Sunday Market at Kota Kinabalu

Sunday Markets at Kota Kinabalu offers a lot of goodies . It is a haven for traditional souvenirs made by local. At the same time there are arts works, paintings, craft works that you can;t possibly get from any of the city shops.




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Part 1: Bukit Antarabangsa : The place no man should live !

Malaysian loved to blame each other after any disaster that involved human live . But Malaysian will never learn and will never change.

Landslide is nothing new in the history of civil engineering but engineers, authorities, developers, contractors who are parties to such risky development will never stop constructing and pretend nothing will happen once they sign of that piece of paper called Certificate of Fitness.

The cost of carrying out detail soil and geological investigation are normally not cheap. Owner as well as the developer had always find ways to avoid such costly preliminary exercise. Furthermore such investigation are normally carried out within a limited area of the development. One can never tell how the slip can happen as there are so many possibilities the failure can happen. If you add the unknown future development, change of surface and underground drainage system, increase in surcharge loading from new development, then all the factor of safety will get very fuzzy.

Eventually what was describe safe now will not necessarily be safe next year.

(This is the first part of article on the "'Landslide : A Reflection of Malaysia Builder Mentality").

Note : I had spent many years on civil engineering in Malaysia as well as in Europe . I love the technical part of the profession but over years I found Malaysian do not respect the judgment of good engineering. No matter whether they are minister, government officers, millionaires, academician, lawyers, engineers, bankers, they do not value engineering advice.

Project are carried out at blazing speed (accelerated), proper design time are not given priority, contractors are not forced to have registered professional engineers and there is no standard fees despite existence of scale of fees.

The industry is full of greedy people who know more about politic than about building codes and engineering ethics.

In my next article I will try to share some of my bad experience dealing with project owners, contractors in Malaysia and some my nice and not so nice experience working with foreign engineering companies.

Pasar Ikan Masin Kota Kinabalu : extended hours shopping

Kota Kinabalu offers plenty of stuff for travellers to shop around. There are more shoppers at the traditional market than the modern and up market shopping complexes like Wisma Warisan, Warisan Square, Centre Point, 1 Borneo.

Just wonder if these traditional shops are immuned from the 'global financial crunch'

Kota Kinabalu Fish Market : Suprisingly Clean.

[Kota Kinabalu Fish Market : view from 9th floor of Hyatt Regency Hotel]

Kota Kinabalu Fish Market was surprisingly clean until I discovered something from my cousin who had spent more than 11 years in Kuching.

According to him someone reported in the local newspaper sometime ago that the Mayor's nose was blocked since he could not smell those nasty foul from the rubbish that was scattered around the town.

The Mayor was so upset once he discovered that the city folks were making a joke out of the news. Embarrassed but eager to clean his name he quickly take action to clean the city.

No matter whether it was a joke or not I was impressed with the city cleanliness.

Mount Kinabalu : Unforgetable View

Someone suggested to me recently to visit Sabah instead of Sarawak for the end of year vacation.

After spending 4 days in Kota Kinabalu city including a day trip to Ranau and a long journey to the Kinabalu Park (near Mount Kinabalu) I can conclude that it was a beautiful experience and something I can never forget for a long time to come.

Pink Visitors of Putrajaya Mosque

Visitors of Putrajaya Mosque are given pink clothes to cover themselves for a visit inside the mosque.

Nikon Coolpix P6000 GPS does not function

I bought Nikon Coolpix P6000 recently and was disappointed that the GPS features did not work.

[1] I tested the GPS for 1 hour on the way home from the shop by placing the camera on my car dashboard but there was no updating of coordinates.
[2] The following day I tested again the unit for another hour on the way to office by placing it on the car dashboard and still there was no sign that the GPS pick up any signal.
[3] Just to give Nikon another chance , I went to a big lake near PJ and left the camera in an open area at the lake side for 15 minutes and but still no sign that the GPS is alive.
[4] Frustrated, I packed the camera and just took it Nikon service centre .

I had used garmin Mobile with O2 phone , Garmin 60CS, Nokia N82 before and never experience such problem .All these new unis just work within less than 10 minutes. And I was looking forward to buy GP-1 for my Nikon D300 but now I am not sure if Nikon is very serious with geotagging or whether it was pure marketing gimmick.

Drop me a line if you have the same problem.

Quantum of Solat .or...Quantum of Solace

Quantum of Solace...That is the latest James Bond movie.

