All Souls Day

Tomorrow will be All Souls Day, it is a wonder how time passes by so fast. My grandparents have passed away for years now. I miss them a lot. Whenever I hear my friends visiting their grandparents, I will think of my granparents too.

I believe they are enjoying themselves up in heaven. I pray to the Lord that he will watch over them in heaven and also my family and I.

I want to visit them, but alas, tomorrow I have class so I can't make it. Maybe I'll go up there sometime later.

HAPPY ALL SOULS DAY

Picture taken from: http://www.irtc.org/ftp/pub/stills/1999-08-31/cross.jpg

The wonderful God

Someone forwarded this to my email...very nice and touching.

She jumped up as soon as she saw the surgeon come out of the
operating room.

She said: "How is my little boy? Is he going to be all right?
When can I see him?"

The surgeon said, "I'm sorry. We did all we could, but your
boy didn't make it."

Sally said, "Why do little children get cancer? Doesn't God
care any more? Where were you,
God, when my son needed you?"

The surgeon asked, "Would you like some time alone with your
son? One of the nurses will be out
in a few minutes, before he's transported to the university."

Sally asked the nurse to stay with her while she said good-bye
to son. She ran her fingers lovingly through his thick red curly hair.

"Would you like a lock of his hair?" the nurse asked.

Sally nodded yes. The nurse cut a lock of the boy's hair, put
it in a plastic bag and handed it to Sally.

The mother said, "It was Jimmy's idea to donate his body to
the University for Study. He said it might help somebody else.

"I said no at first, but Jimmy said, 'Mom,

"I won't be using it after I die. Maybe it will help some other
little boy spend one more day with his Mom."

She went on, "My Jimmy had a heart of gold. Always thinking of
someone else. Always wanting to help others if he could."

Sally walked out of Children's mercy Hospital for the last
time, after spending most of the last six months there.

She put the bag with Jimmy's belongings on theseat beside her in the car.
The drive home was difficult. It was even harder to enter the empty house.

She carried Jimmy's belongings,and the plastic bag with the lock of his
hair to her son'sroom. She started placing the model carsand other personal things
back in his room exactly where he had always kept them.

She laid downacross his bed and, hugging his pillow, cried herself to
sleep.


It was around midnight when Sally awoke. Laying beside her on
the bed was a folded letter.

The letter said:
"Dear Mom, I know you're going to miss me; but don't think
that I will ever forget you, or stop lovingyou, just 'cause I'm not around
to say I LOVE YOU I will.always love you, Mom, even more with each day.


Someday we will see each other again. Until then, if you want
to adopt a little boy so you won't be so lonely, that's okay with me.
He can have my room and old stuff to play with. But, if you decide to get a
girl instead, she probably wouldn't like the same things us boys do.
You'll have to buy her dolls and stuff

girls like, you know.

Don't be sad thinking about me. This really is a neat place.
Grandma and Grandpa met me as soon as I got here and showed me
around some, but it will take a long time to see everything.

The angels are so cool. I love to watch them fly.

And, you know what? Jesus doesn't look like any of his
pictures. Yet, when I saw Him, I knew it was Him.

Jesus himself took me to see GOD! And guess what, Mom? I got
to sit on God's knee and talk to Him, like

I was somebody important. That's when I told Him that I wanted
to write you a letter, to tell you good-bye and everything.
But I already knew that wasn't allowed. Well, you know what Mom?

God handed me some paper and His own personal pen
to write you this letter. I think Gabriel is the name of the angel who
is going to drop this letter off to you.

God said for me to give you the answer to one of the questions
you asked Him 'Where was He when I needed him?' "God said
He was in the same place with me, as when His son Jesus was on
the cross. He was right there,as He always is with all His children.

Oh, by the way, Mom, no one else can see what I've written
except you. To everyone else this is just a blankpiece of paper. Isn't that cool?

I have to give God His pen back now. He needs it to write some more
names in the Book of Life. Tonight I get to sit at the table with Jesus for supper.
I'm, sure the food will be great.

