Tuesday 30 June 2009

Malaysia Mega Sale Carnival 2009

Malaysia Mega Sale Carnival (MMSC) is coming on 4 July -31 Aug 2009! What’s great about MMSC? MMSC is a grand shopping fiesta that held thrice annually. Usually it will fall around the month of March, August and December. Discounted goods up to 70% is up for grab during the sales.

Major shopping malls will have events and special promotions during the sales carnival. No matter you are looking at branded apparel, latest technologies gatgets, household equipments, electrical items, accessories, handicraft or spa services, I’m sure you’ll be spoil with abundance of great deals to choose from.

Don’t miss your chance to shop for marvelous deals!!

Want to be a smarter shopper? Want to compare the price and deals that available on the market? I suggest you visit OfferStation website which features all (at least almost all) the promotions on going in Malaysia’s retail (plus part of the F&B) outlets. Log on to http://www.offerstation.com.my/

In my next blog, I’ll give a quick summary on the hotspots for shopping around Malaysia.

Friday 26 June 2009

King of Pop - Michael Jackson, Dies at 50

It is a shocked when I saw the news that Michael Jackson passed away yesterday (June 25, 2009 at 2:26 p.m local time, L.A.) The last time I heard about his news was that he was about to have a concert in London. At that time, I thought to myself that, how well will his tickets sell? Does this king of pop still enjoy the big fame as he used to be? Coz I remembered well that the last time he performed in Malaysia concert, his tickets are all sold out. Many of my friends did went for the concert. I wanted too, but I couldn't afford it back then.

News reported that he might be died of cardiac arrest. Collapsed at his rented house in LA with his family while he practice for his concert at home. Some suspected that he suffered from overdosage of pain killer. After his news of death announced, Jackson's 1982 Thriller immediately rose to No.1 in the iTunes chart.

Stand up Comedy Show live in Genting

Last week I saw the news that Hong Kong comedian Michael Hui Koon-Man is coming to Malaysia performs a comedy talk show. I’ve seen his talk show live 2005 on the TV and I love his show. Before I watched this show is his, I always thought his is just another normal comedy actor. He’s ain’t handsome or famous. All I know is that he always play those silly side-beat characters.

After I watched that particular show, I started to admire his talent. For his show talk about the Hongkees life’s and perspectives in a very attractive and funny way. Only then I realized he is actually very talented. And he is definitely one of the most successful stand-up comedians in Hong Kong.


This veteran director, producer, script writer and comedian is actually coming to Malaysia to perform a live talk show in Malaysia. This is the very first Hong Kong artiste that performs comedy show in Malaysia! I wonder what type of gags he will make. And how he relates Malaysian life’s in his talk show. Oh boy… I can’t wait to watch his show.


Here’s a bit info those who share same interest with me.
Date: 8 Aug 2009, 8pm
Venue: Arena of Stars, Genting Highland
Tickets: RM363, RM273, RM213, RM173 and RM93.
Discount: Senior citizens aged 60 and above entitled for a 15% discount.

Thursday 25 June 2009

Pet ≠ Love Substitute

In city specially, more and more people opt for keeping a pet (usually dog / cat) as a love substitute. Single male or female, keep a pet and treated them as their lover or even “zhai zhai” / “lui lui” (own child). And they think that pet could be the substitute of love.

In a book written by a clinical psychiatric, he commented that pet can never be a substitute of love. The reason being is that the communication level towards a pet can never be the same as to another human being. Usually, the communication to the pet is categorized as single way. We can talk to the pet, but the pet cannot talk back to us. We willingly believe that we love our pet and the pet love us back. Subconsciously, we cannot divide ourselves and the pet as two separate objects. As we cannot read the mind of our pet, thus not realized that they have they own wills, opinions and thoughts. Most of the time, we give command to our pet and wanting them to be the shadow of our thought. Unlike pet, human have own thoughts and will. Without building the real love, couple will fight over every disagreement on thoughts. They can also ignore and reluctant listen or do as what we wish for. Thus, pet keeping cannot nurture real love, and of course it is not a substitute of love.