Ramadan was just over and the mosque is empty again. There is no attraction that drive people to the mosque.

That is why whenever I see the road side ad on the 007 latest movie it reminds me the other question .. what is your 'Quantum of Solat' ?

Goodbye Ramadan

This year I saw more people at the mosque in Taipan, USJ. Alhamdulillah there were still a lot people performing Trawikh towards the end of Ramadan.

Ramadhan is around the corner ..

Are you ready for another month of soul cleansing. Well a mosque in USJ
is already prepared to welcome you with a special 'Laluan Tarawikh' for the night visitors.
On behalf of the mosque AJK ...."Welcome to our mosque".

Kedai PC World

Somewhere in Pekan Jasin, Melaka there is a computer shop having a familiar name ,'PC World' . Is this the headquarter of PC World Magazine since the design of the signage look too obvious. .......

Saiful : You had smeared my mosque.

I am really upset that the place that I used to get my soul purified now become a place for people to settle their sodomy case. Why can't they choose some other place to settle their differences. Please don't create history that Masjid Wilayah is the first mosque in the world to have someone confessed that they had been sodomised. What a shame! This is a holy place and please don't misuse our mosque.

Street of George Town Penang

Street of George Town Penang

An illustrated guide to Penang Historic's attraction by Khoo Su Nin

MRR2 closed for the third time?

So after spending millions of ringgit repairing the cracked bridge , the famous (for number of cracks) bridge need to be closed again. Once handled by MIC , now lets see how UMNO's engineers handle the case.

Why don't the government made the technical report of the problem available to the local engineers so that the local engineers won't repeat the same problem in future.

So my advice to the government :

"you can put all the prestress you need to cover the crack but you cannot hide the cause of the crack to the public"

I hope the new PWD Minister will show the public the truth.

What is the name of the consultant again ?.. What is the name of the consultant for the second Penang Bridge ? I hope they are not the same or related.

Harzadous Containers on NSE Expressway

I am curious on the level of risk driving beside the two container trucks carrying hazardous material along PLUS highway. I hope there is no radioactive trace!

The Borneo Post

It was a tiring day and I was too lazy to take a walk along the Kuching river front.
I just spent the whole night reading The Borneo Post and surfing internet using my Dopod U1000. The RM60 DIGI Edge data package works very well in Kuching.

Similanjau Sandy Beach

Similanjau beach is just 45 km north of Bintulu Port. Untouched and clean . But you need to be ready for 15 minutes jungle tracking to reach the beach from the nearest coastal road.

Similanjau Marine Bug

I found this marine bug crawling slowly along the beach of Similanjau but
could not find the name of this black bug.

Rent A 4 WD to Bakun

I don't normally provide free advert for any company. However during my last trip to Kuching I was so pleased with this beautiful country. I was surprised that the food taste so good in Bintulu.


I found this advert in Bintulu Aiport and I think it will be difficult to find this information in future and I hope everyone will find this info useful. I hope this company provide a good service.

I did not go to Bakun but I went to Similanjau seaside for some marine studies.

Got Enough of Malaysian Soccer Excuses ? Play a real street soccer

Lets play a real street soccer. All you need is a car and a tank full of petrol.
Somewhere in USJ 20 people decided to forget about soccer made in England and start the real street soccer.

The rule of the game : No offside traps allowed.

Air force

Life Goes On ...Even when part of us turning upside down

[photo taken during an IT meeting with POS Malaysia]

Will I see tomorrow with spare coins in my pocket. Everything is getting more expensive.

But life must go on even when part of us already turning upside down....

Bugs turn waste into crude oil found.s

Someone in US found bug (genetically modified) that turns waste into crude oil...(OK I am switching to agriculture ) ...more news

Car run on Water in Japan...at last!

A Japanese company, Genepax Co Ltd had successfully developed a prototype car that run on new fuel cell system "Water Energy System (WES)," which uses water as a fuel and does not emit CO₂....read more..

(Look like Syabas's share will be more expensive than Petronas' share if they mass produce the car)

Chance to see Proton's under without straining your neck

One public property gone .




..










One pride gone as well..........

Hurray ! Found a new vehicle to beat the petrol cost

Vespa :
Here is the Specification :

One driver , 2 passengers.
The two pasenggers will pay me the extra petrol cost.
Save on parking and petrol consumption.
Get annual rebate. Redeem coupon at POS Malaysia ( more than 100 branches through out the nation)
Less one wheel for maintenance.

