Boss Lepton's Wasteland

Rain came to save the day

2010-03-14T09:30:00.000Z

Hopefully the water reserves can be replenished. :D

Best regards,
Jing Qi Quah

Golden cup of tea

2009-11-28T02:09:00.000Z

Brewed with patience :)

Best regards,
Jing Qi Quah

The Star is at it again

2009-09-16T03:14:00.001+01:00

Why oh why do you put a hyphen there????!?!?!?1

Malaysia’s own F1 team

By LIM TEIK HUAT

PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia will have its own team in Formula One next year.

A Lotus-powered racing team, to be called the 1Malaysia F1 team, will take on giants like Ferrari, McLaren-Mercedes and Renault in the premier motorsports event next year.

The team will join Force India-Mercedes as Asia’s representatives in F1, along with old-timers like Toyota.

The International Automobile Federation (FIA) has accepted Malaysia’s bid to enter the 2010 and future Formula One World Championships, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced yesterday.

F1 foray: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak receiving a model of the Malaysian F1 car at the Finance Ministry in Putrajaya.

The 1Malaysia F1 team will be a partnership between the Govern-ment and the private sector, including investors led by Datuk Kamarudin Meranun (AirAsia Deputy CEO), Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes (AirAsia CEO) and SM Nasaruddin SM Nasimuddin (Naza Group CEO).

The Malaysian-owned team will also mark the return of Proton-owned Lotus, the prestigious constructors who left F1 in 1994.

Najib, who made the announcement at the Ministry of Finance yesterday, said the team would be based at the Sepang International Circuit, making it the first to be located outside Europe.

“This is where the cars will be designed, manufactured and tested. It will be ‘Made-in-Malaysia, by Malaysians’ and of course, the pit-stops will be run by Malay-sians,” he said.

“This is a meaningful development and I hope that it will further raise our country’s profile on the world stage.”

The team will have a Malaysian technical and pit crew, totalling some 200 people, to be managed by former Renault technical director Mike Gascoyne.

Najib added that the team hoped to announce its two drivers by Oct 31.

“Currently, six local and international drivers have been shortlisted for evaluation,” he said.

“Our F1 team will also have technical experts from outside Malaysia to ensure that we are ready to compete on the world’s most prestigious racing stage.”

Malaysia hosted its first F1 race in 1999 at the Sepang F1 Circuit and Alex Yoong was the first Malaysian to race in the championships in 2001 and 2002 for Minardi.

The Prime Minister had earlier launched the exchange programme between employees from the government and government-linked companies (GLCs) as part of the Government-GLCs Cross-Fertilisation Programme.

He handed letters-of-trust to 47 government and GLC staff taking part in the programme.

Another person who doesn't check their facts

2009-07-18T16:11:00.002+01:00

http://blogs.forbes.com/sportsmoneyblog/2009/07/lance-armstrong-no-role-model.html

Michael K. Ozanian's blogpost on Lance Armstrong. Now I know blogs are supposed to be casual, but when you are clearly reporting the wrong facts, that is just pushing it.

Lance Armstrong No Role Model
I am sick of the media playing Lance Armstrong as some sort of God. I get the wonderful story: The guy made a phenomenal recovery from cancer. He has won the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times. With Lance currently in third place half way through this year’s Tour, the Versus Network, which televises the race, is running around telling everyone how the great Lance has given it huge ratings. But there is another part of this story: In an age where most athletes (especially those in the NFL and NBA) are demonized for any misstep, it is amazing how it is never spoken that Lance dumped his wife and kids (who stuck with him during his battle with cancer) for Sheryl Crow and races for the UCI ProTeam Astana, which is based in Kazakhstan, a country ruled by a political tyrant. I’d like to see Versus mention that.

Amazing........ Just read the comments

Video games, what progress

2009-07-09T12:31:00.002+01:00

Let's look at the history of video games.

Arguably the first video game you could ever imagine, called "Tennis for Two" is invented back in 1958.

Then there was pong, made to play on the Atari arcade system in 1972.

After nearly 40 years, here is the future of video gaming, this is totally unbelievable, yet it works!!!! Introducing Microsoft Project Natal, shown off during this year's E3.

So what's next for video gaming, you ask. I don't know, but I can't wait for it to come.

Spell check before you publish

2009-07-08T10:09:00.002+01:00

A classic error as shown here on Times-online's Frontpage. Probably should have invested in a proper spell checker before they post articles. Errors in the title is especially unforgivable.

Industry Profitable Rankings

2009-07-03T12:08:00.002+01:00

I am always quite fascinated by how profitable different industries can be. Fortune 500 publishes a list of the most profitable indsutries in the US every year. Profitability I am refering to is the industry's profits as % of their revenue.

Here is a comparison of the 2009 and 2008 lists.

What fascinates me is the huge increase in profitability in Internet Services and Retailing from 7% in 2007 to 19.4% in 2008. Logically this shouldn't be right since one can imagine competition within this industry has increased substantially. One more thing this list shows is the decrease in overall profitability (start of credit crunch and thus recession?).

What else can you spot from the list?

Rumour has it that.......

2009-07-03T10:45:00.004+01:00

....... Michael Owen is going to be a Red Devil. I'm no Man Utd fan but while everybody is yabbing about whether Fergie has gone nuts by signing a player who couldn't even go thru 25 games without any injury, I think this is actually quite a good move.

Plus, you're getting potentially one of the best strikers for FREE. The key word here is potential, when he's good, he is really good, especially when facing tough oppositions. I remember sometime towards the end of last season when reports begin surfacing that Michael would retire. If anybody can reignite Michael and makes him want to play football again, it has to be Fergie, remember Cantona?

Well we'll see next season if this is the right move for Fergie, I have a good feeling it is, especially if he turns out to be their new super-sub, who knows?

Rest in Peace Michael Jackson

2009-06-26T15:54:00.002+01:00

At about midnight last night while talking on the phone to yours dearly, she asked me if I was watching the news. I answered no and asked why. She then tol me that there is a news report claiming that MJ is "dead". At first, I thought it was some joke, like the Jeff Goldblum's hoax. And then I saw the article on bbc saying that MJ is "dead".

I traced the article back to TMZ.com who was the first to report it and saw several tweets about htis on my blackberry. It was later confirmed that he did in fact die, and it was a tragic news indeed.

I'm sure that many have bought the tickets to his comeback concert, which was fully sold out within days if not hours. Certainly, people will think that 50 concerts is stretching it a bit too far considering his age but hey, he's a perfectionist.

I'm pretty sure everyone of you has a favourite Michael Jackson song. I grew up loving "Black and White" thinking that Michael Jackson is in fact, a magician with real powers (yes dreaming) and can turn into a tiger. That's thanks to his "Moonwalker" sort of movie I guess, I remember vaguely he could turn into a car.

