Because it is the day my country achieve it's independence 50 years ago.

Because it is a holiday.

But most of all, it is the day my wife was born! Woohoo!

Happy Merdeka and Holidays to all Malaysians!

Three weeks back, I wrote about my pre-graduation holiday which coincided with Euro 96 wherein I stayed in London for a couple of days. Actually, between London, I actually took a 5 days 4 nights trip to Paris - and that by Eurostar across the Channel Tunnel. The ride was unforgettable when we reached the shores of France with the train speeding at 300km and yet, the glass of water on our flip-down table hard shows any sign of turbulence.

Just like how I had to plan the accommodation in London, I had to look for information on Hotels in Paris. Whilst the hotel in London could be better, the hotel I stayed in Paris was so much better - Hotel Vignon along Rue Vignon. Hotels in Paris are as expensive as those in London but I was fortunate to have been able to find this hotel through their internet web presence. After reading a couple reviews, it seemed most suitable for my needs and budget.

When we arrive in Gare Du Nord, we immediately took the Metro and headed towards the nearest station to Hotel Vignon. I think that was Madeleine or Opera. Anyway, the hotel was situated in a very strategic location. Opera, Madeleine, Place de la Concorde and the Lourve were all within walking distance. There were so much to see and do around the hotel's vicinity. We, unknowingly walked into a shop selling chocolates and found the chocolates so beautiful to be eaten! We got some home and did not realise until much later that the said shop, Fauchon, is actually a well known chocolate shop in Paris. Anyway, we had good memories of Paris, which included munching on a baguette by a lake next to the Carousel, window shopping at Printemps, taking a river cruise on Bateaux Mouche and touring the city at night by bus.

Definitely wanna go back there again! As for Hotel Vignon, based on what I saw on the internet, it has been upgraded and now costs much more than before. I will need to do another search in the net for Paris Hotels when the trip materialises.

So, the famous Loh Mee is found in Ulu Yam Lama and not Hulu Yam Bahru as I just found out a few hours ago. Taking a drive up north with my bosses, we headed pass the Batu Dam in search for the slurpilicious Loh Mee and the first village we reached was Hulu Yam Bahru. There were a few restaurants there but none looked busy enough to convince us that that was the place. So, we asked a pedestrian and our suspicion was confirmed. Apparently, the real mackoy is further down the road.

When we reached Ulu Yam Lama, an old shophouse restaurant by the name of Swee Yen Restaurant looked busy enough with a couple of tables full of customers. A quick peak revealed that this is indeed THE place as we could smell the stinging vinegar synonymous with the Loh Mee here. We ordered a bowl of that, steamed haruan slices and stir-fried potato shoots with garlic. Absolutely lovely, though I must confess I felt that I know how to cook this version of Loh Mee as it tastes very much like the one which we cook back home.

The thing is, when the food was served, I picked up my digital camera ready to shoot the delicious looking noodles when I realised that the battery had run flat. Bummers! So, sorry folks, no photography feast for you today.

And erm...burp, I'm still digesting my lunch as of now. It was great and costs only RM44.00 for 3 persons inclusive of 3 herbal teas plus the sweetest nangka fruit dessert which came fresh and cold from the chiller fridge. The 50-odd km trip was worth the travel.

Been there yourself?

Time flies indeed and I will be 33 tomorrow. I remembered when I was in school (or was it college?) and my teacher asked the class to write something about what we would like to achieve when we were old (I can't remember the exact age, probably 50 years old I think). I remembered I wrote something about being married with kids, having a house of my own, a car for my own as well as for my wife and with a successful career to boot.

It looks like I'm almost there, don't you think so? I am married, I have 2 kids, I own an apartment with my wife (well, actually the bank owns it) and we have cars to move about. I am also working full time and in reasonably good health. What more could I ask for? Nothing actually. God has been so good and faithful to me all these while - through my ups and downs. I've had my share of downs but those were events which were allowed to happen in order to shape me to who I am today and to continue to shape me for the future.

As I look through my life, I have indeed been blessed - much more than I could ever imagine. When God says that He will indeed bless you, He does not renegade on His promise. It's just that sometimes we are too blind to see it happening. And we do get blind when envy and greed clouds our eyes. It is all too easy to blame God for not blessing us when we see our neighbours (in a general sense) having supposedly more material wealth, better physical health, more distinguished careers, greater looks, exciting talents and the like. However, we fail to realise that each of us are created individually by God with different talents and giftings and course in life to serve His purposes.

I am glad that as I turn 33 tomorrow, I've found life's purposes in God and living a life of freedom and abundance in Him. I hope you have too ;)

For the last 3 months, my kids have been exposed to all kinds of germs out there and this is especially so in a child care centre. There was the coxsackie viral attack and now, it's Rotavirus. Initially, we thought it was just a normal running nose and phlegm episode which would take its course with normal medication (Terbutaline and Hydrozine). However, the elder girl started developing fever after about 5 days. A check with the paediatrician revealed that there was a sore throat. So, we thought the fever was associated with the sore throat.

The fever did not go away after 3 days and she started throwing up and complaining that her tummy aches once a while. Sensing something not quite right, we brought her back to the paediatrician who then diagnosed that our elder daughter has the rotavirus. A reflection on the events that took place confirmed that this is the most likely cause - she has a bad habit of putting her fingers in her mouth at times and this may have caused the infection.