Problem : The Vespa does not belong to me and I have no motorcycle driving licence

Oil Price Madness : 40 percent increase

I cannot believe it . Increase in oil price but no improvement to transport system.

There is no bus service passes by my area.
There is no LRT connecting to the town where I lived.

Dear or dear my government ......how can we survive.

Klang : Twenty Centuries of Eventful Existence

Klang : Twenty Centuries of Eventful Existence
Author : Mubin Sheppard

Nice book about the beautiful history of Klang. However looking at what is going on in Klang now one just wonder whether the people who plan the town ever appreciate a bit of architecture and understand basic social requirement.

Klang has lost everything and its too late for anything. It is another China town in the making with signboard all over the place..

Girls must love this restaurant !

Somewhere along Jalan Tengkera Melaka I found this 'Restaurant Handsome'. I think it is close during lunch time. But girls if you are looking for a handsome man of your dream who loves crabs then drop by at this roadside restaurant.

Something like Google Street View

Drive through online 300m part of Federal Highway . No Flash required. Visit

Perodua Nautica launched

Perodua recently launched a new version of 4 wheel drive vehicle (1500 cc). The car features automatic transmission and comes in either Medallion Grey or Majestic Black.
On-the-road price is RM89,900.

Motorbike with survillance camera

Spotted this motorbike with a strange signage :" This outlet is installed with surveillance camera". I tried to locate the camera at the exhaust but could not find any. Probably one of the most advance motorbike in town.

JPA Scholarship announced | Keputusan Biasiswa JPA

The result is supposed to be out on 11th May 2008 but the web site is jammed.It is 1.58 am and I cannot get through beyond the login page. Hopefully the webmaster is aware of the problem...

Nokia N82 with Google Map

Last weekend I tried to navigate with Nokia N82 Black using Google Map. It worked perfectly even at a crusing speed of 90 km per hour and with the satellite images option from Google map the navigation was more interesting than that was offer by Nokia owns map.

Jabatan Hasil Server Failed due to heavy usage?

I am upset that despite several years of development the site had failed to take the challenge of the Malaysian last minute tax payers.

I had already waited for two hours and the same error message is appearing.

I guessed the Microsoft ASP server used at the HASIL office is not the correct platform for this kind of heavily loaded system.

I did a quick search online and the error is caused by :
[[CAUSE

The error is generated from the line in your .prf file that establishes the connection to the ActiveX Data Objects (ADO) source (for example, ADODB.Connection.1.5).

Rule Manager generates the Rule Set File with hard-coded ADO 1.5 version checks. If your computer is running ADO 2.0 or later and it has not been upgraded from ADO version 1.5, registry entries needed by ADO 2.0 to handle this version check will be missing.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, apply the latest Site Server 3.0 service pack.

To work around this problem, you can fix the code that was previously generated by Rule Manager by finding the ADODB lines in the .prf file that have "1.5" appended to them and remove the "1.5." For example, change the line that reads "ADODB.Connection.1.5" to "ADODB.Connection." ]]
""""

Testing Nokia N82 Black a-GPS System

My office mate recently asked me to test his new Nokia N82 a-GPS . The phone GPS system was very sensitive and my location was established in less than a minute , even tough the weather was slighty cloudy and the rain was a about to begin (6.45 pm in Petaling Jaya).

I had used Garmin XT running on HTC U1000 for sometime and I think Nokia N82 GPS is superior than the HTC .

Parking Problem in Taipan, USJ

Photo : Quick action by MBSJ to remove car for parking infront of Recycle Centre. I hope the authority is also quick at implementing an efficient transport system for the Subang Jaya folks.
------

Try to find a parking space in Taipan, USJ on Saturday ?. Most of the time you have to wait for on hour before you can find an empty parking lot.

Everybody is driving to this place. People from USJ , Puchong and Putra Height come in just to do their shopping or to have a nice dinner. There is no reliable bus service and taxi driver will not take you for a short trip even from Subang Parade to SS19.

So , the new YB from PKR, if you read this blog I hope you can arrange a meeting on Saturday 11.00 am at Taipan and see how fast you can park your car.

Cartoon onTun

A collection by Zunar. If you hate the former Prime Minister this may be a good book for you.
But if you are not sure if TUN is better than Abdullah please wait for the next book by Zunar.

Seminar on Virtual Reality

Photo : A presentation by Ms. Tea Lorenzten on Case studies : Delhi Bus Sytem, Fukui Coastal Route Drive Simulation.

