No stopping from visiting Penang!

Check this article out from The Star Online:
http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/10/25/nation/2371947&sec=nation

I could not disagree with them at all! Penang is indeed much more unique compared to other states in Malaysia in terms of tourist attractions, culture, food, shopping and loads more.

People would do anything just to come here. Such obstacles like the rain and traffic jams is not going to stop them from visiting majestic Penang. People from "abroad" like KL live in such horrible conditions; traffic jams, packed commuter trains, expensive but lousy food. I have nothing nice to say about living in KL permanently.

Penang on the other hand has so much more value to offer that despite all the chaos and rush to come to Penang, people are willing to for go them and come back time and time again.

As a Penangite, I am trully proud of what I have here in Penang. It just never gets sick. Seriously! There is always something new happening to do. Also there are events that are organized by the various societies and organizations here with the green light and support from our state government led by YB Lim Guan Eng. His a great Chief Minister is so real!

Arts, history and culture fusion here is so rich and ever growing as old meets new. I just love the performances at Actor's Studio, Green Hall. I could call them a representation of Penang art and theater as the organizers and actors are mostly of Penang breed. It goes to show how great Penang people! The monthly Little Penang held at Upper Penang Road also attracts a large number of tourist and locals to bask in the rich herritage and culture of Penang. From the things sold to the events held, I find to be authentic Penang!

I guess despite the rain and whatever external factors that are probably a hinderance to coming to Penang, one thing that attracts people here is that Penang feeling. I feel it's the Penangites that create this feeling of warmth and no barriers amongst people. Everyone gets along with anyone be it locals or tourist, rich or poor. Nothing can stop you from flashing a smile at someone. The races here (Malays, Chinese, Indians, Seranis etc) are more integrated. People mix openly. Also, Malay food stalls that sell halal food can co-exist together with non-halal food stalls. Their motto is everyone also wanna cari- makan (find money to source food). This is also far smarter and intelligent in tackling competition than oppening another Malay stall in a row of 10 Malay stall that are selling the same thing if you know where I am coming from.

This is one way for cross-culture to be bred and form a truely Penang culture. We are the example of the Malaysian dream(depicted from the American dream) of being trully Malaysian; united as one culture, living harmoniously.

I can't deny that my post here depicts me as gloating over Penang. What can I say? I am trully all about Penang! Haha!

Eagle Eye

It was such an amazing show to start with! Incredible how complex the database stucture can be created with artificial intelligence capabilities. The rules of the database being so logical that the results can be blindly followed without the human touch and feel of compassion and empathy.

I am not going to tell you about the story and will leave it to you readers to go and watch it. :)

Without us realizing, our mobile phones, PDAs, computers, satelite navigation, passports, Astro, banking transactions, personal data etc. stored on servers could be all connected. All of it can be accessed from a central repository and potentially accessed by people who have the powers to legal or illegally.

I wonder, can anyone really go into hidding and lost from the outer world without any trace in this era of technology? Could it be possible for us to still get lost in the middle of the desserts of Saudi Arabia or Africa?

I guess there is still some possibility. Steve Fosset, the American tycoon and adventurer who went missing near the Nevada dessert in 2007 as an example. There was totally no way that he could have been found at that time with intelligent tracking equipment and even conventional methods of search parties. He was declared dead in Feb 2008 by the American court.

Only recently that a bunch of hikers found his flight license and some money that he was carrying while he went missing. This was further pursued with the finding of his wrecked small plane. As for the human remains it is still being analyzed as per Wikipedia. But, with these supporting facts, it it highly possible that the remains are of Steve Fosset.

On a complimentary note, I feel that Shia LaBeouf has really outdone himself in his acting. Within this year, I have watched him in Wanted, Transformers and now Eagle Eye. This dude got a bright future ahead as his only 22 this year. I bet his gonna win lots of awards. Beware of his award winnings and also new movies that are about to come out from him.

Thanks to my baby for taking me to the cinema to watch it although she has already watched it with her aunt before. ;)

Balik kampung exodus!

