Merry Christmas

With Christmas just around the corner, we decided to set up our Christmas tree last night. We actually went to MJC to buy our Christmas tree since it is considered to be a bargain center. True enough the tree only cost us RM59.00. The price ranges between RM16.00 all the way up to RM200.00. We thought the RM59.00 tree looks good enough and decided to get it. It came with some "built in" pine cones!

Well, after that it was time to pick out the decorations. By the time we finished with our purchase, we ended up paying RM156.00. So the moral of the story is, "Pick your deco in moderation". Yes that's right, we went overboard with the deco. There were just too many things to choose from. You will end up saying to yourself, "Must Buy This & Must Buy That". we had earlier on budgeted RM100 only and later on we thought what the heck.... only once a year!



So there you have it, a closeup version of our Christmas tree. It is not the best in the world but I guess that will have to do for this year.



But every wondered what a tropical Christmas tree should have? A butterfly! That's right, we thought since we don't have snow to celebrate a white Christmas, we might as well have some butterflies. After all, who ever said we have to follow western tradition.



Since we have already set up the tree and yet to wrap our presents, it was only fitting to temporarily place a few things under the tree. So we ended up putting some stuff toys to fill the space.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year in advance from me and I hope you all will have a wonderful time spending it with your loved ones.

Stiff Drink, Anybody?

In Pharmacology, all drugs have two names, a trade name and generic name. For example, the trade name of Tylenol also has a generic name of Acetaminophen. Aleve is also called Naproxen. Amoxil is also called Amoxicillin and Advil is also called Ibuprofen.

The FDA has been looking for a generic name for Viagra. After careful consideration by a team of government experts, it recently announced that it has settled on the generic name of Mycoxafloppin (My-cock-is-floppin). Also considered were Mycoxafailin (My-cock-is-failin), Mydixadrupin (My-dick-is-droopin), Mydixarizin (My-dick-is-risin), Dixafix (Dicks-a-fix), and of course, Ibepokin (I-be-pokin).

Pfizer Corp. announced today that Viagra will soon be available in liquid form, and will be marketed by Pepsi Cola as a power beverage suitable for use as a mixer. It will now be possible for a man to literally pour himself a stiff one. Obviously we can no longer call this a soft drink, and it gives new meaning to the names of "cocktails", "highballs" and just a good old-fashioned "stiff drink". Pepsi will market the new concoction by the name of: MOUNT & DO.

Thought for the day: There is more money being spent on breast implants and Viagra today than on Alzheimer's research. This means that by 2040, there should be a large elderly population with perky boobs and huge erections and absolutely no recollection of what to do with them.

May your days be filled with Good Health, Love & Joy...enjoy!

A Little Laughter A Day!

Well since I have no specific topics for today, I thought I would share a few jokes on the net for everyone.


President Bill Clinton visits Pearly Gates
President Clinton died and knocked at the Pearly Gates. "Who goes there?" inquired St. Peter.

"It's me, Bill Clinton".

"What bad things did you do on Earth?"

Clinton thought a bit and answered, "Well, I smoked marijuana, but you shouldn't hold that against me because I didn't inhale. I guess I had some affairs, but you couldn't hold that against me because no one called them affairs! And I lied, but I didn't commit perjury."

After several moments of deliberation St. Peter replied, "OK, here's the deal. We'll send you someplace where it is very hot, but we won't call it 'Hell.' You'll be there for an indefinite period of time, but we won't call it 'eternity.' Don't 'abandon all hope' upon entering but don't hold your breath waiting for it to freeze over."


Someone died playing golf
Fred got home from his Sunday round of golf later than normal and very tired. "Bad day at the course?" his wife asked.

"Everything was going fine," he said. "Then Harry had a heart attack and died on the 10th tee."

"Oh, that's awful!"

"You're not kidding. For the whole back nine it was hit the ball, drag Harry, hit the ball, drag Harry."


An extremely loyal fan
There was a Packers fan with a really crappy seat at Lambeau. Looking with his binoculars, he spotted an empty seat on the 50-yard line. Thinking to himself "what a waste" he made his way down to the empty seat.