Yet, a sad phenomenon is growing in our society. More people are getting the wrong definition of love. As love being the totally surrender of another party to their will / thoughts. Partly is because we are educated since young with the misconception about love. Remember the childhood story of the prince and princess live happily ever after, once they are united? The parts where the prince and princess nurture their love, and go through the challenges are always missing and omitted. So, there are not lacking on the story and fantasy of “the one” meant for you in your love life. Once you find “the one” in your life, he or she is perfectly suits you. Thus, you’ll have similar thoughts, everything is oneness. And all these make BIG misconceptions about love.

I am also a product of these misconceptions education. And I am thankful to learn part of the misconceptions. Seeing that love itself is much bigger than what I thought of. And love is much bigger than just marriage, oneness and selfishness of being align with our thoughts…

Monday 22 June 2009

Broga Hill/ Bukit Lalang Track, Negeri Sembilan


Track Time: 2 hours return
Difficulty: Easy. Self guided.
Review: 3 1/2 stars


Description:
This track is a short scenic hiking track up to Broga Hill. The best time to hike is early in the morning before sunrise. At the peak, you can enjoy the scenic view of the entire Broga village and sunrise.

The track begins from the palm oil estate. Most people would prefer to begin the track at about 4.45 am – 5 am as usually sunrise is at about 6am. Do wear a pair of comfortable walking shoes. The track can be slippery after rain. You may also want to bring flashlight together, if you want to begin tracking before the dawn. Spray insect repellent before entering the palm oil estate as mosquitoes are active during 5am - 6am. Follow the track uphill through the palm oil estate.



After about 20 -30 minutes hiking, you’ll come to plain grass land / lalang field and finds cooling and refreshing breeze blowing to you. Walk further up, you’ll come to the first lookout of the hill. Here, you’ll be able to see part of the village. The second and third lookout points are nearby and many photographers would get ready with their cameras to capture the sunrise. The space is bigger compare to the highest peak of the track.


After arriving at the first lookout point, trees are not many just field of “lalang” (a type of grass). Nothing much to block your view and you’ll be able to enjoy spectacular clear view of Broga. There is also amber space for you to rest and take photos. Some people also bring foods and drinks to enjoy at the peak.

After the hike, you can have breakfast at the stores at the village. Enjoy some simple local cuisines. Other attractions nearby includes the famous “Sek Dato” Temple.

What to bring:
Insect repellent
Drinking water
Camera
Walking Stick (optional)

How to get there:
Use the Loke Yew Road towards Cheras and Seremban. Pay 2 tolls. Follow the road use to Kajang and then to Semenyih. Once arrived in Semenyih, there will be a road sign to Broga. Turn in to Broga and follow the road. You’ll pass by the Nottingham University, go further in until you see the Rabbit Farm on your right hand side. Starting point of the track is on your left, directly opposite the Rabbit Farm.



Broga - A Blissful Place To Be

I think this is not a familiar name to many. Recently, more and more people get to know the place, as there’s a new university campus (University of Nottingham) located in Broga. And probably that’s the reason for the discovery of new attraction at Bukit Lalang, Broga.

Broga (武來岸) a small town that sits on the Selangor and Negri Sembilan border, 50 km from Kuala Lumpur. This town has history of more than 140 years. Dominantly are Chinese - Hakka clan. Most are working in their family’s plantation – rubber, palm oil or orchard. Long before the development of the university campus and the trend of Broga Hill sunrise viewing, Broga is categorized as remote and quiet. Some people may know the Sak Dato Temple. The temple has many followers either locally or internationally (From Singapore, Brunei, Hong Kong, Thailand, etc). And many local film producers also like to use the temple for Chinese New Year productions or MV filming place.