But my absolute favourite song of his is without a doubt "Man in The Mirror". I believe that he was under tremendous pressure for the past 15 years since he was accused of being a paedophile. Looking at him, you can't really believe that can you? Whatever it is, may peace be with him and with Youtube, he will live on forever, or that's what I would like to think so.

Nerd way of folding clothes

2009-06-12T00:32:00.000+01:00

If there were a nerd way of folding clothes, this would be it. Saw this little toy in an episode of "big bang theory" where Sheldon was folding his clothes in a rather neat way.

Introducing the flip-fold, from the US of A. Now they don't really sell it here in UK so I ordered an imitation one off ebay. This actually made folding clothes quite fun. You just align your shirt in it, fold off the bottom extra and it takes another 3 seconds to fold it into a perfect shape. The best thing about it is that all your other clothes are folded to the exact dimension, quite neat eh? Now my cupboard looks much neater.

All hail technology, (or the lack of it).

Best regards,
Jing Qi Quah

Ideas are abundant but......

2009-05-29T23:45:00.000+01:00

Structuring them and turning them into a reality is not easy. Finally I came across an idea which I think has a potential but don't know where to start. Alas, I know how it feels like when boss started nuffnang, not to the point of having sleepless nights yet but I have a feeling that won't be far away.

One thing I find hard to do is to stay focus, especially when it's a one-man-show. You compose the music, you fill in the lyrics, you prepare the stage and you sing to the audience. The worst part is you won't know if the audiences like it. It's also especially hard when there's nobody to talk to when you're stuck or have a moment of eureka, saying your thoughts out allow you to put it in a more imaginable structure and that I find is very important. It also allows for response for anything you left out as well as reassure yourself about your goals.

Now can you see why I can foresee sleepness nights sometime soon. Maybe to the point of waking up sweating in the palm of my hand.

Of course it's not all bad, I'm actually kind of excited deep down inside, like a little boy just told by his parents that they were going to disneyland for holiday. For all that, I'm pretty sure this will be one hell of a journey.

P.s. The photo is shot at selfridges celebrating their 100th yr in business. Quite creative way to display those Louis-Vuitton bags don't you think so? Note the ONE gold bag...... Just like business ideas...... Eh?

Best regards,
Jing Qi Quah

Fred Perry

2009-05-25T02:44:00.000+01:00

I was shopping at westfield some time back and went into a Fred Perry shop there. Fred Perry is a clothing brand from the early pre-WW2 days taking the name after the tennis player Fred Perry. Needless to say, they still stick to their roots and produce tennis wears.

Now I didn't buy any clothes that day coz I can't simply fork out 50 quids on a shirt which frankly doesn't look like it deserves that amount. It got me thinking, how much does it actually cost to produce this shirt?

Any ideas anyone?

And how does it trickle down the production chain?

How much do cotton farmers get and was it justified?

How much margin ended up with the middleman?

How much would the economy suffer in terms of jobs should middlemen in various industries slowly get pushed out of business? Does it justify cutting their share and push prices lower?

Think dude think.

Best regards,
Jing Qi Quah

Motivation in life

2009-05-22T23:47:00.000+01:00

It's been quite an eventful period for me. Being officially out of job, starting to hunt for a new job, enjoying life as it is, eating whatever I can get my hands on, spending time with family and friends, feeling inspired all of a sudden from crazy ideas........

This is life. As comfortable as it may be, one has to realise that money won't fall from trees, food won't appear on the table on its own, time won't stall even for a second, ideas won't stay fresh forever, inspiration won't come everyday........

So what keeps you motivated?

Is it a car? An R8 like above?

Is it the prospect of a good career?

Is it the blind determination to break barriers?

Is it family? Possibly children or others who depend on you?

Is it for money?

Is it for power?

Is it to benefit the world and make it a better place as a whole?

I'm sure everybody have different answers to this question.

How about sharing some of yours?

Best regards,
Jing Qi Quah

Project 365: Day 52 Atari-Ya? Ya Sashimi Ya

2009-04-24T11:42:00.000+01:00

Any sashimi lovers out there in london? Are you fed up with expensive but stale sashimi? Are you a person on a budget but can't stop your craving for sashimi or sushi? If you said yes to ANY of the above, I have an answer for you.

Introducing ATARI-YA!!! (That is if you don't already know it)

Atari-ya is a specialist japanese grocer and fishmonger, owned by a man called Mr. Tai. A lot of japanese restaurants get their fish from Mr. Tai so instead of paying the middleman, why not go straight to the supplier? They have several shops around london but the one I prefer is in west acton on central line just next to the tube station. Here they sell the fish by weight so you will get more bang for your money imho.

Check out what I got for £36: o-toro, chu-toro, mackarel, scallops, sweet prawn and a raw fish mix you eat with rice (we had noodles). There is one small catch, the quality of O-toro varies from time to time, but the ones we had this time was excellent by ANY standards. Think I'm joking? Try it out for yourself. Yours dearly and ying ling definitely look like they enjoyed it.

Best regards,
Jing Qi Quah

Project 365: Day 51 Borough Market

2009-04-23T00:19:00.000+01:00

I woke up to a beautiful english saturday morning, sunny and breezey. I liked the weather to be that way, but on a spring/summer day, the wind catches just a little bit too much grass pollen with it. So the downside to it is that it sets my hayfever on full motion. Anyway, we went to borough market for some lunch.

First up, the legendary chorizo, superbly cooked, slightly charred which contributes a smokey flavour to the already tasty meat. It was served with piquant pepper and rockets on a white bun. Mind you, I had to queue up for 20 minutes to get my teeth anywhere near those juicy sausages.

Next up was a german sausage served with saurkraut which was ok. I mean it wasn't something to shout about but it's not too bad either.

We then proceed to our favourite coffee company, the Monmouth coffee company. Two shots of espresso brewed from the carefully selected coffee beans poured over ice cold milk to make the yummiest ice latte you've ever tasted.
I also tasted the weirdest ice cream, hazelnut chilli flavour, and it was awesome. You don't really taste the chilli but after your second lick, you could feel a little heat at the back of throat, which i thought was quite enjoyable.

I then round everything up with one of the nicest oysters I've ever tasted, the colchester native grade 1 oyster. To sum up the taste, the flesh is firm and tasted salty. It's aftertaste is sweet and slightly iron-y and lingers around your mouth for up to an hour after you ate it, absolutely fantastic. I will definitely be back for more oyster some other day......