When he arrived at the seat, he asked the man sitting next to it, "Is this seat taken?" The man replied, "This was my wife's seat. She passed away. She was a big Packers fan." The other man replied,"I'm so sorry to hear of your loss. May I ask why you didn't give the ticket to a friend or a relative?"

The man replied, "They're all at the funeral."


What's on your back?
Three men are traveling in the Amazon, a German, an American, and a Mexican, and they get captured by some Amazons. The head of the tribe says to the German, "What do you want on your back for your whipping?"

The German responds, "I will take oil!" So they put oil on his back, and a large Amazon whips him ten times. When he is finished the German has these huge welts on his back, and he can hardly move.

The Amazons haul the German away, and say to the Mexican, "What do you want on your back?"

"I will take nothing!" says the Mexican, and he stands there straight and takes his ten lashings without a single flinch.

"What will you take on your back?" the Amazons ask the American.

He responds, "I'll take the Mexican."

Christmas Time Again. Here's a Joke!

THE ONION AND THE CHRISTMAS TREE

The family is sitting at the dinner table. The son asks his father, "Dad, how many kinds of boobies are there?" The father, surprised, answers, "Well son, there's three kinds of breasts. In her twenties, a woman's breasts are like melons, round & firm. In her thirties & forties, they are like pears, still nice, but hanging a bit. After fifty, they are like onions." "Onions?" "Yes, you see them, and they make you cry."

This infuriated his wife and daughter so the daughter says, "Mom,
how many types of "willies" are there?" The mother, surprised, smiles and answers, "Well dear, a man goes through three phases. In his twenties, his willie is like an oak tree, mighty and hard. In his thirties & forties, it's like a birch tree, flexible but reliable. After his fifties, it is like a Christmas tree." "A Christmas tree??"

"Yes dear, dead from the root up and the balls are for decoration only."

New Visitors To My Blog

Today I am very happy indeed. A few friends had visited my blog and I wish them WELCOME. My blog is actually not new, just that I have not been updating it due to my busy schedule. Besides I never told anyone about my blog and hence there wasn't a need to write much. However, now that I have readers, I shall try to update my blog as often as I can.

To start with, it is indeed a sad and trying time for all Malaysian as we see the recent demonstration or march that happened in KL. The sad part is that our Government is so determined to prevent such show of expression by the masses. However, it is also exciting because for once, people are voicing their unhappiness publicly about our judicial system, electoral system and being so called discriminated upon. I believe this is true democracy in the making. I guess only time will tell when the Government will listen to the cries of the people.

In many other countries worldwide, people are allowed to have street protest and strikes to demand for certain changes or rights to be recognized. Perhaps one day Malaysia will acknowledge that their people also have the rights to do the same. But this cannot be so unless the Government changes some of the laws such as ISA Act and Sedition Act. However, I only hope that such activities will be done peacefully and without violence. Let the people have the freedom of speech and rights to protest so that our nation will be seen as one which is willing to embrace criticism so that we can improve our nation's shortcomings. Let us also not forget that this nation's success was built by all races major or minor. We all contributed in making Malaysia what it is today.

I leave it to the rest of my readers to comment on what I have said. I might be wrong or being too negative but I am only voicing what is in my mind. Till my nest posting, I wish everyone a good weekend.

XIAO PAI MY DOG

Hi everyone. Today I am going to intorduce my dog named Xiao Pai (as you can see, he has white coat). He is a Maltese Breed and indeed very playful and lovely to have.

Dogs are such funny creatures. Now matter how angry you are, they can often cheer you up when you see their faces. They are so loyal to mankind. Post comments if you wish.

I am trying to put more interesting articles into my blog and I think with practice my blog will be more interesting to read. Right now things are still very dry as I don't really know what to post. I don't really want to be too radical or say too much about politics etc. Might get myself into trouble la! Bye for now.

Brain Power... Lets See How Good You Are?

Only great minds can read this

fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too
Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.
i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! if you can raed tihs forwrad it

FORWARD ONLY IF YOU CAN READ IT

Ayawls... Ken

IT'S ELECTION TIME AGAIN!