As you know, the festive Hari Raya season came and went.

For the first time this year, I was caught in the race back home. The exodus as they call it adds to the style and sounds sexy about this phenomenon of returning home to celebrate the festive season with family and friends.

I left KL on Saturday before Hari Raya. I anticipated that the roads would be swamming with cars as most people would want to get out of the city at that time to prepare for Raya. It was true. A rather heavy and unussual traffic flow could be seen heading out of town with mostly cars.

I left Subang, where my brother lives, at around 5.30 am that day.

It was still very dark at that time. With the heavier traffic than ussual, I took a slower but still fun drive in my Myvi heading back to Penang.

It was very interesting to see how people packed their cars with families and I bet their excitement of getting to their destinations.

I saw cars like Kancils and Proton Sagas that were packed with like 6 family members, drivers with the 'kopiah', rear dashboard of cars filled with plastic bags, pillows, biscuit tins and kids. I bet it was a struggle for the drivers to keep awake to drive as they could not drink, eat or smoke to keep them awake as it was the last few days of the fasting month.

In contrary, I saw this huge Mercedes S-Class speed by followed by a Toyota Estima in pursuit cruising together. It must have been a wealthy family going back home to celebrate Hari Raya.

What a big difference in terms of ways on how people return home to celebrate something that they believe in together.

I guess for some, Hari Raya will be celebrated on a low scale, while others go way out to outdo themselves with a feast. This time around considering the economy and fluctuating petrol price, Hari Raya would be a little simpler for some. It cannot be denied that the rakyat is feeling the pinch of this. Nonetheless, it is indeed a celebration and certain levels of happiness should be felt by all. :)

An interesting comment by a close friend, going back home is a chance to show to your family members and your friends on how well you did in life in the big city. One way would be to drive back home in new cars. I felt that this was true as I noticed so many newly registered W plate cars @ Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur registered cars. My friend did say that for some who were less fortunate this year, they would rent nice cars from their friends or second hand dealers for the holidays season to take back home to show them off as a symbol of wealth attaintment.

This balik kampung exodus is also a time to be careful on all roads due to the high volume of traffic. Everyone is going somewhere and wants to get there in time so there could be a feeling of rush. The amount of deaths due to road accidents during this time is pretty high although the police have launched their annual nationwide special operations to cripple this influx.

Safety of passengers should always be a priority. Drivers should be well prepared before sitting at the wheel. Cars also should be thoroughly checked to ensure they are road-worthy and safe on roads.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all Muslim readers Selamat Hari Raya and maaf zahir dan batin.

Khas buat budak2 MMU and member2 lame especially budak2 Putat, tiap2 Raya is a time for me to remember you guys and to treasure our friendships together. ;)

Unite as one!

The recent proposal to make Barisan Nasional a single multi-racial party should be applauded.

This would unite the Malays, Chinese and Indians and minority races as one. After all, we are all citizens of one country and should not be divided by race anymore. We are the rakyat that functions as a catalyst to sustain harmony, economic growth, technological advancement and social diversity amongst races. We are the perfect example to the world on how people of different races can live together and work hand in hand towards bringing Malaysia to higher standards as a growing nation.

When our country was first established, our leaders of different races gathered and came out with a plan that is fair and suitable for all. We all speak Malay, honour our king and respect Islam as our national religion for it is the main religion on this land. If you go back to history, the Malay archipelago was the centre for Islamic studies and development from the the days of Parameswara, the founder of Malacca. So I guess we cannot sweep this part of history under our carpert.

As per The Star, national unity would be the biggest challenge for Najib, once he takes over the premiership from Abdullah in March 2009.

I feel that the solution is right in front of him with this proposal to have a single party. We do not have to wait till March for this to happen but maybe now would be the best solution considering what is happening to us in our country. We are lucky in a way that the global economy is being hit badly so it is kind of like diverting our attention to the bigger powers coming out with their bailout plans to bring back the peak of the global economy and to prevent any nasty effects of a recession.