Oh, I almost forgot to tell you. I don't hurt anymore. The
cancer is all gone. I'm glad because I couldn't stand that pain anymore and God
couldn't stand to see me hurt so much, either. That's when He sent The Angel of
Mercy to come get me. The Angel said I was a Special Delivery! How about that?



Signed with Love from God, Jesus & Me.

"When you're down to nothing, God is up to something."

Finals are coming up soon !!

My My My, how time flies by so fast... October is almost over and November is coming up in one day time. By the end of this month iI'll be sitting for my finals and 2 papers in one day "wah piang" want to die already. But what to do have to try my very best so from now on I'll have to study study study!!

>.<"

Gambateh Edwin!!!!

Please Speak Proper Bahasa Malaysia!!

Earlier this month the government has given the green light for Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) to advise or fine anyone who does not use the national language correctly on signboards.

WTF.... really la...what 's wrong with these people...they want to fine people for not using the national language properly.

Look at this quote: Rais also gave some examples of commonly used terms such as Touch ‘N’ Go and Boulevard that he would like to see changed to Bahasa Malaysia terms. “The word for ‘Boulevard’ should rightfully be ‘Lebuh Perdana’,” he said.

So imagine next time when your in Malaysia and you are using the public transportation in Malaysia instead of Touch 'N' Go you might see this Sentuh 'dan' Pergi. and how about the Malaysian Identity card which is known as Mykad it is a mixture of BM and Eng. Prolly they will change it into KadSaya...wah lau so long the name.... =.=

The next thing could be they will start suing people for not using Bahasa Malaysia properly. For instance, two friends are chatting together.

Person A : Hi! Apa Khabar?
Person B : Oh! I sangat Baik, you?
Person A : I sini baik juga. You masih kerja kat Company tu ka?
Person B :Ya, Tapi saya fikir mau tukar kerja, kerja kat situ si Best la.

Suddenly...two unknown people came and issued them a fine... when they read what is written in the fine. Didenda: Salah Guna Bahasa Malaysia semasa bercakap ( Being fined because of speaking improper Bahasa Malaysia)

hahahaha.... Hopefully they won't enact this oredinance or else I won't have nice videos like this




Do click and watch it... it is a funny video

So we must always use BM properly on our signboards next time...unless you wanna get fined he he he

Video taken from youtube by: roxarian

Siar Beach @ Lundu

A week after the snorkeling trip, I again embarked on another sea side trip. This time is to Siar Beach which is located in Lundu district. Lundu is a small coastal town which is an hours and a half drive from Kuching city.

The Little Stream

Beach Area

We booked a room at Siar Beach resort. Its a pretty nice small resort, but alas we can't compare it with Damai, Damai Lagoon or Santubong Resort of course. It is a pretty nice resort but along that stretch of Beach there are 3 small different resorts cramp together, these are Hock Lim Resort, Retreat @ Siar and of course ours Siar Beach Resort.

Clear water

Basically, the resort provided us with what we needed, fresh water, beds, air-cond a nice beach. BBQ area. Yeap it was a nice place to chill out. The beach is located near a mangrove swamp but the water is still quite clear and clean. but bare in mind some of the places tend to be a bit muddy but no harm done. Once there, it was high tide so we checked in to our room and change into our swimming gear and went for a dip.

Mangroove

My friend was lucky enough to find a real life mussel a huge one again...*envy* >_<, but alas the poor mussle didn't get to live instead it end up in the BBQ pit and got eaten!! Poor guy well...Mother Nature what can I say.

BBQ!!

That night we had a BBQ party which consists of Chicken wings and delicious pork. Side dishes would be Instand Mash Potato and Tom Yam flavored Maggie. Drinks that night would be coke and beer. But it was a fun night though. We also explored a termite’s nest... there were a lot of them marching away.

Good Luck Mr. Mussel!!

That night we weren't only the ones enjoying ourselves there was another group of people who stayed next to us were obviously enjoying themselves, they even brought along speakers and the whole fuckin PA system to Karaoke there...really it was crazy. While the night was still young we took a stroll on the beach it was low tide by then and we saw small puddles of water which a lot of small fishes were trapped inside. You can see some prawns inside too I caught some small fishes too but no worries i did not put them in the BBQ pit hehehehe they lived I just wanted to them.