Sak Dato Temple (玉封石拿督廟)
A must visit place for any visitor to Broga. This temple is rated are one of the top three most beautiful temple in Malaysia. This place is much more than a worshiping place. Inside, there are landscape gardens (The Kindness Fruits Garden 善果園 & Dragon Gate 龍門), replicas of local fruits, Chinese folklore characters & 12 Chinese zodiac. If you follow the stairs up to the “Dragon Gate” Arch, you’ll able to enjoy a spectacular panoramic view of Broga.

The history of this temple can trace back to more than 100 years ago. Why is it called Sak Dato? Dato is actually a salutation (similar to Duke or higher). Who is this Sak Dato? The local there will tell you that “Sak Mun” (石滿), an aborigine adopted by Chinese family in Broga. He was very helpful and kind hearted. One day, he went to meditate and never came back to the village. And one day, his friend dreamt of him and informed that he was assigned by the God of Jade Emperor (玉皇大帝) to be Dato (拿督) and protect the land. And he told his friend the place where he gained immortality. His friend found his remains at the location he mentioned. As many people received his kindness and assistance before the people there worship him. The locals also believe Sak Dato protected them in many many incidences ever since, especially during the time of Japanese Occupation. Just ask around the locals, I’m sure they are willing to tell you the story.
Besides, there also a Foundation - The Kindness Fruits Garden 善果園基金, setup by the temple committee. All the donations collected for the foundation is carefully managed by 14-member committee. They channel the fund to needy people from all over Malaysia. Part of the funds is channel to further develop Broga and promote it as a local top tourist attraction. In the plan is building of facilities like jungle tracking trail, suspension bridge and children’s playground.

Address: No 42, Jalan Besar, Broga, 71750 Negeri Sembilan.
Open: Every day, 7.30am-11pm

Bukit Lalang, Broga (茅草山)
Bukit Lalang or Broga Hill is a renowned hiking spot in Broga. Usually hikers will choose to go before sunrise or during the morning. All the higher land of Broga is plain grassland, so it provides superb view of the village below. If you climb in the morning, it’s easy to see clouds below the peak. You can also see fog rising up the hill and open up the whole panoramic view to the village. A mere 45 minutes to 1 hour walking up the hill is definitely worthwhile.

It attracts many photography lovers to capture the sunrise and beautiful scenery around. If you prefer to experience the tranquil moment, I suggest you choose on normal weekdays compared to the weekends or public holiday.

The King & Queen Fruits of Malaysia
June – July of each year, Broga will have many local fruits from the orchards around. During these months are durian, mangosteen and rambutan season. If you like these fruits, visit Broga during these months and you'll be able to taste the fruits fresh from the orchard.

You may also see people working at the rubber & palm oil estate.

Sunday 21 June 2009

More travel blogs about Malaysia

Hehe... After a long time of break on my blog... I'm finally back!

This time I want to add in more blogs on travel in Malaysia. Yes, I want to do my part to promote this mesmerizing country to the world (Oops! Didn't even know whether there are any readers on my blog... Oh whatever... Just want to share it out in the Cyberspace.. hopefully someday, someone will find my blog useful when they want to travel to Malaysia)... So stay tune!

Friday 19 June 2009

Embrace With Love

I don’t know about you, but I do realize that most of the time, the very first reaction that comes naturally when I’m face with unfavorable situation is to resist it. Way of resisting it varies, I might complain about it, I might throw tantrum, I might play victim, I might place the responsibility to the others... And the consequences are I stay unhappy longer and at the same time I affect people around me by either make them feel bad or angry. The result is problems stay unsolved and everyone involve gets affected in the negative way.

Today, I read an email that illustrates a person that embrace the problem with love. And I would like to share this short story with all. And the story goes like this.

