Someone's House

Someone I know owns a property down there. We could've been neighbours but some numbers got in the way. Taken on the landing descent on Friday, 19 June 2009.

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Tell It To The Mountain

The Mountain and the morning sun. Taken at Kota Kinabalu International Airport Friday, 19 June 2009 at 6.15AM.

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Sunset At Anjung Samudra (Waterfront) Kota Kinabalu

Sunset

Boardwalk

Food Outlets

These photos were taken at the Anjung Samudra or Waterfront in Kota Kinabalu on Sunday 15 May 2009.

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Slumdog Millionaire (Again)

Ticket stub

Yes, I know, enough already but I just had to pay tribute to this great movie. Yes, I went ahead and saw the movie today at the only cinema showing this movie in town. All I can say it was worth every sen I spent to watch it. Yes, all 700 of them.

I know that there are detractors of the movie out there, especially those saying the movie puts India in a bad image. Well, I didn't see the movie doing so. It had great cinematography which showed parts of India in a good way. Then, almost all of the cast of the movie was of Indian origin. Anyway, if it's a bad movie, why and how did it win all the Oscars, all the Golden Globes? Think about that.

If you have read the book, you'd know that` the movie's storyline didn't exactly follow that of the book's. But that's okay, I haven't seen any book-movie adaptation that has done so.

The only thing I wasn't so happy about my movie watching experience is that somehow in the movie hall I was in, I could hear people singing Karaoke. Not so loud but then again, when it was quiet on screen, you could hear clearly the singing. The worst thing was that the singing was more like frogs croaking after rain. I hope the management of the cinema will do something about it.

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Slumdog Millionaire

I've just completed reading (all in one sitting, as usual) this very interesting book by Vikas Swarup. Originally published in 2005 as Q&A, the book was adapted into a movie. Go ahead and read this book. Like me, you'll probably won't put the book down except for those mandatory toilet break(s).

I haven't seen the movie, which, unless you are not from this planet, you would know that has won 8 Academy awards, 7 BAFTA awards (the British equivalent of Academy award) and 4 Golden Globe awards. These include best picture for Academy, best film for BAFTA and best picture - drama for Golden Globe. And the movie almost ended up to be released directly on DVD instead general theatrical release. Simply amazing.

I haven't watched this movie because when it came out initially earlier this year in Malaysia, for whatever reason, it was only released under the Golden Screen Cinemas International Screens, which are available in the Klang Valley. There are two Golden Screen Cinemas outlets here in KK but there is no International Screen.

Luckily for me, the local Growball Cinema is now showing the movie in KK. They are showing it once a day at 7:30PM and I hope to catch it over the weekend.

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It's Pandemic

The World Health Organisation has just declared the swine or AH1N1 flu pandemic. The last time something like this happened was in 1968, when Hong Kong flu was declared pandemic.

If you are travelling out there, please take precautions. As for me, I don't see me going to any overseas destinations for the next 6-12 months. I haven't got any plans, anyway.

Just to be on the safe side, please refer to this FAQ from the Star online.

The website stated some of the symptoms of the flu (actually similar to those of regular flu):
- Fever
- Lethargy
- Runny nose
- Cough
- Sore throat
- Lack of appetite
- Vomiting and diarrhoea in some cases

If you have been travelling overseas or exposed to anyone who had travelled overseas, do get yourself checked okay. Better safe than sorry. The Hong Kong flu killed about a million people (close to 3,000 a day).

Take care of yourself, you hear.

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Follower(s)

I'm no prophet and no leader of a religion or cult but I've got a follower now. Anyway, a warm welcome (or should I say "Bienvenue") to my first follower. If you'd like to be the next one, check out the link on the left column.

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A Trip to the Beach

I had nothing planned for the weekend. No city to visit or explore. So, I happily joined my two sisters and their families for a picnic at Manukan Island, one of the islands making up the Tengku Abdul Rahman Marine National Park. Since it was a Saturday and a public holiday (Happy Birthday Your Majesty - Wishing you well and good health always), we decided to leave for the island early. We reached the island well before 9AM and managed to get a nice spot, a picnic bench. I know, it's not much but the last time I was here, we had to settle for picnic mats.

