Why I Blog?

Sasha, mother of little Jayden, tagged me this time! I don't know why she has chosen to tag me. Maybe she doesn't see the reasons I blog or maybe she wants to know why this young lad just like to sit in front of the computer and blog instead of partying outside like other youngsters.

Anyway, I find this meme quite useful. So, I'll list down 5 reasons (this meme requires 5 reasons) why I blog as below:

1. To keep in touch with friends and relatives. After I own a blog, I don't need to go around and email everyone what have I been doing all these while. They can read it themselves whenever they want. Ok, I'm just being lazy. :P
2. To make this blog a place to show off the photos I have taken. I take photos because it's my interest. I just want to share it with anyone who's interested in.
   
3. To improve my English. English needs practice. I just want to use this blog to practise and to improve my English. Am I improving? You guys be the judge.
4. To make new friends. I have made some friends after I set up this blog. To name a few, Firehorse, Wonda, Judy, Ilene, Sasha, Dancing Queen, Mum In Miri, wmw, Kleio, Tummythoz, Kenny Mah and etc. (sorry if I missed any of you out).
5. To make this blog an electronic diary for me. It's fun to look back what you have done especially with all the photos on it. :)

I think that's about it for this meme.

Whom should I tag? I'll give the freedom to everyone who's interested in this meme.

House 2007

Ok, as promised, I'll write something about my new accomodation in Perth here.

I'll start from the outside of the house before I describe the inside of the house.

Swan River.

Everyday I have to use this road, which is the main road to my house, to go back and forth my uni. It's a wonderful view of Swan River.

A small park outside my housing area.

There's a small park with benches outside my housing area. It's a nice place for dating at night. ;)

Main entrance.

I live in one of the units of a house or I should say a building. It is a three rooms unit which accomodate Darren, Chris and I.

The entire building.

I don't think it's a good idea to review which unit I'm staying at the moment for the sake of security and privacy.

Empty living room.

Once entering the house, there's a staircase which leads you to the living room (second floor unit) . At the moment, it's just an empty living room. My housemates and I plan to buy at least a dining table with chairs and put it here.

Kitchen.

The house has quite a big kitchen. However, it doesn't come with a fridge. We plan to buy a fridge as soon as possible. Without a fridge, we can't do any cooking!

Balcony.

There's a balcony for us to get some cool air outside.

One of the bathrooms/toilets.

This bathroom/toilet belongs to Chris and I and also the visitors to the house. Another housemate of mine, Darren, has his own bathroom/toilet in his master bedroom.

Laundry room.

The house also has a laundry room. Again, without the most important thing in a laundry room, washing machine. Hopefully we can find a second hand washing machine soon.

Three bedrooms.

The house has three bedrooms. Darren got the master bedroom, Chris got the second largest room while I got the smallest room. Actually all the rooms are almost the same size just that there's a slight difference for each room. For instance, my room doesn't have a built-in-wardrobe while Chris' room does have one.

My haven't-cleaned-messy-room.

That's my room. It's big enough for me to store all my stuff. I haven't really cleaned everything up yet since most of my stuff are still with my friends. I'm waiting for weekends.

Overall, I'm quite satisfied with the house despite the rent is a bit too expensive for me.

Another thing which I'm quite disappointed is...

Take a look outside the window of my room.

There's a construction site just beside the house! It is an "alarm clock" for me every morning!

Emotional Farewell

It was a long day today. It was a day for me to leave Miri for a place which Ioften describe it as the "Land of Kangaroo". It wasn't so bad for me but I could sense how sad my mama is. To have both her children to leave her at the same time. I think she's more worried about my sister. I can tell that from her eyes when she's looking at me. Her eyes are red and fill with tears.

We went to Brunei for Perth at about 8a.m. after breakfast. Supposingly, only my baba was sending us to the airport but I requested my baba to bring along my mama. There we go, about a two hour journey from Miri to Brunei.

Upon reaching Brunei, I hugged my mama on her waist while walking towards the check-in counter. My baba and sis were leading us. We saw many familiar faces. Everyone was rushing to go back to their studies.

After checking in, we found a place to sit while waiting for the time to pass by slowly. One second after another. My mama was talking to my sis. Assuring my sis that everything is not as bad as my sis thinks. I was having my mind off, about how am I going to settle everything within these two days. I have to get ready for uni and also I have my accomodation to settle. I have found a place actually, just need to get everything done so that I have a comfortable place to live in. "Can I handle it?", I asked myself.

My mama then woke me up. She asked me, "Wei (my family call me this instead of "Kok"), nothing to worry about right? You tell your sis". I didn't say anything. Only nodding my head as a sign of agree. I don't know how to comfort my sis. I know she's having a hard time in Adelaide. I just kept telling my sis that she'll only have another one and a half year to go and everything will be over.