Best regards,
Jing Qi Quah

Project 365: Day 50 Funny face shirts

2009-04-22T09:28:00.000+01:00

Yours dearly and I went shopping today after satisfying some of her craving for sashimi. As usual, I did my bit of window shopping to spot if there were anything interesting. Yours dearly, on the other hand was a lady on a mission to get some new cute t-shirts.

Here's what we spotted in h&m, cute isn't it? Look at how she's trying to imitate the facial expression on the shirt.

Best regards,
Jing Qi Quah

Project 365: Day 49 Visitors from Malaysia

2009-04-21T21:52:00.000+01:00

We've got a couple of guests from Malaysia today so I spent most of my time cleaning the house up, or tidying if you like to put it that way. Here's a photo of bayswater because that's the only time I got out of the house.

Best regards,
Jing Qi Quah

Project 365: Day 48 Green Tea Ice Cream

2009-04-20T02:53:00.000+01:00

So the story goes like this. A few days ago, during easter monday, yours dearly had an urge to bake something using the passion fruit we bought a day earlier. Now easter is a funny time of the year, it's one of the rare weekends where u have good friday and bank holiday on monday here in uk. This is usually the time people take time off to bring their family on vacation. It's also a time when retailers have odd opening hours so going grocery shopping on this day means going to small and more expensive shops. You could imagine how hard it was hunting down the ingredients I don't have stocked up at home.

Now, while she made her passion fruit swirl cheesecake, she got a wacky idea on how to use up the extra cream we had. She decided to make green tea ice cream. For those who don't know how ice cream is made here's a rough idea. Beat egg, cream, sugar and flavouring up. Put in a case and into the fridge. Take it out every 30 minutes or so and mix it around to let little ice crystals form for that smooth, fluffy, soft texture of what we call ice cream.

As we were late for our bbq, we decided to leave the ice cream to settle on its own after we mixed it a few times. That was when yours dearly issued her orders:

"NO TOUCHING MY ICE CREAM BEFORE ME"

So I did as she said and not touch it...... UNTIL TODAY, when she finally was in the house to officiate the spooning of the ice cream. Just look at how happy she is...... Sigh.......

Best regards,
Jing Qi Quah

Project 365: Day 47 Zipping car to Heathrow

2009-04-19T12:01:00.000+01:00

Are you one of those people staying in London who wants to drive, can legally drive but don't want to fork out money to buy a car?

Introducing zipcar, one of the many car clubs around. I have been using them for 2 months now and have enjoyed driving so far, a mini cooper, a honda civic hybrid and a honda jazz. Not very glamorous yes, but very convenient when I need to get around London for various purposes. And here comes another purpose to add to the list: sending or picking someone up from airports.

For those who used minicabs to get to airports from central london, a trip from central to heathrow would set you back about £30. With zipcar, our little trip sending siewch off was only £25 including parking at heathrow. It was quite a tricky route we took passing by chelsea with the match against liverpool going on. Chelsea won that thrilling encounter eventually...... to top up the already emotional evening of sending someone off.

So there you have it, looks like I'm gonna be the designated driver whenever someone wants to go to heathrow or back. Don't say I mind at all.

Photo today is of a pre-driving session with yours dearly eager to crave her trigger happy finger. Happy Easter all.

Best regards,
Jing Qi Quah

Project 365: Day 46 BBQ at Bermondsey

2009-04-18T11:44:00.000+01:00

If you've been to UK and stayed here before, you probably understand the type of weather people are used to here. Yes I'm talking about the grey and gloomy and always looks like it's gonna rain type. Well, the morning started off like that and to top it off it's very cold for some weird reason, where's the spring gone? But towards the later part of the day, it suddenly turned bright and SUNNY. Somebody upstairs must be kind to us as we were planning a bbq at yours dearly's that very afternoon.

Prior to the bbq, we had lou sang which was given by a friend during CNY. Fire was started promptly after that and soon the guests started to arrive. The amount of food prepared was staggering and it had just enough alcohol to go with it. It was a real struggle to finish half of what we had. We ended the night with lounging around the living room chatting, it's siewch's last night here in UK so it's kinda emotional as well.

All in all, a really good day. What can I say? I love BBQs.

p.s. I'm missing my lamb though.......

Best regards,
Jing Qi Quah

Project 365: Day 45 Korean, Snog and Man-in-moon?

2009-04-18T04:18:00.000+01:00

Today yours dearly and I went to this korean restaurant near piccadilly circus. It's called jindalle and they were supposedly good for their bbq. The food was alright, the bbq was tasty but as usual portions were not big. We had 2 hotpots, one with beef and the other with pork and kimchi. I still prefer the ones over at tottenham court road for korean tho, anywhere else just doesn't cut it in terms of price and quality.

Later, the usual after dinner stroll brought us to snog. They sell frozen yogurt, somehow all frozen yogurts taste the same to me, whether it's from snog or itsu. I always go for the natural flavoured ones with strawberry (or any other berry) as I enjoy the sour taste bringing out the natural sweetness in the fruits. Sweet frozen yogurt just doesn't cut it for me. Hint hint: business idea.

Today's picture is of yours dearly in the man in moon passage near the bus stop at piccadilly circus, quite funny name I thought. Too bad I always forget taking photos, so nothing from the restaurants today.

Best regards,
Jing Qi Quah

Project 365: Day 44 Kon loh curry mee

2009-04-14T14:16:00.000+01:00

I woke up this morning and asked yours dearly what she wants to have for breakfast brunch. And she said "kon loh curry mee". So I went downstairs, took out the 2 chicken breast, sliced them thinly into strips, took out a packet of A1 curry paste and whacked them all together. I then peeled a potato and 2 carrots, sliced them into cubes and tossed them along with the chicken strips into a pot. I shallow fried all the ingredients for 2 minutes and poured in some water before letting it simmer for 10 minutes.

In the meantime, I boiled 2 rolls of "har zi mee" (prawn roe noodle)and some kai lan in a pot of slightly salted boiling water. I also placed 4 strips of thin bacon on an oiled frying pan, frying them crispy.

To serve, I placed the bacons and kai lan on one side of the plate and the noodles in the middle mixed with a little soya sauce. I added milk into the curry just before pouring it over the noodles.

And this, my friends, is my version of kon loh curry mee, in 30 minutes. How do you like it? Yours dearly had 2 servings that morning......

Best regards,
Jing Qi Quah

Project 365: Day 43 Probably the best dark chocolate I've ever tasted

2009-04-14T02:22:00.000+01:00

....... And it's Willie's delectable cacao, costing me £3.49 per box of 2 pieces from Selfridges (I later found out it cost £3 for the same thing in waitrose). It's kinda expensive but well worth the money imho.

