Sailing Adventure @ Langkawi – Part IV

On the 1st night, Apxara brought to Meritus Pelangi Beach Resort for dinner.

The restaurant, Spice Market Restaurant, faces the beach front along the white sandy beach. We were also accompanied by the management and staff of Meritus Pelangi Beach Resort.

The restaurant had a wide choice of food & beverage options. The highlight would local popular BBQ delights. We had a choice of raw seafood to steaks. The chefs will barbeque them for us on the spot.


Nicolekiss – this picture got featured on the Star newspaper. [Read here!]


Got lobster too!

After dinner, we were brought to Chime @ Sheraton Langkawi, which was claimed to be the most happening club in Langkawi. But it was empty when we arrived -_-.

But at around 10pm, a band started playing and the crowd poured in. Drinks were on the house courtesy of the General Manager. I would highly recommend the cocktail, Grasshopper, a sweet mint flavoured drink.

After a few songs by the band, we had a special performance by Nicolekiss on stage. Yea tiger dance!! She can dancee!

I mean, she can sing. She sang, “Saving all my love for you” by Whitney Houston.


Related Links
Meritus Pelangi Beach Resort Homepage
Sheraton Langkawi Homepage

Sailing Adventure @ Langkawi – Part III

Apxara was kind enough to put us in Westin Langkawi Resort and Spa, one of the best hotels in Langkawi. The hotel faces the Andaman Sea and also 500 metres of private beach front. It is just a few minutes away from Kuah Town.


We were given a warm reception on our arrival – with a lion dance – by two staff in shorts.


We were then ushered into a café for a meet and greet session.

Nicolekiss in white!
We were each given a beautiful room with top class amenities. The interior was beautiful and I had an excellent view of the garden and the sea. Interestingly, my room comes with a 42” plasma TV, DVD player and even a coffee maker.

My room

Comes with a free monkey



Coffee maker!
Not to mention a drawer full of alcohol.


Half Garden and Half Sea View
It smells great too, unlike Ben and ivN’s hotel room at Port Dickson which smells of a wet dog.
Breakfast was scrumptious. It was a buffet with choice a choice of either western or eastern meals. Pancakes came with a variety of sauces too.







I must commend Desmond Loke, Nurhayati and the chap who works for Khairy (the guy whose passion is sports) for their great hospitality. Please look out for them if you want a great time in Westin Langkawi.
Related Link:
Langkawi Westin Resort & Spa

Sailing Adventure @ Langkawi – Part II

Back from Langkawi!
It was a splendid trip. We ate the best and stayed at the best. Many thanks to Apxara Travel and Events, Westin Hotel, Meritus Pelangi Beach Resort, Sheraton Langkawi and Firefly for everything. Special thanks to those at Apxara Travel and Events for the great time and an opportunity for bloggers to be part of media.

Other than Nicolekiss, KinkyblueFairy and I, the mainstream media such as New Straits Times, NuYou magazine, New Tide, New Icon, The Peak and New Man were invited as well. Many people were surprised to see bloggers rubbing shoulders with them.

Even bloggers nowadays got name cards..don’t pray pray.
It was great to leave work for few days. Nevertheless, I received many calls from my office and also text messages informing me something along the lines of, “Your staff screwed up”. -_-|||
We flew from Terminal 3 of Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport (commonly known as Subang Airport) via Firefly. Many years back, Subang Airport was the main airport for Malaysia until KLIA was built. Now Firefly flies to Langkawi 3 times a day from Subang Airport and 2 times a day from Penang. It takes around 45 minutes to reach Langkawi from Subang Airport.


Seats @ Firefly is extremely spacious.
I parked my car at one dodgy car park opposite Terminal 3. It was only RM1.50 per entry but when I told the attendant that I’ll be gone for 3 days, he charged me RM3.50. I gave him RM5 and said, “Eh..tolong jaga kereta ya.. (please take care of my car..)”. When I came back, my car was still in one piece but was covered with dust -_-.
We were greeted by Chic Wern and Linda of Apxara at Terminal 3 and immediately swifted into the boarding area for our flight to Langkawi. There I met blogger Nicolekiss, photographer Alvin and journalists and writers Liza, Andy and Jaswir.
Will update more when I come back from Freedom 08 @ Port Dickson!

Sailing Adventure @ Langkawi

I have been invited by one local event company, Apxara Travel & Events to attend one of their events at Langkawi – all expense paid. Perks of being a blogger. Thanks Yoke Mei for the referral.

Apxara Travel & Events is a unique hybrid travel & events company specializing in corporate MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences & Events) and team activities. They have recently started a new journey in Unique Experiences, a series of reinvention of destinations through discovery of new activities, places and sights that are not commonly known.