Attended a Seminar on Visualisation for Mega Projects and Construction related activities through Virtual Reality on 26th Feb 2008.

Interesting Seminar held at Auditorium Akademi Pengajian Bahasa , Bangunan Pusat Bahasa Korea, UiTM, Shah Alam . Discover interesting software like UC-Win but not sure if I can do part time project using this software.

KL-Putrajaya Highway

Photo showing the toll rates for KL-Putrajaya Highway.
I had the opportunity to used the highway last month and it wasn't that bad. Reached Putrajaya from Bulatan Kampong Pandan in KL in less than 25 minutes.

New Political Map of West Malaysia

Legend : Blue - BN : Green - Barisan Rakyat

My simple observation :
[1] The northern region except Perlis is already covered by BA
[2] In term of area BN may have slighlty more land area.
[3] BA area covers plenty of industrial and knowledge base resources.
[4] Major ports are in the BA area
[5] Main airport are in BA Area.

TV 3 had started the propaganda again. So do something fast

Did you watch TV3 8.00 news just now.? It was disgusting. They had call all the pro BN political analyst to make comment on how the new Barisan Rakyat will fulfill their pre election promises.

Did they asked this so called expert why people vote Barisan Rakyat . How much money the cronies make money from the project initiated by BN. How many project was awarded to contractors without tender.

Oh TV3...

So guys.. If you can change the government you can also do the change to this TV station. Let start now before they create more anti Barisan Rakyat propaganda.

Now who had misread his audience?

The Star dated 8th March 2008 headline "Anwar has misread his audience, says Ruslan"

He had even said ""The people merely want to listen to him (Anwar Ibrahim) making his speech”

..Maybe Roslan Kassim think people in Malaysia are stupid and like to waste their time. ....

Wikipedia need quick update for some states

The webpage of the following states need to be updated : Penang, Kedah and probably Perak and Selangor . Please dont let the company like Motorola thinks that the Chief Minisiter is still the Gerakan man. . . .

Will Penang Second Bridge be constructed under Opposition rule?

Now it was confirmed that Penang falls to BA , I wonder the Second Penang Bridge will become a reality. The project that cost more than RM3 bil that had been awarded to United Engineers and China Harbour will put a big dent to UE financial book.

Do you sell your UE share this coming Moday ?

Another projects that will get into problem will be most likely the Penang Monorail and Northern Double Track projects.

Share of Scomi and Gamuda to fall ?

Let see also what happen to Bursa Malaysia ?

I'm sorry BN . Time is running out !

I'm sorry BN.

All the corridors do not have any meaning to me.

The cake is getting smaller.

The plot is getting thicker.

Time is running out for me.

My children are scared to be on their own.

I have no choice but to groom this lady..

Unlucky PLKN participants

I dont know what Malaysian consider good planning ?

Take for example the date for registration for PLKN 2008 second batch which had been fixed to be on 18th March 2008 while the date of the SPM result announcement was scheduled to be on 12th March 2008.

When I call the PLKN centre about 3 weeks ago they said they normally allow for 2 weeks gap between the two events to allow the students to made the necessary plan for their University application. So I had expected the result to be announced around 2nd march .

Does the govt officers think the children can make the important decision for their future within 4 days (less 2 days for the weekend and their unpredictable online university application system).

The government had ample time and resources to plan everything but why they just want to make life difficult for the public.

Some of the parents that I meet were annoyed with the short time made available for them to decide on their kids education plan . Their kids who was originally anxious to take part in the PLKN programme now felt they were not given a fair treatment by the two ministries responsible for fixing the dates.

Did Malaysia Finance Company employed gangster to collect loan from defaulter?

Today is a sad day for me being a Malaysian or perhaps being a Malay.

After having lunch in Seksen 14 , PJ with my office mate I walked to my car with my friend which was only 10 m from the road side restaurant , when I saw 6 people surrounded my car.

Six of them , all Indian looking like gangster prevented me from opening the car door and told me they had a notice from a local finance company to reposes the car. I did not read the letter but I can see the bank logo was there.

They ask for my name and IC , but I was reluctant to give . Somehow things got a little tricky when they mentioned a Chinese name being the owner of the car. So it was very clear that it was a mistaken identity but unfortunately the car number is the same so is the chassis number.

I requested to see the letter but was refused .I wanted take a photo of the letter but were refused by them. We started to argue but time was running out for me because I had to attend my Friday praying.