The British devided us in the past to maintain the peace and to avoid racial conflicts. It wanted each of the races to grow stronger on their own independently and to cultivate unity within the party.

This was the past and Malaysia has grown by leaps and bounds to be at a new era right now with Malaysians of various races who have a strong relationship and with one another. Our Malaysian culture is so rich as a result of this fusion of people and different cultures of different races. There exist a dependency on each other to sustain national economic growth and enhanced quality of life. It wasn't yesterday that we became an independent nation and it has already been 51 years we have celebrated this feat.

In the streets, it is quite evident that there is a lack of confidence amongst Malaysians who are deeply troubled by the current political situation that is affecting our country and the feeling of beeing marginalised by the majority race. I am NOT intending to bring up any racist sentiments here but I feel it is something that most of us feel and are in doubt. We are deffinitely troubled by politicians who make racial remarks and gestures or hurtful statements for starters.

Some are suggesting that this is the time to escape this turmoil by migrating overseas. This is the worst thing that could happen and I so dread this if it has to happen to me. Some have already gone ahead in seeking permanent residentship overseas.

It is indeed difficult to leave our birth place and a place that we call home where we grew up. Somehow or rather, each of us Malaysians have contributed in some way to the nation. How will I survive without my curry mee, nasi kandar, sambal belacan and thosai? Haha!

The power of love

I am a Catholic since I was born and my understanding and seriousness towards the religion has grown these past 2 years. As part of my journey of finding meaning in my religion, I have stumbled upon so many beautiful things that I feel thankful to have been created in this world. One of the fundamentals of my religion is love. The application of it would be "love thy neighbour".

I am now captivated and amazed about the feeling of being "romantically in love". It has given new meaning in my life and I am happy with it. It is such a magical feeling really when you wake up in the morning no matter what time it is, you think of that loved one.

When your alone, all you can do is think of being hugged or holding the hands of that loved one. The worst part of being alone is that silence that you can only imagine your partner is sitting next to you like in the car. However, when you turn to the co-drivers seat, it is just empty. That is sad. :(

There are even moments of being lost or losing your sanity in the absence of your partner. It is something that I trully dislike but try to cope while I am alone. The feeling is simmilar to being blur or dreaming. That whole decision making process that your partner is always included in now depends on a single person now, yourself be it the simple decisions of life like where to eat.

It is really not much of idolizing other couples as they hold hands when you can't. The reason is because your relationship should be much deeper and meaningful than the influence of your peers.

You have loads of good memories that you remember that the holes of the not so happy memories are erased. It cannot be denied, that in any relationship there are always good and bad times. It will be waste to remember the bad. It will be even better to proactively work on how you can avoid such undesirable situations in the future. Men and women will never understand each other. However, there is always a way to overcome this and the answer to this for your relationship lies within you to make it happen.

The beauty about those bad times is when you fix things with your partner when both come together and realize it's time to put those inequalities in the past and move on with what the future has to offer. :) It is quite a sweet moment!

Love did not come to me on a plate. When the time was right, sometimes when less predicted, love happens. So wonderful! Trust me, I never went out searching initially! At the time before finding love, I was so busy with being single; classic car hunting, beer drinking, shopping, reading, a little bit of travelling. I really enjoyed those times. I felt those times were a preparation for falling in love and learning to share. I never regret those times being single because the time I have now is fantastic because as for me I can share those good times with my partner. It is so cute to see her now telling you about how beautiful Volvos are for example. Even the 1968 Volvo 164! Haha!

I trully feel that it was an act of God. Based on Catholic teachings, a mature Catholic can choose either sacraments(milestones for a Catholic); the sacrament of matrimony or the sacrament of offering your service to God either as a priest, brother or nun depending on gender. Either of this sacraments are God's calling unto you. Naturally, you cannot choose it on your own, spiritually speaking.

Whatever it is, I am happy being in love and I thank God for it. I pray that my relationship will continue to grow with my partner and that our love will blossom! :) As for me, yes I am in a relationship with that special one person but I always feel that God is with us in spirit guiding us.