I have to admit that I hunted for these chocolates because of the tv shows willie has been doing. The first was willie's wonky chocolate factory and the second was...... can't remember the name of the show. The most obvious thing one could see from the shows were his passion to make good old highest quality eating chocolate, unlike the sugary craps we get off supermarket shelves nowadays. True to his words, the chocolates were absolutely brilliant.

There are two choices here: Peruvian 70% cacao and Venezuelan 72% cacao. Both come in a box of 2 delectable squares, with the caption "one for now, one for then". Both contains fruity notes, although I felt the peruvian one was a little more sourish than the venezuelan. And although I prefer the venezuelan ever more so slightly to the peruvian, both are equally addictive.

Ohh what delightful flavours when you place a small piece on your tongue. It's not laced with sugar, yet it sweetens the deepest depth of your heart and mind. Now that's what I call the perfect (dark) chocolate.

Best regards,
Jing Qi Quah

Project 365: Day 42 The successful ban jian kuih

2009-04-13T13:17:00.000+01:00

Finally, I've done a successful ban jian kuih. It's thinner than the failed one and it's NOT BURNT!!!!!!

I have to say it tasted exactly like my favourite ban jian kuih in Alor Star, thin and crispy. This said, it still needs to be a bit thinner (can't really spread it fast enough on a big pan) and a bit more butter or planta inside would make it taste better. Nonetheless, I'm still happy about it, I've got a feeling the perfect ban jian kuih is not far away. Ahhhhhh......... Day dreaming again.

Best regards,
Jing Qi Quah

Project 365: Day 41 The snowball

2009-04-13T00:38:00.000+01:00

The snowball is an autobiography on Warren Buffett, yes that stockpicking and investment legend. I know what you're thinking, "not another warren buffett book". Not really, this is his first and only memoir, in which he granted Alice Schroeder hours and days and months to ask him questions (and getting straight, from the heart answers as well). I've glanced through many books on "the sage of Omaha" before and many of them focus on his decisions and results rather than why he made some of those important decisions. And many of them are just what other authors think he did, which frankly is just bullshit.

Let's see what alice has gotten out of the man himself. I've got a feeling this would be an interesting read, already the introduction makes me want to read more. It's a thick book but bring it on baby.

Best regards,
Jing Qi Quah

Project 365: Day 40 Probably my last day in Dresdner office

2009-04-11T21:15:00.000+01:00

Today I went into office to help with some packing. I will be expecting my redundancy letter any day now and I'm a free man again. Here's a picture of gresham street from where I work. I heard there was a mob outside here on financial fools day for the G20 protest.

It's been almost 7 months since I started here and the period is fun nonetheless. I get to meet lots of people, many of them my peers out of university during the training program. As I have said, this is a shrinking industry, even more so during a bear market.

So the question is, what next? Let's wait and see.......

Best regards,
Jing Qi Quah

Project 365: Day 39 The failed ban jian kuih

2009-04-10T18:26:00.000+01:00

The last night my sister is in London before going back to Nottingham, she said she wants ban jian kuih, or apom balik I was told. It's a food which I'm not really fond of growing up but grown to appreaciate as I got older. My favourite was the thin and crispy ones sold at "hai tao ki" in Alor Star. Sweet, nutty and crunchy all in a small pack.

Anyway, it was a tiring day driving the sister up to Harlow in a honda civic hybrid. I must admit I quite like that car, the whole feel of driving it, and of course the morally superior feeling of driving a clean car. What a bunch of hypocrits, they are no cleaner than turning my heater off for one hour and leave it on for the rest of the day. In any case, it is a triumph of innovation once again.

Well you guys should get what I mean. I was tired from all the driving and now I have to attempt to make this kuih for the first time. It wasn't the most aesthetically appealing thing I make but it does the job of solving the cravings. Yes it's burnt and we had to eat the inner part without touching the burnt part but it was all nice. The next attempt will be much bettet, I've got a feeling.

Best regards,
Jing Qi Quah

Project 365: Day 38 I like window shopping

2009-04-10T12:55:00.000+01:00

No longer able to afford shopping for things I like, I tend to wonder off in my own little world when I go out shopping with yours dearly. The department store is truly one of the biggest innovation of humans, I really mean it.

A day out window shopping can broaden your horizon much more than travelling in my humble opinion. Where else do you get to see 50 different types of pepper grinder each claiming to be the best. The most astonishing thing is that they all sell. You also get to see the latest innovation, like a so called best wine bottle opener in the world, a double pot you can use to heat stuffs using steam (making delicious butter sauce for steak), and the different types of teapots. Whoosh, it's a brave new world out there for innovators.

I said innovators because let's face it. This world needs more inventors but inventors are hard to come by these days. On the other hand, most entrepreneurs nowadays are genius innovators. They see a need in the market, no matter how small the need is, they will find a way to fill that gap. The market is no more saturated than stones in a bowl, you just need to be sands, or even water if you wanna be bruce lee.

Remember, no matter how small the gap, you just need to be smaller to fill it up.

A picture of deno and my sister looking tired after walking thru countless shops and buys NOTHING. Hahaha, it's the process that's enjoyable, think about it.

Best regards,

Jing Qi Quah

Project 365: Day 37 Ye Olde Scallop Tartare

2009-04-10T01:47:00.000+01:00

Well it isn't that old. Quite like a new recipe of gordon ramsay's I tried with deno like 2 years ago. The taste of it I could still remember 2 years on, and the recipe will be with me for a long long time. So go ahead drop me an email or a call if you want the recipe too.

The day started out with us going to borough market to hunt for some fresh hand-dived scallops. Now this is the important bit, since dretched scallops tend to be too sandy and remember we're eating them RAW.

Next you gotta remove the scallops from their shells, separate the red meat (or roe) from the white meat (or muscles). Mix the ingredients together the chopped up white meat and serve up on baby gem lettuce leaves. Absolutely refreshing on a hot summers day accompanied by a bottle of splendid riesling wine.

Ingredients: raw scallops (white meat), mascarpone, creme fraiche, chervil, lemon, salt and pepper, baby gem lettuce.

Give it a try, don't bother about measurements it's all about making it to suit your taste.

Best regards,

Jing Qi Quah

Project 365: Day 36 Siewch's farewell dinner

2009-04-07T21:44:00.000+01:00

I went to saint germain's at farringdon today for siew ching's farewell dinner. Yea it feels weird when somebody is leaving for good but hey, home is 13 hours away and internet is borderless, it isn't that bad. It also started me thinking, should I go back as well? I think not yet, it's not the time yet.

