Love Potions+Raspberry Cheese Yogurt

Having ice cream in the winter? I always wonder what the feeling likes.

...The feeling is fantastic! I am going to try it again and again!

One thing for sure is the ice cream does not seems to melt.

Just now, I ordered 1 scoop of Love Potions and 1 scoop of Raspberry Cheese Yogurt from Baskin Robin and had it outside the building when the temperature out there was 0 degree celcius.

Arrived Seoul late last night. It was snowing when I walked out of the plane. Quickly hopped into a cab to go to the hotel. I knew that the taxi fare is going to be quite expensive because it is a long way to go to Seoul city from Incheon airport. But, who cares?!

When I woke up this morning and opened the curtains, the buildings outside were all covered by snow.


Yes! I see snow again!

Someone told me, it is probably the last snow of the year in Seoul.

How lucky I am!

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Feng Yu Tong Lu/风雨同路

Casey,

This song is dedicated specially to you and our friendship.

What more could I ask for to have you as a friend!

Thanks for the support you are giving me all this while.

I hope I could replicate the effort.

Please enjoy the song. The singer of this song is Guang Liang (光良), a Malaysian.

Hope you understand the meaningful lyric and like the song.

Take care and be happy!

并着肩迎接着挑战
bing zhe jian ying jie zhe tiao zhan
(Shoulder by shoulder we face the challenges)

贡献彼此泪和汗从不伪装
gong xian bi ci lei he han cong bu wei zhuang
(We truly support each other through the bad time)

不要害怕你走的缓慢
bu yao hai pa ni zou de huan man
(Don't afraid that your pace is slow)

总有一天会到
zong you yi tian hui dao
(One day you will reach)

下一个幸福的车站
xia yi ge xing fu de che zhan
(Reach the next stage where you will find the happiness in life)

风雨路 我们携手共渡
feng yu lu wo men xie shou gong du
(We go through the hardship hand in hand)

三色石 牵绊不了进度
san se shi qian ban bu liao jin du
(The obstacles won't stop us from moving forward)

憑着各自坚持与领悟
ping zhe ge zi jian chi yu ling wu
(With perseverance and understanding)

感受互相扶持的幸福
gan shou hu xiang fu chi de xing fu
(We relish the joy of mutual support)

漫长路 庆幸你我同步
man chang lu qing xing ni wo tong bu
(We shall go through the long winding road together)

三叶草陪伴着不切步
san ye cao pei ban zhe bu qie bu
(Although the journey is full of challenges but we would still move forward)

不同理念和方式互补
bu tong li nian he fang shi hu bu
(Even though our thinking and lifestyle are different but we still support each other)

铺造一条属于我们骄傲的道路
pu zao yi tiao shu yu wo men jiao ao de dao lu
(and we will lead a life which we both proud of)

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Baby/宝贝/Bao Bei

I heard this song over the radio station quite a while ago and was searching for the title of the song for some time. I found the title recently. The name of this singer is called 张悬 (Zhang Xuan). I like her voice which is so smooth and comfortable. The acoustic guitar which is playing at the background makes it the best song to listen before you fall asleep.

Just imagine that you lie on the bed with all the light in your room turned off and you put on the headset to listen to this song. The feeling is very soothing!

Try it!

p/s: This time, I translated the song into hanyipinyin and English so that everyone understands the song and know how to sing the song. Hope I do not mislead you.

我的宝贝宝贝
wo de bao bei bao bei
(my baby)

给你一点甜甜
gei ni yi dian tian tian
(gives you some sweets)

让你今夜都好眠
rang ni jin ye dou hao mian
(to enable you to get a good sleep)

我的小鬼小鬼
wo de xiao gui xiao gui
(my little evil)

逗逗你的媚眼
dou dou ni de mei yan
(teasing your eyes)

让你喜欢这世界
rang ni xi huan zhe shi jie
(so that you would like this world)

哗啦啦啦啦啦， 我的宝贝
hua la la la la la, wo de bao bei
(my baby)

整个时候有个人陪
zheng ge shi hou you ge ren pei
(there is someone by your side all the while)

哎呀呀呀呀呀， 我的宝贝
ai ya ya ya ya ya, wo de bao bei
(my baby)

让你知道你最美
rang ni zhi dao ni zui mei
(to let you know that you are the prettiest)

让你今夜很好眠
rang ni jin ye hen hao mian
(to enable you to get a good sleep)

逗逗你的笑脸
dou dou ni de xiao lian
(teasing your smiling face)

让你喜欢整个明天
rang ni xi huan zheng ge ming tian
(so that you would like tomorrow)

哗啦啦啦啦啦， 我的宝贝
hua la la la la la, wo de bao bei
(my baby)