After an hour or so, it's time to go. I'm quite sad but I just have to act like nothing happen. I don't want my baba and mama to worry about me. I hugged my mama and told her that we had to leave. One year is short, I told her to wait for us to come back to her again. My mama then hugged my sis whom she's worried more while I was telling my baba that we were going to leave. When my sis and I were walking towards the gate, I turned back and waved at my parents. I tried to control myself, not to let them know I was actually quite heavy-hearted to leave them.

It was indeed an emotional farewell for me and my sis, and of course, my parents...

P/s: Dear all, I have safely landed in Perth and am currently residing in an apartment near uni with two other friends. Thanks for all the wishes and concern. I'll show some photos of the apartment soon after I settle all my stuff. Till then...:)

Hiatus Mode

Dear all,

I'll be going back to Perth this Friday. I have too many things to do but with very limited time. Thus, I decided to go into hiatus mode. I promise to update all the Chinese New Year's photos as soon as possible.

Hope you guys won't stop visiting my blog.

Till then,

Take care and regards,
Kok

Gong Xi Bazaar (2)

Today is the first day of Chinese New Year and I have started to feel so lazy and tired. Anyway, I'll write a post about the Gong Xi Bazaar as promised. Nevertheless, this post is going to be filled with mostly photos.

Gong Xi Bazaar is an annual event in Miri. It is a "pasar malam" which operates just few days before Chinese New Year at the Miri City.

Newly renovated place at the Miri City.

Although you can start browsing through the bazaar few days before Chinese New Year, I strongly suggest you to go there two days before the Chinese New Year (final day of the bazaar).

Miri Central Market at night.

Why? This is because at that day, the Miri Central Market opens from the afternoon till early in the morning next day.

Human sardine.

If you planned to buy any vegie or meat to cook during the Chinese New Year period, you have to do it on the final day of the bazaar. This is due to the fact that, no stall is opened during the first few days of Chinese New Year.

"Lap Cheong" (Cantonese) a.k.a. Chinese Sausages.

That's for last 5 years. Nowadays, supermarket opens on the very first day of Chinese New Year. Fear no more! ;)

Can you spot yourself, dancing queen?

Am I lost?

How many hundreds of Mirians are here?

This is the place where you can meet lots of long lost friends. I met quite a few here.

Lion visiting every stalls.

There are some perfomances to entertain the crowd, too. Singing and lion dance are some of the performances.

"Kam" (in Cantonese) = Gold?

Flowers sold for home decoration.

Bamboo.

There are all sorts of stuff being sold. From plants...

All the red stuff give a feeling of Chinese New Year!

"Ong Lai" (in Hokkien) = luck come?

to home decorations...

Pick 'n' Mix candies.

"Fatt Gou" (in Cantonese) = rich?

You can roughly tell how good is the sugar cane drink business on that night.

Barbeque pork. *Slurp*

to foods and drinks...

"Lelong, lelong! Satu pasang RM5!!!"

to clothes...

Ugly octopus.

Baby for sale sleeping.

to some strange stuff such as the ugly octopus and the baby...

Limousine made in Malaysia.

There is also a Proton Limousine Service fetching you to go to and forth the Gong Xi Bazaar! Haha!

Huge, cute God of Fortune.

Last but not least, there's a God of Fortune to wish you a Happy and Prosperous Chinese New Year ahead! :)

Gong Xi Bazaar

Just a short post from me. There's a Gong Xi Bazaar at Miri City! Tomorrow will be the last day of this annual event. Those of you at Miri, don't miss this opportunity to take a look at this bazaar.

Gong Xi Bazaar.

The main market will be opened throughout the night till early in the morning. Various things are sold there. There are also some performances going on.

So, why don't you bring along your family to see yourself the "never-close-market"?

P/s: I'll have a more complete update about this bazaar after tomorrow.
P/s/s: Today is my last day of my industrial training. I miss the working life!

Happy Valentine's Day!

14th of February every year is a very special occasion for all the couples out there. Valentine's Day is a day for the couples to express their love for each other. I don't actually quite agree with that. I think everyday should be treated as Valentine's Day and not just a day in every year. What do you think?

As I don't have any lover at the moment, Valentine's Day doesn't mean anything to me. Maybe it does, to show my love for my family and friends. :)

Roses for your girlfriend?

On this day, normally couples spend quite a lot of money in presents such as roses, watches, ties, chocolates and etc to show how much they love each other. Some even spend additional money on dinners and movies. To me, love cannot be measured by how much money we spent on our lovers. It is about our sincerity instead. That's why, I accepted Firehorse's challenge on "How to spend no more than RM5 on Valentine's Day to express your love to your lover".

Or chocolate in a heart shaped box?

You'll need some imagination, so be prepared for that. ;)

If I was to have a lover, this is what I would do...

I'll make "xiang shi dou" (saga seeds) my Valentine's theme.

"Xiang shi dou" which is red in colour.