Now let me say something about the restaurant. I had goat's cheese for starter and coq au vin for main. I have to say that looks can be deceiving here, look at the duck confit everybody had, it looks great but what lurks underneath it, the thick layers of fat, made eating it next to impossible. Why didn't the chef cook the fats down I don't know, but when you're cooking duck, please put it in the oven for at least 2 hours for the fats to melt out.

The dinner itself was kinda fun. Met lots of people whom I haven't seen in ages and bullshitting over a meal is a pleasure of life. It truly is.

Best regards,
Jing Qi Quah

Project 365: Day 35 Stud 100

2009-04-05T01:22:00.000+01:00

Quite an uneventful day except for the boring G20 meeting which got world markets rallying on false hopes. Printing money to solve an economic problem, ha, let's see how well that works now since it never worked in the past, fascinating really.

Anyway, I was on the tube and guess what I saw on the advertising space on the carriage I was in.

STUD 100. Apparently for £6.99 you can delay ejaculation for ....... wait they didn't state the length of time, will somebody try it and let me know? So viagra prolongs erection and this delays ejaculation...... What if you combine the both?

Again, please do let me know what happens if you tried it.

Best regards,
Jing Qi Quah

Project 365: Day 34 Watchmen

2009-04-05T00:33:00.000+01:00

I went to watch Watchmen in Greenwich on Wednesday and let me tell you my first reaction after the movie ended.

"The movie is just damn weird."

I mean I was expecting it to be some superhero movie where there is hero vs evil like batman or superman. But all I got out of the movie were some weird blue naked man and weird 5-minute sex scenes in a flying machine up in the sky. Not that it wasn't hot. But if I wanted sex scenes I'd rather watch porn. The fight scenes were not too bad though, some serious moves there with rage.

All in all, it was just weird. And particularly so after I watched Knowing in the afternoon, another weird movie.

Anyway picture was of greenwich peninsula where imax greenwich is located and the sainsbury's where I bought some snacks to smuggle in for the movie.

Best regards,
Jing Qi Quah

Project 365: Day 33 Nestum tau kwa

2009-04-01T22:57:00.001+01:00

I was itching for some nestum prawn since that tasty vegetarian nestum prawn meal back in the temple at bukit mertajam. A few days after I got back, I found 2 packets of nestum prawn mix in the cupboard and decided to cook them. The problem is, I'm vegetarian for the day so what could I substitute it with? Yours dearly said she wanted to eat tofu so I came up with the idea of deep fried tau kwa with nestum.

And the end product? Seems a bit burnt but tasted just as nice. Not a bad twist to it eh?

I also started reading a book titled "white tiger" a few days ago. Quite an interesting book which started with "For the desk of His Excellency Wen Jiabao", a very inviting beginning indeed.

I'm also working on a project right now to keep myself occupied. Hopefully I can start my own little thingy here in a foreign country.

To my readers, please be supportive when it take offs yea?

Best regards,

Jing Qi Quah

Project 365: Day 32 Crapness

2009-03-31T21:39:00.000+01:00

Can't believe it's only 1 month and I already forgot to take a photo each day for project 365. Anyway let's make do with what I got, starting from last saturday. Went out for dinner at the favourite iranian place, Alounak on Westbourne Grove. Attendees for dinner were Francis, Sush and yours dearly. The lamb was as usual very tender and tasty, with a strong smoke flavour, yum.

After dinner, we went over to Soho for dessert and Princi's. Check out the nice deco for the table against the wall.

Water features, when placed appropriately, sometimes enhances the feel of a room. If you're a student of feng shui, you'll realise as well that it is also important to place water features at some places to lift the energy of the room. Think aquarium and why people build ponds to rear japanese kops, isn't it so?

Anyway, the night ended with some drinks at La Perla on Charlotte street for Tse Jian's birthday. I quite enjoyed the margerita there. One thing I forgot for the day was to be a vegetarian for the day. I guess I can substitute days..... hehe.

Best regards,
Jing Qi Quah

Time at home and coming back to UK

2009-03-29T19:18:00.013+01:00

Project 365: Day 28 Sister Caught me sleeping, @#$%^&

I was happily getting my back massaged on the massage chair the day after the funeral when I accidentally fell asleep (It was very comfortable ok......). Not the nicest of my pic but oh well, the kids sneakily took a pic of me sleeping. And this isn't the only pic they took, my life is ruin, NOOOO!!!! Can't they just let me sleep in peace?

Project 365: Day 29 Back at home in KL, here's my garden

I got back to kl after the first 7 days ended. I know I left out taking lots of pics but my mind wasn't set on taking pics. Had the pleasure of stopping by Ipoh to taste the "big head prawns" at Mun Choong restaurant on my journey back. With every bite, I feel my artery getting clogged up more and more, why are nice foods always bad for you??????

Anyway this is a shot of my garden during the one day I get to spend at home. My room has been empty for almost 11 months of the year and it certainly gave me a spooky feeling everytime I sleep in there. Guess I need to load it up with stuffs but what's the point in doing that when I'm not home most of the time? Sigh......

Project 365: Day 30 Bought myself a new pair of shoes

Went to do some shopping a few hours before boarding my plane back to London and bought myself a new pair of shoes. I kinda like the design at the front of it, at RM130 I think it's a bargain for it was really comfortable as well. I also got yours dearly her face wash set and boy were they expensive...... sigh.

Project 365: Day 31 Back in UK, on train towards London Paddington

A shot onboard the Heathrow Connect train back to Paddington (Heathrow express too expensive la since I'm not constrained by time). I was a bit depressed leaving home again and coming back to the cold weather here, just to prove that it was just too comfortable at home.

Project 365: Day 27 Some smiles to ease the gloom

2009-03-26T19:08:00.000Z

If you've ever had to attend a funeral of someone dear to you, you would sense the gloomy atmosphere from 100 meters away. But thanks to my younger cousins this time, the atmosphere seemed less tense. Maybe they just don't know how to feel sad yet, after all the only emotions children know are happiness and anger.

Here's a pic of one of my youngest cousin, who incidentally tries to show off his dimples. Don't you just wanna pinch his face? Anyway I think they are just enjoying their time not going to schools.

Best regards,
Jing Qi Quah

Project 365: Day 26 Business is resumed

2009-03-25T22:00:00.000Z

Sorry for the lack of updates since last week. I was quite busy for the funeral and don't have my usual luxury of 3G on the go. Sigh, roaming charges are just way too expensive. Need to get my phone unlocked so I can use a malaysian sim card the next time I go back. So I shall try to catch up as quickly as possible to this Project 365 with a bit of cheating. Don't really have pictures of most days but I'll try to dig.

This is a pic of the sky somewhere between london and KL. The flight back was empty considering the price I paid for the ticket. Joanne told me (she took singapore airlines A380 the following day) that her flight was empty as well. Considering the size and capacity of the 380, each passenger might as well have a bed each to lie on. Air asia X effect maybe?