整个时候有个人陪
zheng ge shi hou you ge ren pei
(there is someone by your side all the while)

哎呀呀呀呀呀， 我的宝贝
ai ya ya ya ya ya, wo de bao bei
(my baby)

让你知道你最美
rang ni zhi dao ni zui mei
(to let you know that you are the prettiest)

哗啦啦啦啦啦， 我的宝贝
hua la la la la la, wo de bao bei
(my baby)

孤单时有人把你想念
gu dan shi you ren ba ni xiang nian
(someone is going to miss you when you are lonely)

啦啦啦啦啦耶哦耶耶耶哦
la la la la la ye o ye ye ye o

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Unforgettable Trip in Sri Lanka - Part V

This is the last part of my unforgettable journey to Sri Lanka. The photos which I am going to share at below are some of the photos I took when I was back in Colombo. Due to the flight condition, I have to stay in Colombo for two more days before departing Colombo at the night of 4th-Feb.

On the way back from Trincomalee, we stopped to relieve ourselves at this small but clean VIP spot. This building mainly consists of male and female restrooms. As there is no highway, like North-South highway in Malaysia, in Sri Lanka, you need to take the normal roads to go from one place to another there.

Through the help of the hotel concierge, I and my colleague hired a van and a driver to take us to Kandy for a day trip. We had been told that Kandy is a beautiful place and worths a visit. It is located at the mid-south of Sri Lanka, about 100KM away from Colombo. We paid the driver 8000 Sri Lanka Rupees (about RM280).

First stop of the trip was elephant ride. We paid 2500 Rupees (about RM80) each person to ride an elephant for 30 minutes and bathing the elephant. For me, that was quite expensive! But after second thought, I bought the ride because this is the first time I get to ride on an elephant and it will definitely be a lifetime experience. The elephant will take us to the nearby paddy field and come back. However, the elephant riding was an butt-aching experience. Barely 5 minutes after the ride started, I felt that my backside was very uncomfortable and I have to keep adjusting my sitting position to reduce the pain! I told myself that luckily we did not buy the 45-minutes package. How could I withstand the pain in the 'a$$' for 45 minutes?!

After lunch, the driver took us to the Temple of Sacred Tooth Relic of Buddha in Kandy. The temple is also called Sri Dalada Maligawa temple. It has been inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site on 1988. You can see the outside of the temple in the photo at below.

I took this photo in Kandy town. The body of the man is a bit distorted due to the characteristic of the wide angle lens I guess.

4th-Feb is the independence day of Sri Lanka. National flags, big or small, can be seen everywhere on the street in Colombo.

The man is selling prawn and crab fritters. I guess it is something like the pasembur in Penang.

This is a mosque. Beautiful, isn't it?! It is called Jami-ul al-far Jummah Masjid. This unique color of the mosque attracted my eyes when I went past it in a car one day. I told myself that I have to come back here to take a few photos of it when I am free. So, I walked for about 1.5KM from my hotel to this mosque. We rarely see a mosque in Colombo because 75% of population in Sri Lanka are Buddhist.

Sri Lankan people are quite friendly. They like to regard the foreigners as their friends and the first thing they always say to a foreigner is, "Hey, my friend!". On the way to the mosque, this group of people who stood on top of the building yelled at me.

The plane was descending into KLIA. A sea of clouds and the morning sunlight are a perfect match for a great photo!

Good morning, Malaysia!

I am finally back!!!

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算了吧！(Let It Be!)

Please note that I may sound like the following story happened to me but it is actually NOT.
However, it WAS a real story which happened to my friend.

My wish for him is
All the best and you will find someone better, brata!

不知从何时开始，你不回我的短信了。
也不知从何时开始， 你不回我的电话了。
最近我发现当我登录MSN时，你就会很巧合地从MSN退出。
到底我们之间发生了什么事， 我不知道。
到底我做错了什么， 我也不知道。
你就这样突然地对我不理不睬。
就好像我们根本从来没认识过。
我好不喜欢那种感觉！
其实，我好想知道到底我们之间发生了什么事， 还是我做错了什么。
其实，我也曾经试着努力地找出我们之间的问题。
但是，你的不理不睬， 让我每次都无功而返。
我曾对自己说， 至少我们还可以做个普通朋友吧！
可是，你的不理不睬， 让我心中的最小期望都泡汤了。
那天，在STARBUCK里遇到你时，你那冷漠又陌生的眼神告诉我， 我该开始把你忘记了。
从此也不再追究我们之间的问题。
在那一刻， 我对我自己说，

算了吧！
Let it be!


p/s: For those who do not read Chinese, please use this translator for translation. http://babelfish.altavista.com/

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Unforgettable Trip in Sri Lanka - Part IV

So, the wild ride continues.