Finally they gave up and said the bank made a mistake. But I had no proof that the bank issued the letter to them.

It was embarrassing moment for me to be placed in this situation by a bank.

After Friday prayer I went to the bank where I normally made my payment and they confirmed that there was no Fourth Schedule issued under my name.

My conclusion.

[1] Were the people that harassed me genuine car repossessor employed by the bank. I think they were genuine and also rough kind of people. Why did I think they were genuine . They left us and went back to the restaurant pretending nothing had happen.

[2] Did the bank made a mistake. Yes . The bank will never admit they make the mistake and never admitted they employed a rough car repossessor company.

[3] Why I regretted . I was harassed for a wrong reason by a group of Indian employed by a Malay bank to harass a Malay.

[4] Were they gangster ?. Yes they look like one. They behave like one.

Why I am concerned.

My wife also drive this car once in a while so I am concerned she may be harassed by other re possessor employed by the bank.

The six Indian should not treated me like I don't belong to this country because I had never disrespect any other races . Whether they were legally employed by the bank or not.

The finance business run by moron who engaged gangster character to hassle people .


What I really regretted?

I did not take of the any photo of the event . I was already late for Friday praying

Should I make a police report?

No, I think the police should better spend their time looking for Sharlene.


What I will do next?

........ still thinking if I have enough evidence to name the bank in this blog.....

Do I have witness.?

more than 20 people watched the commotion.

Impak maksimun : almost.....

Tiga buah bas pandu laju-laju...
Satu masuk parit , tinggal lagi dua

(Please dont think I enjoy publishing photos of vehicles involved in accident but I just dont like crazy driver ..


(Photo : along PLUS highway)

Kuching in Pictures 1841-1991

"Kuching in pictures 1841-1991" covers the period from the reiggn og James Brooke, 1st Rajah (1841-1868) , and Charles Brooke the 2nd Rajah of Sarawak (1868-1917) , Charles Vyner Brooke (1918-1941) , the Japanese Occupation (1941-1945), the British Colonial Era (1946-1963) and after independence .

The book was compiled by Mr Ho Ah Chon and published in 1992 with preface written by Tan Sri Datuk Ong Kee Hui.

Accident at Jalan Tengkera, Melaka

I was on my way driving back to meet my parent
last week when I saw this accident . Fortunately no
body was hurt.

It was a rare opportunity for me to get this close with
my Pocket camera which I always complained
being too slow compare to my DSLR.

In this situation I found Pocket camera serve its purpose
even though my SLR was on the seat next to me.


Shot 1
















Shot 2
















Shot 3
















Shot 4

Beat the Drum Dear Guest

What The Management says:
Kindly drum the 'beduk' for a few second for bellmans' assistance:


Next time you visit Awana Kijal, pretend there is no Bellman around and start hitting the drum. Since the Bellman was so efficient I had no chance to make the noise. So dear guest ... pretend you did not see the bellboy..otherwise you never get the chance..."The Guest"

The Dinding Bridge

The Dinding Bridge
Originally uploaded by Templar_Tan

The Dinding Bridge

The Dinding Bridge, the longest river bridge in Malaysia. Now renamed as Raja Permaisuri Bainun Bridge.

Proton Saga : Back View

Photo of new Proton Saga : Back View

New Proton Saga launched

Photo : Front View


New Proton Saga with Campro engine launched this week.
Price :
PROTON SAGA 1.3AT (M) M-LINE RM 39,998.00
PROTON SAGA 1.3AT (S) M-LINE RM 39,548.00
PROTON SAGA 1.3MT (M) M-LINE RM 37,498.00
PROTON SAGA 1.3MT (S) M-LINE RM 37,048.

Air Asia departs from Kota Kinabalu Airport

Malaysian in Sharjah

I was in Sharjah, UAE last week with few friends to promote our company in UAE . The experience was not to what we had expected.

The number of visitors on the opening day was low. Most participants were so frustrated with the location of the trade EXPO arranged by MATRADE .

The second day was not getting any better due to Bush visit in Dubai where most of the road leading to Sharjah were closed .

Last but not least , the third day Dubai was hit by the biggest flood.

We ended up visiting fellows' booths and exchange gift and built up network which we could not possibly did in Malaysia. Some had to throw the hundred brochures and product information that were not used to avoid paying the exorbitant air freight charges

Sharjah is not for a place to look for business, Dubai is !! . So, Matrade please do your homework.....