According to Chic Wern‘s (from Apxara Travel & Events) blog,

This full day Adventure, takes you first on speedboat to mangroves, eagle feeding and also a floating fish farm where you can pet stingrays and on lucky days, grab hold of horseshoe crabs! Next up, you will be brought to the yacht and there, you will have FREE FLOW of beverages (non-alcohol & alcohol) and also served with a simple lunch. If you are not those type that would like to sit on your bum, then get on the dinghy and go towards hidden lagoons and caves or even take the wheels of the vessel for a while! Others can sit and relax on the deck of the ship.

Of course, and the highlight of it all will be the Salt Water Jacuzzi; a drag net strewn onto the surface of the Sea and you hop onto it, lay back, and let the gentle gushes of sea water massage you as the ship steadily cruise over the Andaman Sea.

Woah, sounds so good. It’s about time to take a break from the office.
A few more local bloggers are coming as well. I was told that Joyce of Kinkybluefairy and Nicole from Nicolekiss are invited. I must commend the organisers’ smart idea on roping up some bloggers for the promotion of this event. Yet another step for the bloggers community in Malaysia.

This week is going to be extremely busy. After my trip to Langkawi, I’ll head to Port Dickson for Freedom Festival. Thereafter, I’ll be off to Berlin, Germany for a conference!!

Today! Earth Hour 2008


On March 31 2007, for one hour, Sydney made a powerful statement about the greatest contributor to global warming – coal-fired electricity – by turning off its lights. Over 2.2 million Sydney residents and over 2,100 businesses switched off, leading to a 10.2% energy reduction across the city. What began as one city taking a stand against global warming caught the attention of the world.
In 2008, 24 global cities will participate in Earth Hour at 8pm on March 29. Earth Hour is the highlight of a major campaign to encourage businesses, communities and individuals to take the simple steps needed to cut their emissions on an ongoing basis. It is about simple changes that will collectively make a difference – from businesses turning off their lights when their offices are empty, to households turning off appliances rather than leaving them on standby.
Be a part of it.
Related Links:
Earthhour.org
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7319929.stm

Kota Kinabalu: Kah Hiong Ngiu Chap @ Taman Hilltop

[Note: Last KK trip post!]
Kah Hiong Ngiu Chap is located at Kolam Centre Phase 2, Taman Hilltop. The first thing that caught my attention was the name, “Ngiu Chap”. In most places, it’s spelled and pronounced as “Ngau Chap” which is in Cantonese.

This well known restaurant serves beef brisket noodles. When we arrived, the place was sardine packed. We were fortunate to find a seat inside the shop. Newspaper cutting and a picture of a local celebrity endorsing the Kah Hiong Ngiu Chap lies all over the walls.

I ordered a dried version of their beef brisket noodles. Those who doesn’t know what beef brisket noodles is, beef brisket noodles comes with beef internal organs such as stomach, intestines and not forgetting ligaments. YUMMY!

It took a while for our food to arrive – something you’ll expect from a popular restaurant.

As expected, a bowl of home made chilli lies on the table for patrons. The owners have claimed that their chilli is super spicy and even have a special counter with the words “SUPER HOT!” to sell their super hot chilli.


nomnomnomnomnom

After taking my first bite, I notice that their meat and internal organs were a little bit tough but their beef balls were quite tasty.

However, I find that there’s too much artificial flavouring in the soup. I know because I’m quite sensitive to artificial flavouring. My throat gets tighten up and my heart beat increases dramatically. Note to everyone, cut down on the soup.

Related Links
beautifulkk.com – Kah Hiong Ngiu Chap
ravejoint.com – map to Kah Hiong Ngiu Chap
Everything Asian: Sabah’s Ngiu Chap

Election 2008: Part IV

The elections results are finally out. The opposition takes 5 states – Kelantan, Kedah, Perak, Selangor and the Penang. The opposition also managed to deny Barisan Nasional a 2/3 majority forcing the Barisan Nasional to declare a simple majority.

This general election also marks the exit of a few well known politicians such Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu and Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil. Poor Samy Vellu lost his seat which he had been holding on since 1974 on 8 March 2008, on his 72nd birthday. I was told that his supporters prepared a cake to celebrate his ‘victory’ and birthday. Unfortunately, I don’t think he was at any mood to cut any cakes.


Dr. Lo’ Lo’ .. what a name..

Fellow blogger, Jeff Ooi won comfortably at Jelutong. My cousin also managed to win a state seat in Perak. He’s only in his late 20s! Another surprise would be Low Gwo Burne, the man behind the V.K Lingam video and KeAdalian candidate for Kelana Jaya. For a person who is not even a registered voter in Malaysia, he has created an upset by beating the Barisan Nasional candidate.

My polling station was at SK Seri Mega, my former primary school. It’s been more than 10 years since I stepped into my old school.