Well if you read the news today, our Election Commission Chairman already knows the date for the coming election. However, he's not telling but said that ample warnings have been given that polls is just around the corner. I am wondering here....

What's the big deal about giving out the date sooner?
Why is the Government so concern about keeping this date secret?

The answer is obvious... To give BN the upper hand and to ensure that oppositions are kept in the dark for as long as possible.

Is this a transparent system?
I think not. But then again this is just an opinion from a lay person. If the march by 40,000 people cannot make any difference, then perhaps only 400,000 will do it. However, that is still not considered as the majority but minority since Malaysia has over 20 million people.

Lifestyle Plus

Having read the comments from Kenny Sia about Lifestyle Card Membership, I have to agree with him that many of the benefits given by the club is indeed useless. And to top things off, I was surprised to learn that as a so called "previledged" member, the hotel room rates (even after 50% discount) is still more expensive than the hotel's internet rate or promotion packages.

So what is the point of using the card? This was the exact question I post to the sales rep in the Lifestyle office and to my surprise, they gave me this reply:

Sales Rep: Sir, in actual fact, the main benefit of the card is for dining only. The hotel reservations actually not worth it one. Booking from internet or travel agent much cheaper.

Ken: How come you guys never highlighted this before during your sales call? I am sure many people would feel that they have been cheated. You only tell us this after we have joined.

Sales Rep: Utter Silence

I think SEDC should improve their membership benefits if they want to continue to gain more customer confidence. Otherwise they will be losing more members soon enough.

Cheers!

Ken

Beautiful Sunset in Damai

Come to think of it, Kuching is indeed a good place to live in. Often enough we always hear of the locals (myself included) complaining that life in Kuching is often slow and boring. Well this image that I took in Damai Beach Resort sort of changed my mind a bit. I began to realise that life is only as boring as we allow it to be. We should always remember it is the company we are with that makes life fun no matter where we are. The most important thing is that we make the best of what is in front of us and cherish every good memories and learn from the bad ones.

TAXI! TAXI! BUS? Where is the BUS?

You know... recently there were alot of news about Van Sapu taking away the rice bowl of our taxi/bus services. Well I have a few things to add and I am sure alot of people share the same sentiments. For starters, I do agree that Van Sapu services can be dangerous because they are not govern by any regulations and not covered by any isurance. Yet people wants to use their services because they have no other choices (so to speak). Firstly, the charges asked by our taxi drivers are too high and their continous refusal to use their meters. They need to buck up on their ethics otherwise people will not trust them at all and that includes our tourist.

As for our bus services there have been too many complains that they are never on time or that passengers have to wait for over an hour before they can catch the bus. Furthermore, the bus routes are just not comprehensive enough. This gives people no other choice but to engage the services of Van Sapu which cost less that taxis and they also cover more grounds than buses.

So before the public transport association starts complaining about the Van Sapu, I think it is high time they polished up their act, ethics and services. Win the prople's confidence back and Van Sapu will die a natural death when they loose out on demand.

Installation of our 13th King

The day has passed and a new King is born! So now we have ourselves the 13th Agong of Malaysia. Word has it that he is one of the most humble Royal in Malaysia. Very close to the people and all that. Well I have never met the man himself but from the write up in the newspaper, there are no shortage of good words about him. I hope he give the whole of Malaysia a visit real soon so that we can get a glimpse of him.

Daulat Tuanku! Daulat Tuanku! Daulat Tuanku!

Egypt Tour

The rest of our tour in Egypt was full of visits to the Pyramids and temples. Seeing the Pyramids and experiencing their sheer sizes were something to behold. Can you imagine the tallest pyramid was something like 1400+ meters high? I emphasise the keyword "was" because it is now only 1300+, the tip fell off. If you look at my previous pyramid photo you can imagine how big they are.


To start with, I didn't blow up this one! It was like that when I found it. I swear!!! Anyway, we were told that this was one of the smaller pyramids which have fallen into ruins so nothing to see here... moving on.

The next best thing (so we thought) was riding the camels we found in the area. It costs something like USD10 per person for a 3 minute ride. It was a very short ride and not worth the money we paid. We only realized that after we went to Azwan where the ride was more like 25 minutes including a boat ride on the Nile and a visit to a village for only USD35.