I'm not alive don eat me >.<

Alas, the next morning was not a very good start for us. My friend had a very bad accident fell down and had a really bad wound and was brought to the hospital to be treated. He got 5 stitches. Very painful. Another girl and I also fell down at the same spot but ours were just minor injuries. So, no worries.

Nope u can't see me...

After we went back to the resort my friend had a rest, I went and walked around the beach again, this time there is not much fishes or prawns in the puddle. Unless you walked along the stream than you might find them there. At the end of the day before we went back we found another sea creature… A Crab!!!!! But alas, the crab did not live to see another day… it was eaten by my sister’s friend who caught it.

Mommy!! =.="

Lemme go!! T-T

Siar Beach is a nice place to chill out, so if you’re considering chilling out and relaxing you can consider Siar Beach. It is quite a nice place but a reminder though…only Celcom line is available there DIGI and Maxis service is not available.

Boiled!! +.+

Shattered

Suddenly my life took a major change, something somebody said has shattered my world into pieces, everyday i wake up feeling like a total wrecked person. My heart felt like it has been stab through over and over again.

I felt that as if my life has become meaningless, my smiles and laughter has been stolen away from me. But no matter what I have to urged myself to stand up strong and live my life. As people always said and my friends always reminds me Life Goes on. Hopefully I can see that point soon and live my life as a happy person.

I also hope as time passes by the wounds in my heart would heal. But it is not going to be easy.

The Underwater Jewel of Kuching - Talang-Talang Island

Talang-Talang Island

On October 14, My sister invited me on a snorkelling trip to Talang-Talang Island. Before I venture any further, let me give you a brief introduction about Talang-Talang island. According to the guide on that day Mr. Ernest, In Sarawak we have only 5 islands. From this infomation, I think I may conclude that 4 of the islands are situated in Kuching. These are Talang Talang Island Kecil and Besar (Small and Big). Another two islands which also situated in Kuching Division would be Satang Island Kecil and Besar. Another island in Sarawak should be Pulau Burung (not sure if I am correct or not). Anyway I shall continue about Talang-Talang, both of the islands are marine parks owned by the Sarawak Forestry, thus taking anything from the island (i.e Catching fishes, fishing, Taking corals) are strictly prohibited. Talang-Talang island is around 30 minutes boat ride from Sematan, a small town which is about 2 hours drive from Kuching.

The boat taking us to Talang-Talang

A big boat

Talang-Talang Kecil

Talang-Talang island is also turtle conservatory area, Turtles eggs are protected in these islands, young turtles are kept for a period of time before being released into the sea. According to the guide Talang-Talang island Turtle Conservatory is one of the most successful in Malaysia.

Talang-Talang Besar

We were lucky that day, because that day the weather was extremely good and the water is crystal clear. From the boat we can actually see the underwater life down there swimming and the beautiful corals. Our first stop is at Talang-Talang island kecil, before we went down to snorkel the guide brief us on a few things about the islands, one of the things that he stressed to us is that we should not take anything from the island especially corals or the fishes back home as a souvenir. The park rangers have every right to arrest us if we do so.

Corals

Fish Feeding

The underwater scenery of Talang-Talang Kecil is beautiful, you can see varieties of fishes swimming around the corals, it was superb seeing the fishes swimming in their natural habitat. Some of the fishes are nibbling on the corals. The most exciting part in Talang-Talang Kecil is when we spotted a green turtle trapped on the rocky shores. Of the island, of course like a bunch of crazy people we swam towards shore to take a better look at the turtle, but we sort of frightened it a bit because it rushed inside a small rocky pool, which it got stuck there. It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, those big beautiful eyes of it looked at us when we were sitting beside it, the smooth shell and those soft flippers, I am happy I swore myself off turtle eggs ages ago, after seeing this wonderful animal, we took the opportunity to take photos with the turtle and in the end we help and freed it back in the sea, once it was in the water it was like a torpedo, it swam so fast, and it was so graceful, the way it flipped its flippers made it look like a bird, no wonder turtles are called birds of the sea!!