It is this "xiang shi dou" which gave me the inspiration for the whole plan. There are few reasons for me to choose it as my Valentine's theme.

1. The colour would not fade no matter how long you keep it. It reflects how much I love my other half.
2. It takes some amount of time to collect the small little "xiang shi dou". This is how I show my sincerity.
   
3. It's FREE! Remember the RM5 budget?

A self made card.

I'll make her a card with some words to express my love. Although this cost me nothing, it is a way I can jot down my feelings on her.

I need a heart-shaped-bottle.

I'll then find a heart-shaped-bottle. This can be found at the "RM2.00 Store" I guess. A heart-shaped-bottle is just an alternative since I have to consider I spend. If it is to no available, a normal bottle will do. A recycle bottle only cost you not more than RM2.

I need this bottle to fill up maybe 99 or 999 or 9999 pieces of "xiang shi dou" as a gift for her. Why must I have the number 9? This is due to the reason that 9 in Mandarin is "jiu" which has the same pronouciation as "long". This show that I love her "long long". ;)

A packet of candles.

Again, I'll target the "RM2.00 Store" to get a packet of candles. It'll cost me, I think, another RM2. Why I need this? I think some of you might know the plan eh?

That's all the preparation for Valentine's Day.

Beautiful sunset.

On Valentine's Day, I'll bring her to the beach. Holding her hands while walking along the beach, to enjoy the beautiful sunset.

Just before the sky is completely dark, I'll ask her to close her eyes and wait while I rush to the car to get the candles, bottle filled with "xiang shi dou", hand-made card and one large bag of "xiang shi dou".

Yellow = candles and red = "xiang shi dou".

I'll arrange the candles like what I've shown on the photo and I'll filled the heart, again, with the "xiang shi dou". Now you know why I have chosen "xiang shi dou" as my theme. Seriously, I need a LOT of "xiang shi dou" to make sure my plan goes well. At the end of the letter "U", I'll put the bottle of "xiang shi dou" accompanied by the hand-made card.

She'll, then, be given the permission to open her eyes and SUPRISE! hehe.

The rest of the plan, I don't think I'll need to continue. I think most of you will know what's next. ;)

Lastly, to all the couples out there, HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!


P/s: I know my plan for Valentine's Day sounds lame. Let me know what's yours and I'll improve on mine.
P/s/s: I hope my future lover never comes to this blog. If yes, there'll be no more surprise for her. :P
P/s/s/s: Total cost is less than RM5 for this plan! You know how cheapskate I am, now.

New Gadget For My Sis

Since it's weekend, I decided to give myself a break from thinking about the accomodation back in Perth. The best way I can think of is to blog. So, yea, here it goes...

I promised my sis a new digital camera last year if she managed to do well in her exams. Your eyes are fine. It's a digital camera! I have to withdraw some amount of money from my savings to buy her a digital camera.

Since she did not bad in her exams, a new Canon IXUS 900Ti for her.

Brand new Canon IXUS 900Ti.

I am just trying to do a few comparions between my Canon Powershot A95 and her Canon IXUS 950Ti.

A typical design of a camera.

Two years ago when I first bought this Canon Powershot A95, the cost is about RM1600++. This includes the camera itself, two sets of rechargeable batteries (8 of them altogether) and charger, a 256mb CF memory card and a camera pouch. This is a 5 megapixel camera.

A better design camera with titanium casing.

Canon IXUS 900Ti costs about RM1600. I have to fork out RM1300 and my sis decided to top up the remaining. The price includes the camera itself, one battery pack and charger, a 1gb SD memory card and a pouch. This is a 10 megapixel camera. Yea, within 2 years, Canon has come out with an amazing 10 megapixel camera. I simply like the titanium casing as titanium won't rust and it is very light.

Side view of the two cameras.

As you can see, Canon Powershot A95 is more bulky and heavier compared to Canon IXUS 900Ti. Both have its own advantages and disadvantages. A bigger camera can offer more grip when taking photos but of course, it'll be quite inconvenient to bring it around.

Back view of Canon Powershot A95.

The Canon Powershot A95 is equipped with a 1.8 inch vari-angle LCD screen which I really like. The vari-angle screen really helps alot when you have to take a photo in a weird angle or position.

Back view of Canon IXUS 900Ti.

Nothing special about the screen of the Canon IXUS 900Ti except for it's large 2.5 inch LCD monitor with wide angle viewing. I find the image in the screen is a bit "shaky". I have no idea why.

Left: Picture taken using Canon Powershot A95.
Right: Picture taken using Canon IXUS 900Ti.

Just a photo comparison between both cameras using the same setting for both. For me, it has no difference. What do you think?

In conclusion, both cameras are worth the money. If you planned to go for a SLR-like-camera, try the Powershot series whereas if you want a small, slim and stylish camera, go for the IXUS series.

For a more complete info/comparison/reviews of different kind of cameras, try DPreview.