Best regards,
Jing Qi Quah

Project 365: Day 24 Airport and bad trading day

2009-03-16T21:09:00.000Z

Market rallied in the morning which meant I made a small fortune and went into profit for the first part of the day. I then made the worst decision yet trading, buying goldman shares. Estimated loss at end of day is 170 which is a lot. Problem is I don't even know why the shares tumbled so quickly, on a day AIG gained 80%, gosh. Oh well yet another lesson learnt. In hindsight, I think it has something to do with AIG's statement which contradicts goldman's earlier comment about no exposure to AIG. Sigh, should've figured it out sooner.

Anyway, I'm in the airport right now waiting to board the flight back to malaysia. Here's a shot of the duty-free shops in heathrow terminal 3.

Best regards,
Jing Qi Quah

Project 365: Day 23 Snow snow snow patrol and bad news

2009-03-16T10:37:00.000Z

Got my haircut today and that sparked the first bad news of the day. For some reason the hair salon I go to usually in chinatown isn't making (enough?) money so the business owner is selling the business back to the shop owner but will remain as manager. They will increase the price from £15 to £19 starting april. Now I don't know about you but that's a whopping 35% increase in my books and I guess I'll have to look for new places now. Shame, I quite like that place.

Then I went for lunch with deno, raymond and jonathan at royal china on baker street. We were patiently waiting for more than 40 minutes when I got a phone call from Jo. Then came the worst news of the day, or even the year. Uncle kuat who is battling with cancer for some months now passed away sunday night in penang. I'm not too devastated since news so far have been bleak, but I was planning to go back hopefully in april to see him. Time is cruel. Making some last minute plans to go back now.

At night, we went to snow patrol's concert in o2. The show was much much better than I expected but most of the time I'm thinking more about my plan to fly back tomorrow. And I got my ticket right after the show. Will be flying back tomorrow night and coming back here the following monday arriving on tuesday. So hopefully will be able to come in for Metro's full year results and conference call.

This is a sad day.

p.s. might not be updating blog too often while I'm back in malaysia but will try.

Best regards,
Jing Qi Quah

Project 365: Day 22 Karaoke rulez

2009-03-15T04:14:00.000Z

After the fun night at madame jojo's last night, the day started on a slower note. Cleaner came over to do up the house and yours dearly bought sashimi from atari-ya for lunch. Readying ourselves for the karaoke session at night, we just chilled out, made a tiramisu cake and watched American Idol at home. It's gonna be a tight battle between Danny and Adam this year me thinks. Deno and ying ling were down to London today as well. Ahh how I love to have crowds here, makes the house feel livelier.

Anyway, it's sin yi's bday karaoke session tonight and we went all out for the best part of the 4 hours at china city. I feel a sore throat coming tomorrow. Note to self, singing and "kam heong" is not a good combination, especially when you end up with chilli stuck in your throat. Scary? Ou yea. Well we had a fun night out again nonetheless. Bring on snow patrol tomorrow woooshhhh.

p.s. Pics are a bit dark, that's the bad thing about camera phones.

Best regards,
Jing Qi Quah

Project 365: Day 21 Fourth up day for Wall Street and Madame Jojo's

2009-03-14T09:27:00.001Z

Spent the entire day in front of the screen monitoring market movements on a highly significant day for market sentiments. A fourth up day for the market means quite a bit to the psychology of investors everywhere. It gets people thinking whether we have reached the bottom or not, this is the first bear market rally for the year and true enough "bottoming" is the oft used word on bloomberg tv the whole day.

If you ask me, I'd still say the market's not bottomed out yet. It will bottom out once retailers start seeing less promotions needed to draw in customers I think. This is what we call consumer-led recovery from the recession. People keep saying that banks will lead the economy out of recession, at least from a stock market point of view. This is right from a sentiment perspective but wrong from a fundamental point of view.

Thinking is allowed and by any means I might be horribly wrong. Today I got myself a small fortune from the gains of next and tesco but no help from ahold yet. Gonna hold them as they still are undervalued. JPMorgan also bagged me some profits but went to the red later, same with GE and Citigroup. Key stock for me today is Microsoft, it took a battering and I love to buy on weakness. Will hold all these stocks through the weekend.

I went to madame jojo's at night for quite a fun night out with yours dearly and gabi. If you ask me about clubbing, funk and old school rock n roll is the bomb. So head over to madame jojo's in soho on friday night if you're in London and you want to get away from the usual RnB, you might just fall in love with it.

Best regards,

Jing Qi Quah

Project 365: Day 20 Day in the office

2009-03-14T00:30:00.000Z

This entry is one day late again. Went into office today for 4 companies who were reporting in the morning. Carrefour, Delhaize, Morrisons and Home Retail Group. As usual Jimmy would've upgraded delhaize to buy had we have no cease coverage and were allowed to put out previews. I suspect that Carrefour should be a buy too on the back of the plans laid out yesterday by Lars. Both stocks were trading strongly from the start with delhaize up by double digits. Morrisons had a fantastic year and it remains to be seen whether they can keep the momentum up for the coming year against very tough comparables. Out of the 4, home has the least visible outlook and shares tanked as more unpleasant news were revealed during the conference call.

Well most of my bets for the day were not too bad as markets rallied for another day and I was at the right side of it. Still thinks that ahold and tesco are undervalued as they regain some of the earlier losses. But thanks to the rally in the US, which sparked a rally in the ftse, I was able to recoup most of my losses the day before. So net net I'm about £100 down instead of £200, not that bad for 3rd day trade.

Is it possible to get a pizza romana like the one from pizza express in malaysia? It's the one with the ultra flat base, absolutely yummy. Business idea? I think so.

Thought of the day: next time I had better reflect on my trading strategies day to day.

Best regards,

Jing Qi Quah

Project 365: Day 19 Why is stock picking so hard?

2009-03-12T00:00:00.001Z

I've learnt that making a share price call or pick a stock is an easy thing to do.

Merely saying what number you think the index should be is also an easy thing to do.

Having the balls to press the button to commit yourself is hard.

Making a profit by betting the right direction is hard too.

Having the discipline to not touch something you committed not to touch is the hardest.

Tuition fees today: £150. Lesson still not learnt, freak......

Gain from the day: stocktwit.

Miss of the day: F**king Amazon.