So here you see me and Sophia on our camels for the short 3 minute ride!


The only consolation we got was a "group" photo with our new friends! Not the prettiest of friends but hey.... they sure look different.


In a place where the main attraction was only the pyramids, we decided that we have to be more creative to have interesting photos. So here we have Sophia trying to lift a boulder from the pyramids.

Overall Egypt is really an interesting place to visit. A word of caution to intending visitors on the prices of any goods and services. For example, basic things like Mineral Water can cost anywhere between 3-5 times more than its normal price. As long as you're a tourist, prices for everything jumps 3-5 times their normal rates. So bargaining skills are required.

Some more photos of our visit are shown below:


Never thought I would be holding a live croc in my hands. Crocodile Dundee Malaysian Version!


A truly beautiful night scene of the many temples in Egypt!


The only temple built by a female Pharoah who pretended she was a man.


Our convoy to Abu Simble. We had a mini bus, the rest of the transportations were for others. I think there were at least 70 to 80 buses and mini vans all going at once to cross the Sahara Dessert!


These were the guys with big guns who accompanied us during the trip to Abu Simble. One each in the bigger buses! So you can imagine the level of security we had with us!


Sunrise from the Sahara! It was a rare experience to be in the middle of the Sahara Dessert to witness this sunrise. And during our trip there, Egypt was having its winter which was quite cold!


Friends we met during our cruise on the Nile. They came from Brazil and USA. It was nice to travel together.


One of the many sights seen at the temples around Egypt. They are all suppose to tell some stories of the past. We can't understand them but they look really cool!

Well my last check with www.kennysia.com revealed that he was in fact in Egypt now! So it would be interesting to see what his comments would be about Egypt. I hoped that he brought some Maggi in a Cup! Hah hah hah.

Egypt - Arrival

Our first stop was Cairo, the Capital of Egypt. We were greeted by our tour guide and escorted to our hotel. The airport was a bit run down but so far everything looks good. Then we got into the Cairo Traffic Jam! We have never seen a City which is so busy and in fact quite dirty. We were shocked at the traffic jam. If you think Traffic Jams in Kuala Lumpur are bad... think again... this one tops the chart without trying. Drivers in Cairo would never make it around the City if their car do not have any honks. They just honk at each other repeatedly. All drivers in Cairo must have been trained from Hell! We were told that's just the way driving life is in Cairo.

We noticed straight away that Traffic Lights were almost non existence. Sure we saw one or two of them... but they don't work at all. The reason given was that Egyptians just don't like them and they never obey them anyway. To top it all, there are about 22 million people in Cairo alone and about 4 million cars!

Checking into our hotel was a breeze since the tour guide does everything for us. We just sat there and wait for our room keys. Ahhh.... what a life! I must admit their service is very good. I guess that's because tourism is one of their main source of income. The security they had was also very high. For a second, we thought perhaps President Bush was staying in the same hotel! Metal detectors, sniffing dogs, the whole works!

Our room was magnificient! Jusk look at the view! We can see the pyramids from our balcony.


You can see from above how beautiful the Pyramid is (well for those of you who actually appreciates things like this!)

We just couldn't imagine how the Egyptian could built such big structure more than 4,500 years ago?


See the statue with the head of a man and body of a lion? Wonder where did they come up with this idea? It's suppose to be some kind of protection to the three pyramids. So they say! The poor statue was missing part of its nose. How sad!


The first event for us was the Sound & Light Show! It was really nice with all the special lighting effects and audio commentaries telling us how the Pyramids started. It was a bit pricey at USD35 per person but worth the money! I mean we probably won't be coming this way again forever, right?

We didn't go out at nights because we were not sure if the City was safe. So we went back to the hotel and try to sleep. Getting ready for the start of our day tour tomorrow. So stay tuned for Part II.

Our First Blog

You know, blogging is such a big buzz word in the internet world now so we thought we would also jump on the bandwagon and create a blog site.

This blog site will be dedicated to our Egypt trip which happened just recently in March 2007. To be able to see one of the 7th Wonders of the world in real life was indeed an experience. So guys watch out for the many pictures we will post!