Turtle

Trying 2 free it

Almost free

Later on we went back to the boat for some snacks. My sis’s friend Joseph made a delicious French loaf, it was extremely delicious. We also had crackers with Tuna which of course was not as good as the French loaf that Jo made, but still it satisfied our hunger. He he he

Yummy

Next stop, was Talang-Talang besar, again the guide brief us about the island. The guide told us that the coral formation in Talang-Talang besar is different that that of Talang-Talang Kecil. Talang-Talang seems to be deeper than Talang-Talang Kecil, so it was quite scary but than again like what the guide told us the coral formation is different from Talang-Talang Kecil, here in Talang-Talang besar the corals are far more beautiful that those in Talang-Talang Kecil, here in Talang-Talang besar we can actually see sea anemone and clown fish (Nemo). Again we saw many different types of fishes some of them also saw sharks!! Aiiks…scary…. Haha but I did not see any cause I was too busy swimming near the shore line looking at cute fishes.

Sea Anemone and Clown fish (Nemo)

Our day ended, when we saw a school of dolphins swimming and jumping in a distance which was quite near us, all of us “Ohhed” and “Ahhed” when we saw the dolphins, we were so excited and we were like a bunch of weirdoes who seems to have never seen dolphins in our entire life. Haha… but really that made our day, we went back home smiling. It was the most exciting and lovely trip, I highly recommend you all out there to go try out Talang-Talang. To me it is more beautiful than Manukan Island of KK, Sabah.

Doplhins

Group Photo

Underwater and Turtle Photos courtesy of Miss Yvonne Lau

Blogger Beta

I've just decided to try out the new Blogger beta version. Luckily for me I have a gmail account. It seems that blogger beta is better than the old one. In this version there are a lot more added features, including labelling your post.

I have also added a few side links like labels to make my blog more user-friendly, I have change some of the other links too and added a new web counter. The template design has been changed too, but colour remains blue cause I can't help it I like blue colour (-D ... so I hope you guys don't mind. But I do hope my "upgraded" blog will be better and more interesting. Thanks!!

Have a Scoop

Scoops, is this new gelato Bar that has recently open up in Kuching. I decided to go and try it out last Saturday. When I was there, business seems quite good a few groups of people there are already savouring themselves which delicious Ice-creams.

I went up to the counter, the system there is a bit odd though, i believe they are copying coffee bean style. First you have to pay for what you want, then the cashier will pass you a receipt, pass the receipt to another person, where you tell him/her what flavour you would like and they will put it in a small cup, then you take it and find a seat that you like and enjoy the ice-cream.

The bar counter

I decided to choose the double scoop which cost me around RM8.00 (No GST charge here), then I chose the flavour I wanted which was Strawberry and Blueberry yoghurt. My friends opted for French vanilla and Blueberry. The ice-cream was not bad quite OK. Of course it is better than Walls and Kings, it is definitely something new. The Strawberry was nice and blueberry is just as good. I think the price is quite reasonable but still a bit too expensive. But its quite worth it. The one I took there is a whole strawberry inside but it is frozen though because it is inside the ice cream.

Strawberry and Blueberry Yogurt


French vanilla and Blueberry

According to my sis it is too expensive and it is not as good as Haagen Dazs. But still there is not much choice in Kuching...some how this is the only gelato bar available in Kuching. Hopefully Haagen Daz might consider coming into Kuching. In this way we can have more variety.

The inside of Scoops

But overall, I think Scoops is quite good. the price is quite reasonable, service wise is not bad also. In case you want to visit Scoops, it is located opposite Hilton Kuching's front entrance. Easily found and can't be missed.

Traffic Congestion

I guess this is something pretty normal in most cities whether its a big city or a small city. Well in Kuching it is no different. But if you compare Kuching with KL or Tokyo or some other cities of course we far much better than them. But sometimes the Traffic congestion in Kuching can be quite scary too. I still remember recently in the newspaper they quoted that in Kuching alone there are some 250,000 vechicles and the number is still growing.

Long Queue

Well Kuching is growing, so I guess to number of vehicles on the road is growing too. What I think Kuching needs now is a real highway. A few of the roads down here are not suitable to have a traffic light. Even after they built a flyover after a few years, the traffic congestion problem is back and worse. An example is Jalan Simpang Tiga, During peak hours the jam goes all the way up to the flyover and its getting from bad to worse.