Half way through the journey, we stopped at this small town, Dambulla, to buy some snacks and water. Van 5973 was the van which we were taking.

There was a bus bombing happened in this town on 1st-Feb 2008. The first photo at below was taken when we made our stop on 30th-Jan. We heard of this news on 2nd-Feb when we were already back in Colombo. I was thinking...That was close!

The news report by AFP.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gmp5XF4g6FLzPgUGd9naf5GapFgg



Before the journey was started, we were told that there is a jungle (See the photo at below) which we need to go through before dark. That's why we need to start the journey as early as possible so that we could make it. It takes roughly 2 hours to go through the jungle before reaching the naval base. There are wild elephants roaming around in the jungle and the elephants might cross the road at night.

We actually saw a few wild elephants roaming around when we went through the jungle. There were some westerners actually went there to watch the elephants like in Africa.

This journey started at around 12.30am in Colombo and we only made it to the naval base at 8.00pm. It took us nearly 8 hours to cover around 200KM from the west to the east of Sri Lanka!!! I could not believe that. We only need maximum 2 hours in Malaysia to cover that distance on North-South highway. By the time, I stepped down from the van, I felt that my whole body was aching, my butt was aching and my head was spining. All in all, our van was stopped 20 times (Yes, 20!!!) by the army at their checkpoints. Luckily, there was a navy officer came with us from Colombo. Otherwise, I am not sure how we were going to make it to Trincomalee. At every stop, what he did was showing his navy ID card and we would get the go-ahead.

Army checkpoint.

This checkpoint serves like a gateway to enter a small town. Every vehicle getting in or out of the town is required to stop at this checkpoint to sign-in or sign-out.

This was the 'hotel' which we stayed in the naval base. There is a signboard at the entrance indicated that this house is the 'Forest side Holiday Bangalow'. But, you are wrong. We were not there for any holiday. We were there to work. I would not want to stay in a naval base bangalow for any holiday!

However, the air there is very fresh and cool at the morning and I can even hear the birds chirping on the tree every morning. I think I saw a wild deer at one of the morning there. The feeling is so nice when I open the door and walk out to the courtyard. How I wish I have a house like this!

The courtyard. Nice and clean landscape.


The living room. The size is just nice.


The bedroom with the mosquito net. My bed is on the left.


Grabbing a quick bite for lunch.

My lunch! I have one big piece of chicken, potatoes, mixed salads and some vegetables. The food here tastes much better than the food in the hotel, believe me!

We stayed at the naval base for two nights and left the base on 1st-Feb for Colombo.

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Kek Lok Si temple（極乐寺） in Penang

If you visit Penang during Chinese New Year period, you must make sure that you allocate some time to visit Kek Lok Si temple (極乐寺）at night.

Why? Please see the photos at below.

For me, the Chinese New Year celebration is not complete without the visit to Kek Lok Si. So, I visit the temple every Chinese New Year.

All photos taken with Nikon D70s+Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 lens.

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I am into blue sky!

With all the crazy overtaking, reckless driving and bumpy roads on the way to Trincomalee in the van, I suddenly had this feeling that everything in Penang is so nice. Although the weather is very hot sometime and Penang also has its fair share of crazy drivers and roads which covered with potholes, but at least it has blue sky most of the time which I enjoy a lot.

I took these photos sometime back. The blue sky and the dancing clouds captivated me.

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Unforgettable Trip in Sri Lanka - Part III

Next day morning, I took a stroll around the area just outside the hotel to take some pictures of the surrounding before the breakfast.

The food sold in a small restaurant outside the hotel.

Roti canai stall outside the small restaurant.

Along the way, I saw this guy is selling breads for breakfast on the street.

The army stationed just outside my hotel. His left hand is holding a small STOP signboard to stop any vehicles as he likes. There is a gun slung across his chest. I dare not to go in front to take his photo. Pardon me!

We had a meeting with the customer, Sri Lankan Navy at 9.30am. After the meeting, we have to started our LONG journey to the navy base at the east of Sri Lanka in Trincomalee. We were told that the journey would take about 6 hours and we are going to have our lunch half way through the journey and we are going there by a VAN.

A quarter way through the journey, we stopped at this restaurant, AMBEPUSSA Rest House, to have our late lunch. This restaurant was serving buffet lunch.

The outlook of the rest house.

My lunch!

Throughout the journey to Trincomalee, I felt that the driver was driving really fast and recklessly, seems like he was in a hurry. He did some crazy overtaking as you can see in the photos at below. Most of the time, I squirmed and closed my eyes when he did the overtaking. There was a higher chance of dying due to the crashing of the van than being attacked by Tamil Tigers.