Anyway, I decided not to swim in the sea this time. I just sat in the sun (well, not really, under a shady tree actually). I tried to read a book but got bored after a few pages. So, before you know it, I started to play in the sand. With some help from my sisters and their kids, here's the result:

A sand castle by the beach

Although it wasn't well constructed, the castle attracted quite an attention as it is quite big. If we charged a ringgit per photo, it would easily pay for the entrance or conservation fee for the park for the eleven of us in the group. Some unashamedly asked to be photographed with/near it, while some just used their long camera lenses to photograph discreetly from afar.

Anyway, have a good weekend my readers.

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Airlines

I first boarded an airplane when I was barely 12 years old. It was a Malaysia Airlines flight from Kota Kinabalu (BKI) to Kuala Lumpur (KUL).

The first flight for me was both exciting, well who wouldn’t be, and sad as at such a young age, I had to leave home in East Malaysia (Malaysian Borneo) to continue my secondary school education in a boarding school in West Malaysia (Peninsular Malaysia).

Anyway, starting from that first flight, I’ve been on the following airlines:

1. Malaysia Airlines
2. Delta Airlines (USA)
3. Southwest Airlines (USA)
4. American Airlines
5. Pelangi Airlines (Malaysia) (*)
6. Turkmenistan Airlines
7. Turkish Airlines
8. Singapore Airlines
9. Royal Brunei Airlines
10. Thai Airways International
11. Lufthansa (Germany)
12. Swissair (Switzerland)
13. Alitalia (Italy)
14. Airasia (Malaysia), Airasia (Thailand), Airasia (Indonesia)
15. Merpati Nusantara Airlines (Indonesia)
16. Garuda Indonesia
17. SilkAir (Singapore)
18. Pakistan International Airlines
19. Cathay Pacific (Hong Kong)
20. Virgin Blue (Australia)
21. South African Airways
22. FlyAsianExpress (Malaysia) (*)
23. MASWings (Malaysia)
24. Tiger Airways (Singapore)

(*) No longer in existence.

I am also thinking of starting a new hobby, collecting model aircrafts of airlines I’ve flown on. I already have two models for Malaysia Airlines (Boeing 747 and Boeing 777) and I just bought one for Tiger Airways (Airbus 320).

Here’s a photo of the model aircraft for Tiger Airways.

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Photos in Singapore

Here are some photos of my visit to Singapore. I didn't take many photos because I was too busy shopping or enjoying the company of my travel mate.

Photo of Hotel Ibis, 170 Bencoolen Street, Singapore. Rate is SGD138++ excluding breakfast. As an AccorAdvantage Plus member, I paid only SG90++. Hotel is in a good and quiet location. The room I stayed in was basic but very comfortable. There's free Wifi service. Nearby the hotel are Sim Lim Square the IT central of Singapore, Albert Mall, Bugis Junction and Queen Street bus terminal for buses to/from Malaysia. Nearest Singapore MRT station is Bugis.

Bugis Junction. In the older days, I suppose you'd see streetwalkers of the third kind instead of shoppers in this area. Redeveloped in 1995, Bugis Junction today is a shopping mall. Bugis MRT is accessible from this mall.

A photo of another building in Bugis Junction.

Departure area of Budget Terminal Singapore. Important services: Airline check-in counters, GST refund (especially after all the shopping) and left luggage (costs about SGD5 per day per 10 KG bag). You can get free internet WiFi account from the left luggage/lost and found counter too.

Departure lounge in the budget terminal. There are duty free shops selling cosmetics, gifts, alcohols, cigarettes, electronics and so on. Selection is not as wide as the other three terminals in Changi but sufficient. There are also food outlets in the lounge, including Secret Recipe. 7-Eleven has an outlet here too.

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A Weekend in Singapore (2)

I am now at Budget Terminal Singapore, the home of Tiger Airways. Its located in the vicinity of Changi Airport and is reachable from Terminal 2 via a free bus service.

The airport is actually like one big warehouse, similar to the Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) in Sepang. Anyway, I would say that the conditions here are much better. Partly probably because there are not many passengers going through this terminal. Besides Tiger Airways, only Cebu Pacific Airways, a Manila based low cost carrier, flies through this terminal. Having said that, the facilities and services in the terminal is much better than LCCT Sepang's. There are many food outlets and many duty free shops in the departure area.

Its 740PM now and my flight leaves at 820PM. By the way, I didn't take that many photos again this time. I'll try to upload some later.

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