Congestion at Jalan Simpang Tiga

Another thing I find is that the roads in Kuching are never properly maintained... the roads down here are so bumpy!! well there is this certain company who is own by this CERTAIN someone who is suppose to maintaining the roads, don't seem to be doing the job...well I still live here so I better not say much...lolx

Morning rush hour at Jalan Simpang Tiga

Hazy Kuching

The haze is back again, and this year it seems a bit more serious. for the pass few days the Air Pollutant Index in Kuching and other few cities in Sarawak has been registering unhealthy level. To make things worst, there is no rain so the haze just got worse. Well in case, some of you don't know what haze is, here is a brief defition of haze.

Haze is an atmospheric phenomenon where dust, smoke and other pollutant particles obscure the normal clarity of the sky. It occurs when dust and smoke particles accumulate in relatively dry air. When weather conditions block the dispersal of smoke and other pollutants they concentrate and form a usually low-hanging shroud that impairs visibility and may become a respiratory health threat. Dense haze caused by industrial pollution is also known as smog.

Source: wikipedia.com

This is situation is common in South East Asia. Every year is the same story. Thi is thanks to our neighbour Indonesia. Around this time of the year farmers of Indonesia will start clearing forest lands for their new plantation. usually this leads to forest fires which are uncontrollable. With the dry season plus the burning haze is created and thanks to them, we suffer too... thoseIDIOTS!!

Visibilty in Kuching was quite poor

This photo is taken from the 8th floor in Swinburne Uni, The haze is so bad that we can't see the City Skyline anymore

Hopefully the haze situation will get better, as for today and yesterday the API has drop down significantly but it is still in the moderate level. Cloud Seeding operation has been carried out that is probably why yesterday it did rain for a while. But hopefully the real rain will come back!

An Undergraduate Life

Since I have graduated from my diploma life , it has all been a rushed and it seems like lifes has rushed me by so fast.

Imust say that an undergraduate is so much more different. Life is far more harderm not to mentioned the workload and attention that you have to pay. So far from what I can see life is like hell. Everything in degree is independent... the lecturer will just brief through on what you have to do and in the end you have to figure on how to do the things yourself....

Well.. I have to try my best right so gambateh to me ;)

Plane Spotting

Tuesday Morning, bright and sunny! A good day for plane spotting heh heh...actually I just want to go and take a peek at Silkair's baby Airbus 319. Not only that I also wanted to catch the wide body of Malaysia and also Batavia Air. I arrived at my spotting spot around 8.55 pretty close to 9 though and patiently waited and all I can it was pretty fruitful. But...sadly sadly my camera ain't that good so what I got wasn't really good...need to invest in new camera. Now to put the photos up!

Batavia Air 821 from JKT/PNK - Arrived a rare sight 2 Foreign Airlines in Kuching at one time

Batavia Air B737-200 Leaving for PNK/JKT

Silkair A319 leaving for SIN

Graduation

On the 9th of August Swinburne University of Technology Australia and Sarawak Campus would be holding the Graduation Ceremony 2006. Roughly 200 Graduans will be present on that day.

Out of the 200 Graduans I am one of them...YES! YES! Finally! I have completed my Diploma I can graduate from my dilpoma. I am so happy. I Had my rehearsal today at the venue which is at Dewan Santapan the DUN building.

Sarawak State Legislative Building

Cool eh~ we are actually using the Sarawak State Legislative Building (locally known DUN) for our uni's graduation ceremony. Guess it is because we are an Australian University and the CM will be present on that day also, the ceremony is exteremely formal and stylish, how are suppose to enter the hall, where to stop and bow when to clap etc must all be perfect. But overall it was a fun experience and I can't wait for wednesday to come when I would really graduate.

Sad though my parents can't make it cause they will be working but hey just to let you know I am still continuing into my degree. I am taking Bachelor of Business Accounting. Heard that it is damn hard...oh well wish me luck to pass my degree and once more would be able to graduate but this time would be for my degree and my parents would most definitely attend this one.

Toll bridge to SSLB

HURRAY!!!