Just as I stepped in front of the main gate, I saw Ms Carol Chew, candidate for Barisan Nasional helping out an old uncle with his motorcycle – surrounded by a group of photographers. Ms Carol Chew whom my mum dubbed as “Fei Poh” (translation: Fat Girl) is actually quite petite and fit. Her campaign pictures were not very flattering.

I bet that this uncle is actually an Opposition supporter…

I was directed to a room which I used to sit when I was in standard 2. The transparent ballot box laid in the middle of the room. The polling agents were screaming all sorts of funny numbers. As soon as I dropped by vote into the ballet box, I left the place and went on a tour of my school.


Place to check on voting details..


My old classroom..

My school didn’t change much save for the new computer lab. I started snapping pictures of my alma mater.

A policeman approached me and politely informed me that I cannot take pictures in the compound. Thank god he didn’t confiscate my camera.

Few hours later, Teresa Kok was declared winner of the Seputeh parliamentary seat with a majority of 36,492 votes, one of the highest highest in Election 2008.

Election 2008 – Part II

Recently, I received an email alleging that the Electoral Roll has phantom voters. In the email, it was stated that the following identity card numbers reveals persons who are over 100 years old and have been designated with a polling station!
801018775059
800311086231
811028045577
830416610017
841207065917
851222740019
850513106435
851117106729
850802106378
850916086838
860320145365
861101105077
860208145701
860320145357
861217145011
860126145839
870914105781
870418105790
871016146308
881231100432
881103750027
880505066047
880906087033
881030136332
891102740096
891129740088
890520610089
890112146416
890920076065
890403615016
910609755079
920622710069
(note: you can check the details of the voters @ http://daftarj.spr.gov.my/daftar.asp)
And indeed the above persons have been designated a place to vote!!

AH LONG FATT IS 109 YEARS OLD AND STILL ALIVE AA?
Few days back, Bernama reported, in order to clarify on the confusion by the Opposition, that the Master Electoral Roll used for the general election is free of the names of voters who had died.


    February 29, 2008 00:02 AM
    Master Electoral Roll Free Of Dead Voters
    PUTRAJAYA, Feb 28 (Bernama) — The Master Electoral Roll to be used for the general election is free of the names of voters who had died.
    The roll containing the names of 10,922,139 voters who died up to Dec 31 last year was gazetted on Feb 5.
    Election Commission (EC) secretary Datuk Kamaruzaman Mohd Noor said it had removed the names of 697,902 voters who died between Jan 1, 2004 and Dec 31 last year.
    He said the commission was mindful that there were registered voters who died between Jan 1 and March 7 this year.
    “The general election laws do not allow EC to remove the names of the deceased from the Master Electoral Roll. Their names will be exhibited in April for public viewing,” he said when commenting on the confusion among Opposition parties.
    “Political parties and independent candidates need not worry as claims that some people will be voting in place of dead registered voters are baseless.”
    The EC would be distributing the list of voters who died between Jan 1 and March 7 and their identity card numbers to all polling centre heads, he said.
    “This will enable them to be aware of voters who had died to prevent the issuance of ballot papers in their names.
    “They have also been directed to get police help to nab those who turn up to vote using the identity cards of dead voters.
    “The offenders will be arrested under the Criminal Procedure Code and the offence is punishable under Section 7 of the Election Offences Act 1954.
    “Those who disguise as voters can be jailed for up to two years and fined a minimum of RM1,000 or up to RM5,000.”
    In an effort to clean the electoral list of names of dead voters, the EC had despatched teams to police stations nationwide to get copies of the burial permits.
    Last year, it succeeded in removing 10,064 names of dead voters from the electoral roll and informed their next of kin to produce copies of the death certificates.”
    Kamaruzaman said a team was also sent to 2,764 longhouses in Sarawak between January 2006 and October last year, and 12,807 dead voters were traced and reported to the National Registration Department.
    After consulting the longhouse heads and supported by the district officers, the 12,807 names were later removed from the electoral roll.
    — BERNAMA

The above article is unclear and a bit contradictory. On one part they said that the Master Electorate Roll is free from dead votes. On another part Datuk Kamaruzaman Mohd Noor stated that the general election laws do not allow EC to remove the names of the deceased from the Master Electoral Roll. And later in the article, it was stated that:-
In an effort to clean the electoral list of names of dead voters, the EC had despatched teams to police stations nationwide to get copies of the burial permits………..
…After consulting the longhouse heads and supported by the district officers, the 12,807 names were later removed from the electoral roll.

The EC had admitted that under the election law, the names from the Master Electoral Roll cannot be removed but now they have removed the names of deceased from the Master Electoral Roll??
Hallo EC?? CAN EXPLAIN??