He saw the bus was coming but he still wanted to try.

This time, the driver tried to pull off another 'stunt', i.e. overtaking 3 vehicles in one shot and the best part is he cannot see if there is a vehicle coming at the opposite direction! What a thrill which I don't need!

I have to stop for a breather here...

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Unforgettable Trip in Sri Lanka - Part II

So, I have arranged an airport pick-up to fetch us from the airport. Normally, I will try to request for the hotel to pick me up from the hotel if I expect that I will be having problem with the transportation from the airport to the hotel when I first arrived in a foreign country.

On the way to the hotel, I snapped a few photos from the car.

Street scene of Colombo.

Tuk-tuk of Sri Lanka.

After checking into the hotel, I walked into my room and the first thing I normally do is check out the view of my room looking out from the window. I like the view!

The big building is the parlimentary house. The national day celebration of Sri Lanka was held on 4th-Feb on the road next to the coastal line.

We had our dinner in the hotel restaurant that night. The restaurant was serving seafood buffet.

We get to choose from a wide variety of seafood and then decide the style of the cooking, i.e. stir-fried, tandoori, grill, chilli-pepper etc.

Below are some of the seafood which we ordered.

Chilli-grilled squid, if I am not mistaken of the cooking style.

You can never miss out Sri Lankan crabs when you come to Sri Lanka. This is pepper crabs.

Later, we decided to try chilli butter squids (Again, if I am not mistaken of the cooking style!)

One of my favorite foods in Sri Lanka is the hoppers. These are plain hoppers. There is also egg hoppers which taste even better.

The action starts tomorrow!

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Unforgettable Trip in Sri Lanka - Part I

Not sure how many parts I am going to blog about this trip because I am still in the slow process of editing the photos which I took in this trip.

What made the trip so unforgettable compared to the rest of the trips which I had in the past, be it personal or business?

I guess it was contributed by the following elements:-

--the amount of guns I saw on the streets

--the army/police checkpoints which we had gone through, especially on the way to Trincomalee, the Eastern base of Sri Lankan Navy

--Crazy and long hours of driving on the way to Trincomalee and back!

--Wild elephants which I saw in the jungle

--Nice bangalow which I stayed in the navy base

--The bombings which occurred when I was there

--The elephant which I rode

Like most of the trips, every journey started in KLIA.

The wide angle lens comes in handy here.

Ya, I took Sri Lankan Airlines. That was the first time I flew on this airlines. Feel a bit uneasy though!

That's all for now. Still have many more photos to go!

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她找到了幸福！

去年五月，写了这一篇文章献给一位好朋友。这篇文章原本是放在MSN的部落格里的。

文章的内容如下：-

两年前的她， 满怀悲伤地对我叙述她的坎坷爱情故事。

那时，她的眼泪感动了我。决定在一旁静静地陪着她。

不久之前，她又告诉我她已经展开一段新恋情了。

看着她高兴地述说着她的新恋情。知道她已经找到一个可以托付终身的男人。

替她高兴之余，我同时希望将来的日子里她能够快快乐乐和安定地过。爱情的路上不再崎岖。

漂泊多年的她也应该靠岸了。她需要的是一个无风无浪的避风港。

希望她能够快点和他相聚。毕竟，时间和距离是对一段感情最大的考验。

朋友，感谢你一路以来的支持。衷心祝福你！

很高兴有你这个朋友。

有缘我们再见！

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I am back in ONE piece!

Just came back from the business trip in Sri Lanka yesterday.

I cannot describe how happy and relief I was when the plane landed at KLIA airport.

Sri Lanka gave me the following impression:-
- hot
- dusty
- poor roads condition

-

a lot of tuk-tuk on the road
- a lot of army/police checkpoints
- a lot of army/police with guns on the streets

There were totally 3 bombings taking place in and around Colombo when I was there. One of the bombings occurred barely 1km away from the hotel I stayed. Wasn't that close?!

Do I need to go back there again?

Hope not and I DO NOT want.

Finally, I am back........in ONE piece.

Back to a place where
- the weather still hot...hahaha...
but
- the sky is blue
- no guns to be seen on the street
- no army/police checkpoints
- much less bumpy roads
- air is clear

which I called HOME.

YA! HOME SWEET HOME!

p/s: Let me tidy up my photos and share with you later. Stay tuned!

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Portrait photography - Indian laundry men

These portraits were taken at one of the laundry shops in Dhoby Ghaut in Penang. In Penang's hokkien, we called Dhoby Ghaut as se po kio. These Indians are real Indian from India. Initially, I thought they are Malaysian Indian and started to speak Malay with them but they did not understand a word of what I am saying. Later, I found it out from their supervisor who is a Malaysian Indian.

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