Best regards,

Jing Qi Quah

Project 365: Day 18 Yet another unproductive and unprofitable day

2009-03-10T23:24:00.000Z

This is another unproductive day after yesterday and I didn't even manage to go to the gym today. Spent the better part of the day configuring my reuters xtra3000 and setting up the spreadbetting account with igindex. My first trade was betting that the eurodollar will rise when it fell and fell. That was a good 35 quids tuition fees and what I learnt from it is not to touch currencies again. Better be discipline and stick to what I know, retail stocks. Thursday would be quite active with 4 companies reporting but I won't be home to see and trade on it so it's another miss opportunity. Hopefully I could get it all set up on my blackberry tomorrow so fingers crossed.

Alright, today's pic is of yours dearly eating chocolate while watching my beloved juve team lose to yet another of my fav team chelsea. Sigh...... Just my luck hahaha. Oh well will work harder tomorrow to identify more opportunities for money making hehehe. Pray for me.

Best regards,
Jing Qi Quah

Project 365: Day 17 Of stupidness of banks

2009-03-10T00:53:00.000Z

What an unproductive day this has been. Got to the gym early only to find out that body conditioning class is filled with housewives (didn't join them in the end). Cycled to burn some calories but felt kinda low on energy. Did some weights but don't have the strength. Seriously something is wrong today.

I went over to my bank after gym trying to get some stamped printed statements and a reference letter to be sent to the home office. There I was, queuing up obediently before it was my turn at the counter. I put on my biggest smile and said in my politest tone, "can I have a printed statement from XXX to XXX, stamped in every page please?"

"NO we can't do that" she said. "We could print it out but we're not allowed to stamp it." I mean dude, then where the heck should I go to get a stamp for those statements? The market?

Ok so maybe it might still be alright if it wasn't stamped as long as there was the bank's logo on it. I then asked her if I could get a reference letter. "NO, we don't do that," she said. Crap, now what do banks do then? Imbeciles!!! Bastards!

Feeling crappy, I went for a walk at the nearby whiteleys and finally got a chance to see the newly opened cha cha moon here. At least that made up for the rest of my day. Bad news is, the menu (and prices) are exactly the same as the one in soho. Didn't eat there today but will be back.

Stupid banks......

Best regards,
Jing Qi Quah

Project 365: Day 16 Last day in Edinburgh

2009-03-08T23:51:00.000Z

Trying to make our shadows look funny, taken on top of Calton Hill. Tasted a wonderful whiskey today up alongside my already favourite Glenfiddich 21 yrs, the Aberferdy 21 yrs. Next I wanna taste is some Dewar's whiskey, should not be hard to find......

Best regards,
Jing Qi Quah

Project 365: Day 15 Whiskey and Scottish landscape

2009-03-08T14:47:00.000Z

One of the malts used for Famous Grouse is made here, the Glenturret.

More on trip later when battery charging is more accessible.
Best regards,
Jing Qi Quah

Project 365: Day 14 I'm in Edinburgh

2009-03-06T23:23:00.000Z

With the guys and gals in front of Edinburgh castle. More posts on trip on a later date.

P.s. Can somebody tell me why does the blackberry bold drinks battery down so quickly? It can't even last a day properly wtf?

Best regards,
Jing Qi Quah

Project 365: Day 13 Codness me

2009-03-06T00:53:00.000Z

Went into office again today for Casino's full year results which is actually quite an optimistic one. Definitely the numbers were at the top end of consensus and share price today was kinda flat compared to another day of fall in benchmark indices.

Anyway the highlight of the day was when I was strolling through whiteleys on my way back from the bank. I came face to face with a "I don't know" what. Took a question to the fishmonger to learn that the huge fish was a cod. I mean how many of you out there have actually seen a whole cod? I've seen cod fillets, cod steaks, heck even cod liver oil but couldn't recognise it whole.

Now I know cod this size should be normal. Black cods which we chinese adore so much back home is huge, judging by the size of the steam cod steaks we have back home. But if you're used to fish n chips here, you would be surprised to see an atlantic (or black sea) cod the size of this too.

They even dug a flatfish out of the cod's mouth believe it or not. Poor flounder........

Best regards,
Jing Qi Quah

Project 365: Day 12 Ye same ol Italian again

2009-03-05T03:12:00.000Z

Today, I went to Il Bordello again with yours dearly after her little trip to the doctors. She had some rashes on her face which she said were very itchy and painful sometimes, it even made her slightly feverish. Anybody has any idea what this could be? Doctor said it's normal but I have we have our suspicions that it might be a combi of winter rash and some sort of allergy.

Hence she decided this wouldn't be a seafood day, which was kind of a let down since I wanted to bring her to try their fabulous lobster aurora. Anyway, we had the deep fried mozzarella for starter (which tasted like deep fried chicken yum), calves liver and tagliatelle al funghi as mains. Food was superb as usual but yours dearly said that the calves liver at cristini's were better which I kinda agree since I prefer eating it with mash potatoes. There is nothing like a good shot of espresso to finish off lunch and keep me awake for the walk home.

Later, I took the curtains to the cleaners on my way to the gym for some solid fat burning. To sum it all up, it was a pretty ok day. What it lacks is something that makes me tick, some work, some project, some soul searching. Where am I going to go next? The industry I'm in now is a rapidly collapsing one even in the next boom period. It went from a 10-people team to 5-people team in a matter of years and now firms only want to hire a 2-people team. That's how much technology is improving a person's efficiency (more like man power is more expensive than computer power).

So this all boils down to one question. How to create new areas where man power is needed (and sustainably needed)? I really don't know. But I want to try, so badly. Deep thoughts...... Perhaps......

p.s. Get well soon yours dearly.

Best regards,
Jing Qi Quah

Project 365: Day 11 Clean Curtains

2009-03-03T23:17:00.001Z

Today, after a week since the dry cleaners told me that it's ready, I finally went to pick up the clean curtains on my way back from the gym. It was seriously a power walk session since I opted to walk home from bayswater instead of taking the bus and the curtains were f**king heavy dammit. Oh well, I'll just treat it as an extra workout for the day.

What's worse....... That's the lighter load. Tomorrow I'll have to carry some more curtains to be washed and those are twice the weight I'm not kidding. And this time, the cctv has nothing to catch on camera (hehehe got a very expensive tuition for waiting in the car on double yellow line the first time around).

Bring it on curtains, my biceps are ready!

Best regards,

Jing Qi Quah

Project 365: Day 11 Revenge is something really SPICY

2009-03-02T20:39:00.000Z

Went to the office today with Ahold reporting some stellar results. For the 3rd year in a row, Ahold has met the targets they set for themselves despite economic headwinds. That, to me, is very impressive. I remembered during a recent job interview, the interviewer asked me if I liked the retail sector. The only company that came to my mind is Ahold, for some reason, although I remembered wrongly that we have a buy recommendation (I said we had an add). Sigh, I think that just cost me a job.

