Sometimes you won't believe your luck that you can find a room, though only minutes earlier they showed full house. This is because there are others who's fighting with you to get those rooms at the same time, but they backed off later.

Do bear in mind they impose booking fee, and take a 10% deposit. The balance of the total amount are to be paid when you check in. With intensive research up-down, left-right, you may be able to find one that waive the booking fee and save E2, like what Hostelz.com offered me for my room in Rome. But to travel budget-wise in Europe, don't expect to find a room for around RM50 (~E10), a price that is more likely will get you a bed in a dorm instead. This is the only bad thing for a Malaysian travelling to Europe due to the unfavorable currency exchange rate.

For lodging, there are many options; some of them shown below:
1) Single room, with or without attached bath
2) Double room, with or without attached bath
3) Triple room, without attached bath
4) 4 person dorm, single-sex (usually female) or unisex
5) 8 person dorm, single-sex (usually female) or unisex


> Double room with Double decked bed (Paris)


> Double room with attached bath (Barcelona)


> Double room with 2 single beds (Rome)

If you are travelling as couples, it is better to opt for option 2. The room is usually double decked but sometimes they offer double bed too, and the attached bath gives convenience and privacy. Even the one without bath normally has a basin in the room, if you are lucky. I believe your other half will be grateful as she doesn't need to go to the washroom for simple chores such as washing hands and wearing contact lens. The price to pay for this convenience comes with a price tag of around E10~15.

Some of the hostel booking websites that I used:


> www.hostelworld.com


> www.hostelsclub.com

> www.hostels.com

> www.hostelz.com

You can also try to search through the hotel or hostel's website directly. I tried this when I booked a room with Auberge Internationale des Jeunes (www.aijparis.com) in Paris. I got to book a room for 2 for only E28 (~RM140), which was the lowest ever found for a private room. Do remember that since the rooms are advertised online and real-time, the price will vary from time to time, similar to the low cost carrier ticketing system. What you buy now could be more expensive than when you buy it later. So, be patient and luck will be at your side.


> AIJ Paris booking form

London : Things To Do Info

Stumbled upon this list while surfing at www.ehow.com. It was a basic one, but sufficient for a travel walker like me who list London as one of my next target destination. Of course more deep research is needed in order to maximize the fun, and minimize the hassle. Briefly, the top 10 list given are as below:

1) LONDON EYE: One of the largest Ferris Wheel in the world
2) BUCKINGHAM PALACE: The place where the Queen lives and works
3) WESTMINSTER & BIG BEN: The Parliament and the clock tower
4) RIVER THAMES CRUISE
5) HYDE PARK: The park in the middle of the city
6) TOWER OF LONDON
7) THE THEATRE
8) OXFORD STREET SHOPPING: 2.4km long shopping thoroughfare
9) TRAFALGAR SQUARE
10) TATE MODERN: Art house

Pan Mee : PJ, Paramount Garden

Another Pan Mee recommendation from Petaling Jaya. The restaurant name is Paramount Garden Restaurant, and you need to take note of exiting from the main road (Jalan 21/12) after the KFC junction if you are going from SS2 or LRT Taman Paramount. The special thing about this place is their "coloured" pan mee, namely Carrot-enhanced "Orange" pan mee and Bo Choy-enhanced "Green" pan mee. They also have the normal beige colour type. You can choose your pan mee shredded (mit), and rolled (thin and thick noodle).



We usually go for Loh Pan Mee Yin Yong (Mix Pan Mee in thick brown gravy) served with their tasty chilli paste and black vinegar, and Yue Wat Pan Mee Yin Yong (Mix Pan Mee Fish Paste Soup) served with crispy bean curd skin.


> Loh Pan Mee Yin Yong


> Yue Wat Pan Mee Yin Yong

They have other things as well, such as Hot Plate Chicken Curry Noodle or Rice, and Tom Yam Noodle but I will let others to try and do the review. Price range from RM4.50~RM5.

How it fared? 5/5 for the taste, 3/5 for the price.

Food Recommendation : Mi Sedaap

With so many different types (dry, soup, spicy,...) and nationality (local, HK, Korea,...) of dry instant noodles, this is the one I would like to recommend. Mi Sedaap is the normal and simple kind (natural flavor), with standard onion oil, dark soy sauce, chilli sauce and flavor powder. But it is packed with something "special"; crispy fried onions that gives kriuk-kriuk sound.



Best to cook the noodle, and drain it until almost 90% dry. Add the sauces and mix thoroughly, and finally top with the kriuk-kriuk crispy fried onion. But for those who dislike eating crunchy peanuts, you may not like this version.



The price is considered mid-range, around RM3.50~4 per 5 packs. The other flavor that has sambal cost higher, but it is still cheaper than the one that has 25 years history.

Aston Villa : Match 5 result

Villa had a home game against the bottom club, Portsmouth "the Pompey" and without doubt, they came out as victor by thrashing Portsmouth 2-0. Goals came from James Milner, and again Gabby Agbonlahor. It was also their 3rd consecutive clean sheet.

As of today, Villa has climbed to P5, the position where they ended last season. They are just behind Chelsea, Man U, Liverpool and Man City.

Ganbatte Kudasai!


> The scorers: Milner (L) & Gabby (R)

Maaf Zahir dan Batin

Wishing all dan mereka yang berada di kawasan yang sewaktu dengannya, Selamat Hari Raya and Berayalah dengan Selamat! Hope to hear and see lesser kemalangan/kecelakaan news on TV3. Don't know why they like to put these kind of news as their main story almost each day when there is Ops Sikap. Aren't there more juicier news to report like the politics?

Anyway, this year's Raya has been a good one because it gave us 4 off days, especially since there is a Monday (second day of Raya).

Formula 1 : 1Malaysia Team

Malaysia Boleh lagi... We will be putting a team in the 2010 F1 season, as the 13th team.


> Potential 1Malaysia F1 car skin color

What money can buy, we can do it. Like the Chinese saying, "If a problem can be settled with money, it is not a problem at all". Don't mean to belittle the intention, but it's time we should think and plan for ways to achieve things others are also hunger for, like a World Cup finals spot, an Olympics gold medal, or the 100m sprint world record.

Anyway, the good thing is; we are again ahead of Singapore.

Aston Villa : Match 4 result

Yes, Villa won again today. The match just ended few minutes ago. It was a Midlands derby, against Birmingham City, and the goal was scored by Gabby Agbonlahor, and the man of the match was Richard Dunne.


> Gabriel Agbonlahor - the scorer

It was the 3rd win in a row for Villa in the BPL. They also won in their previous home match, 2-0 against Fulham.

Ole Ole!

Ling Gao Ling Gao

I'm trying to make this posting at 09:09 on 09/09/09. Hope I can timed it correctly.

Frankly, the only significant thing are the numbers. But hopefully, it also turns out to be a good day.