Rotavirus is a highly infectious disease caused by poor hygiene and attributable to stool contamination. The symptoms include fever, nausea, and vomiting, which are often followed by abdominal cramps and frequent, watery diarrhea. Children who are infected may also have a cough and runny nose. Last night, whilst she was sleeping, she threw up on the bed. Needless to say, her appetite is poor and we had to keep encouraging her to drink more water to keep her hydrated.

She's now with my parents together with the younger one. We don't want them to infect the other kids in child care. The younger one had fever yesterday and we hope she would be able to withstand the infection. They are feeling much better today, thankfully. Hopefully they would be up and about by Monday.

I graduated in June 1996. Just 2 weeks prior to my graduation ceremony, my wife (she was my girlfriend then) flew over from Kuching to London to join me for a trip of London and Paris. So, early preparation was required.

I popped over to the Students' Union to try to get as much information as possible for cheap hotels in London. You can understand why because I was on a tight budget and I had to make sure I don't spend too much on accommodation in London which can be notoriously expensive. I ended up booking with Lord Jim Hotel in Earls Court, London. At that time, I think the rate was 40 pounds but my recent check showed that it has ballooned to 95 pounds! Of course, there are last minute deals but frankly, after my stay there, I wasn't too keen to go back. I won't mind if they have refurbished the place though because when I stayed there, it was rather run down. And of course, it was Euro 96 as well, which caused prices of accommodation to go up.

Some of my friends have asked whether I intend to go back to the UK for a holiday or to visit my alma mater in Leicester. That will probably have to wait as the exchange rate does not favour a holiday there. But if I do, I might want to make a trip over to Manchester which I did not when I was studying there. A visit to Old Trafford would be in order, subject to finding a cheap hotel in Manchester, of course! I am such a scrooge!

Last Friday, as I was travelling back to my office after appearing in the Courts, there was a slight traffic congestion as I passed by Istana Negara. Some tour buses were making their way to Istana Negara and trying to find a place to park. As it is, there were a couple of buses parked outside the gates of Istana Negara already and these other buses were finding it hard to manourve to a decent parking space in the midst of the hundreds of photo-snapping tourists.

The scene brought my memories to the time when I visited Buckingham Palace. No, I need to rephrase that. I went to visit the gates of Buckingham Palace. That's right. I went to the gates, jostled amongst the few hundred other tourists and tried to get a photo of a guard sitting on a horse. Or maybe, I think the guard was standing next to the horse. I can't remember that well. It was more than 10 years ago. I did not go into Buckingham Palace. I did not even step into its famed grounds.

I then realised that many tourists pay money and spend time to visit the gates of famous places. No, they can't go in. I can't get into Istana Negara or Buckingham Palace. I could only see the palace on the outside and imagine how beautiful and extravagant it would be on the inside. But why? Why just stand outside? I am sure that behind the minds of all those gate-tourists, they would not hesitate a bit if invited to go into these palaces to admire the interiors. Better still, be invited to stay in the palace...eternally. What's the point of visiting a gate but being unable to go beyond? One can't say that he has visited the place if all he has done is to merely stand outside and take a picture from the outside. It's like saying you've been to Singapore but the reality is that you were just standing on the Causeway at Malaysian border. It is just not the same.

So, if one day, you are standing outside the gate of Heaven, would you not want to be able to get into Heaven? I pray that you have the keys to unlock the door to Heaven. I know I have.

After 1 1/2 years, finally the first adsense cheque arrived. No, I am not showing a picture of the cheque just like what many others are doing because it is nothing so much to shout about but I am happy nevertheless that blogging has its side rewards. What I am most pleased is that what took me 18 months to amass will probably now take me 5 months as my accumulation for 1 month is about USD20 at the moment.

However, let those who think that making money from adsense is easy think twice. It is NOT EASY and takes a lot of hard work and perseverance. Nothing comes easy. Whoever says that making money from adsense is easy or that they have any secrets are possibly tricking you into visiting their site to learn something which so many others have probably said before. Moreover, google adsense's site itself contains quite a lot of tips already.

After all, it is well known that in the art of making money and drawing traffic, posts which contain key words like "Secrets" or "How to" usually create a better first impression to a curious reader. Have you not regularly clicked on headings of such posts in curiosity?

Whilst I was studying in England, I was a member of my university's International Students Association - for a purpose. It is no secret that the ISA organises numerous trips around the country at friendly student rates. As such, I was able to go on day trips to places like Bath, Oxford and Cambridge for a song.

During winter 1995, I took the opportunity to travel to Scotland for a week with other international students. It was a round trip of Scotland which took us as far north as Inverness and Isle of Skye. Edinburgh was a compulsory and necessary stop-over of course. We spent one night in Edinburgh and I was lucky to have a friend who was staying there and he brought me site seeing.

I was quite impressed with Edinburgh actually. It is far smaller than London but retains a nice old world charm helped by the presence of the Edinburgh Castle in the middle of the city. No wonder many undergraduates like to stay put and find jobs in Edinburgh after finishing their studies. Edinburgh jobs can be found in online communities such as at http://www.gumtree.com. Apart from jobs in Edinburgh, Gumtree also offers other classifieds such as flat/house to rent and stuffs for sale.


Sponsored by Gumtree and yes, I miss Edinburgh!