One day, a husband saw a bottle of medicine syrup is open on the table. He told his wife to keep the medicine bottle close and place into somewhere safe, and he rushed to work. At the same time, his wife is busy with so house chores, and she forgotten about this. Their beloved son which is very young saw the medicine and attracted to the colour of the syrup. He drank the whole bottle and suffered from overdosing of the medicine. His son saw sent to the hospital. Unfortunately, his son died from poisoning when he arrived in hospital. When is saw his dead child, his was shocked. He looked into his wife and told her, “I love you.”

His wife broke into tears and hugged him tightly. She was relieved that her husband didn’t blame her on their son death. Later she asked her husband why he reacted in such a way. The husband told her that he can blame her for the death and initiate a fight with her. But he asked himself what’s the point for the fight. He already lost his child and there wasn’t anything he could do to undo the situation. He don’t want to lost his wife too. So instead of blame all the faults on his wife, he comfort his wife over the lost of their children.

Hopefully, we are able to embrace rather that resist whenever we face with problem/ situation. I know it isn’t easy to walk the talk. But, at least, we do our best to control our emotion and embrace the problem with love.

Tuesday 16 June 2009

Teluk Batik Escapade

Batik is located in the state of Perak. Though it is not among the top tourist spots, yet I think it is still worth visting. If you are driving to Lumut and taking a ferry to Pulau Pangkor, you may want to consider drop by at Teluk Batik – a beach where the locals go.

Teluk Batik is about 6km away from the town of Lumut (south west of Ipoh). It is Lumut’s most popular beach. Yet, compared to other popular beaches in Malaysia, I rate it as a quiet beach side suitable for unwind and relax. Many locals will know that it also famous for the marine navy base bear Teluk Batik.

There weren’t many accommodation choices in Teluk Batik area. Many name themselves as resort, to me they are just normal decent hotels with basic facilities. So, if you’re one of those who like fancy resort stay. I’m quite sure you’ll be disappointed. However, if you just want to enjoy the beach and the nature, this can be a good place to be.

Teluk Batik has a long stretch of white sand beach. Most of the time you’ll be accompany by monkeys around the beach parking bay. There are many stores selling souvenirs, drinks and food near the beach side parking bay. Since, there are not many tourists, so you wouldn’t see any commercial water sports activities at this beach. However, you’ll see some fishing boat at the beach, locals come to the beach fishing, local children having fun at the beach. Simple and quiet – that’s the impression Teluk Batik given to me. Walking along the beach, you can see quite a lot of little shells and crab at the beach.

Nearby the beach there’s also a Shell Museum. This museum structure is a typical Malay kampong house with shell collections from all over the world. For a small fee, you can enter and enjoy the “rumah kampong” building structure and see the owners’ collections of shells.

6km away from Teluk Batik is another beach - Teluk Rubiah. If you manage to get a local to guide you, actually you can track through the forest along the beach. Do not attempt to walk by yourself, as there track is not easy to find and there’s a high chance to bump into monkeys living at the forest.


How to go?
Use the North South Highway.
1. Head to north if you are from Kuala Lumpur or other states located at Central Region/ Southern Region.
Head to South if you are from Penang or other states located at the Southern Region.
2. Exit Bidor. Follow the route 58 heading to Teluk Intan / Lumut.
3. Follow route 5 heading to Sitiawan / Lumut.
4. Road sign turning in to Teluk Batik only available when you near to Lumut.

Food
There are not many choices of food at the Teluk Batik area. There are only few local Malay cafés round. You may also choose to dine in the hotel/ resort.
Drive to the Lumut town (about 15 mins single journey), if you prefer to have more selections of food. At the town, you can find fast food, Malay, Indian, Chinese and Western cuisine.

Saturday 6 June 2009

Toy Story3

Good news to all Disney animation fans!! Woody & Buzz are back in Toy Story3, screening next year in cinema.

This time, the animation will be in 3D format. The story will now talk Andy in college year. How Woody, Buzz and they little gangs (oh... I love Mr. Potato Head and the clumsy Dino) life will be like as Andy grows up. And what kind of jokes will include in the latest episode. I’m kinda looking forward for it…

Friday 5 June 2009

3 New H1NI cases detected in Malaysia

Today when I flipped the newspaper and I saw that there were 3 new cases of H1N1 detected in Malaysia.

One student coming back from the states on MH 091 on the 1 June.
Another 2 were German tourist arrived from Singapore on AirAsia AK702 on 3 June.

The health ministry is tracking those on these 2 flights to prevent local transmission of the virus. They ask corporation for those in contact with the 3 patients to contact them on 03-881 0200 / 03-881 0300.

Health Risks we Too Ignorance to know

Health Risks we Too Ignorance to know
If you are Hong Kong Movie lover, I think you are familiar with this phrase, “The most dangerous place is the safest.” If you reflect this on how we take pre-caution steps in protecting you and your love ones, this statement is very true.

We are educated to wash our hands frequently. When do you wash hand? After using the toilet, going out from clinic / hospital, before and after meal. I believe many do practice this since young. So you think you are protected from germs? They are many areas that are “highly dangerous” but we are ignorance on them. Here, I just want to share 2 most common ones:-

Risk of shopping cart / basket
As a typical Malaysian, we simply love shopping. Shopping malls, hypermarket, supermarket, etc. Taking a shopping cart / basket is the usual act we do. And seldom do we realize that the shopping cart and basket is one of the highly contaminated items we in contact with. Numerous people just take the cart / basket, putting everything they want inside. It could be livestock (with juices, blood, dirt, etc), it could be aerosol (chemicals contaminate), it could be anything and people take / push the cart to everywhere they are allowed to - Car park, outside the toilet, food court, everywhere.

Parents with young child like to put the young kid into the seating inside the cart. If you start to see how contaminated the cart could be, you know the risk you putting them in. Kid touches the cart’s handle and put their little hand inside their mouth, rub their eyes / face. Not a very wise choice, huh?

We adult also seldom realize the cart / basket as the “germs bearding ground”. Rarely do we wash our hand after handling the shopping cart, or clean the handler before handling it. We shop, sometimes we do food tasting while shopping.

Ladies caution about your handbag
We love our handbag(s). We carry them to everywhere we go. Toilet, restaurant, party, office... And we put them on the wall (toilet), floor (house, office), table, wardrobe, drawer, chair, etc. Just imagine how dirty and contaminated our handbag is.

From our naked eyes, the handbag seems clean. We even put our handbag on our dining table. It is just like eating without washing your hand after using the toilet. Because, we usually bring our handbag along (to toilet) and we NEVER wash them after using the toilet. ^_^

And if you are one of the notebook / laptop user, well actually notebook / laptop are similar to handbag. We put them on the dining table as well… Haha… you know where you put your laptop before putting them on the dining table, right?
So next time, be alert on things we in contact with. Lower unnecessary health risks!!

Wednesday 3 June 2009

A New Chapter, Again

These few days I have been feeling down. My mind was cluttered with many negative thoughts. I kept the feelings in me, I talked with friends, I take action to make an exit from the situation, I pampered myself with food, I chanted, I cried. Yet, I’m felt there were frustration and fear in my heart.

I again and again asked myself why I am feeling such. What else’s I am holding to that has caused the pain. What happened had happened. There’s no point I feel bad about it. What I fear will happened in the future has yet to happen. Why I want to torture myself in the fear and pain. If those things that beyond I can control are going to happened (but I know well is out of my control) it also evidence to me that there is no point for me to feel bad.

Suddenly, I realized I have actually taken the positive steps to exit from the situation in the best way I have know of. I should acknowledge my courage to take the move out from there and end it.

I am going to open a new chapter. I should celebrate because life is a book with so many chapters. We can choose to end a chapter and we can choose to start a new chapter. We are the writer of our life story.

I don’t know how many pages are given to me for my life book, but at least there are some elements that I can control of my life story. I wanted to make the best choice to write an interesting story…

Yes! I am ready to on the GO GO GO mode again!!