Anyway, gym followed work but it was a hurried section as I'm meeting yours dearly for dinner. And dinner tonight is at ............ NANDO's!!!!! Yes, I know, AGAIN!!!

And this time it's revenge. Haha, extra extra lots of extra extra hot peri-peri sauce. Ouuuuu Yeaaaa, the hungry stomach really needed that. Revenge time!!!!!

Best regards,
Jing Qi Quah

Project 365: Day 10 Football and Nandos

2009-03-01T21:11:00.000Z

It was a good day for football, not too sunny, temperature was mild and during Carling cup final (not much people in park). All that running left me absolutely starving and what's better than to go to nando's for some fiery chicken?

We went to the nando's near London Bridge. There was this odd thing on the way from station to restaurant. Think I saw Keng mention in her facebook that it's to hang people in the old days.

Yum, always go for extra hot peri-peri at nando's. I didn't realise they have a black bottle of extra extra hot until I was leaving the restaurant dammit. But it was good. Finished a quarter bottle of that yummy sauce myself muahahaha. So much so that I saw somebody (European!!!) who brought their own plastic containers to bring some sauce back, talk about kiasu.

And yours dearly tries to stop me taking a photo of her hahaha. Funny. What's funnier is nando's sign saying their peri-peri nuts may contain nuts. -_-!!!
Best regards,
Jing Qi Quah

Project 365: Day 9 Development at Marble Arch

2009-03-01T17:56:00.000Z

Got this post one day late but what the hell. Went out to West Acton to get some fresh fish for sashimi from Atari Ya, a nice little japanese store full of surprises. The fish were top notch, fresh as sashimi you can get in London. No stomach ache so far so I guess it's safe to say that. So if u're a sushi fan, there's just one place where u'll not be disappointed (the selection of fish there is excellent too).

If you've been to Marble Arch in London before, you must remember that it has a quite complicated tunnel system which accompanies a stench of urine. Well the authorities recently decided to close some of these tunnels down and make people cross the road via traffic crossings. I'm not complaining, it makes more sense to do that since it's safer for pedestrians (in terms of burglary). Now with one of their usual shelter gone, where are the homeless going to spend the night now......

Best regards,
Jing Qi Quah

Project 365: Day 8 Best creme brulee in the world, Paul Smith and Kazan

2009-02-28T00:48:00.000Z

Today, we went back to La Petite Maison again as it was uncles' last day in London. I have to say again what I felt the very 1st time I tasted this dish, the creme brulee here is the best creme brulee I've ever tasted in my life. Each time I have this I always felt like having it all to myself. Screw the fats and calories...... I wish.

Even the memory of seeing a very nice Mercedes CLS was very distant at the moment that soft, sweet, creamy yet crunchy texture hit my mouth...... Oh heaven. Anybody in London don't believe me, please go try u'll not be disappointed.

After the late lunch, we went by some shops on Avery Row and stumbled upon a Paul Smith sale store. My god it was really cheap, and to remember the premium we have to pay if we were to buy it off the shelves in stores. Bought myself 2 shirts for £22, how cheap is that?

The evening was the usual affair of a splendid meal. This time it was hosted by uncle mo but aunt Cynthia ended up treating us again. Aiyah how la uncle Mo? Hehehe food at Kazan was great though I must say.

Once again, sorry yours dearly. Hugs.

Ok, mini holiday over. Need to start planning again, hopefully plan will go smoothly this time. Wahahaha world, here I come.

Best regards,
Jing Qi Quah

Project 365: Day 7 Italian and pub by River Thames

2009-02-26T23:21:00.000Z

Went to a nice Italian lunch in a restaurant on Wapping High Street called Il Bordello hosted by Uncle Mo's friend Keng. Lobster linguine was superb and halibut was exceptional. In fact every dish were superb we really enjoyed it. I suggest anybody who is in London and wants to eat italian to go there, best IMHO.

We then proceed to a nice pub down the road which has a nice river view of Canary Wharf. In summer, this place is going to be packed anyday anytime. That's my uncle Steven enjoying the breeze while shivering.

Dinner was hosted by uncle AJ at Zuma. On arrival, Lee Dixon, Martin Keown, Sol Campbell and David Seaman were sitting directly next to us. Keeping up very well with the one day one celebrity trend hahaha.

Best regards,
Jing Qi Quah

Project 365: Day 6 You just can't prevent shit

2009-02-26T01:01:00.000Z

You bought a nice car, sent it to be cleaned and polished, parked at one of the most exclusive address in Mayfair London...... Life's good. But shit still happens, you still can't prevent others from dumping trash in front of your Bentley hahaha.

Got the photo this morning when I accompanied yours dearly to the US embassy. As you are not allowed to bring anything, not even your watch let alone your phone, into the building I had to carry yours dearly's bag and waited at a cafe nearby while having breakfast. Have to say that cafe serves one heck of a scrambled eggs (slightly better than mine). 30 minutes turned into 1 hour and then 2 hours before she was done in the embassy.

As we went to a cashpoint for yours dearly to change her pin number, I suddenly saw someone resembling Mr. Roman coming my direction. It took me a whole minute to realise that it was indeed Roman Abramovich, yes that Roman. Omg should've ask him to have a picture taken with me dammit but oh well.

Sigh didn't go to the gym today. Should've went but gone shopping for lights for the house instead.

Best regards,
Jing Qi Quah

Project 365: Day 5

2009-02-25T00:30:00.000Z

Today we took a (not too) little trip up north to Shrewsbury to send little missy back to school. *evil face* We took turns driving with me driving half the journey up north. I always enjoyed driving in the countryside and the bendy path into missy's school was naturally a pleasure to drive on. Journey back took us half the time up there thanks to uncle mo's lightning driving.

This morning my uncle presented me with a business idea which I thought was quite doable. That consumed half my thoughts and I also sought some advice from tiam regarding this since internet business is his specialty. I realise that turning the idea into a viable business isn't as easy as people thought but certainly the thought of that makes my heart pumping and my blood boiling. I have to somehow do it. While the end result is an unknown, it is at least within my grasp, or at least I think it is.

There's another business idea, totally unrelated which is very doable but that is something for my cous since it's his industry.

We ended the day with a drink at our local pub, The Victoria with uncle mo and uncle aj. Just realised they serve my favourite beer, Franziskaner here. WAHAHA this shall be my fav pub from now on.

Best regards,
Jing Qi Quah

Project 365: Day 4 Dining in London

2009-02-23T23:33:00.000Z

I went for dinner at a cosy restaurant called "La Petite Maison" which in my opinion serves the best creme brulee I've ever tasted in my life. This French cum Asian style restaurant on Brook Mews behind Claridges hotel serves not so complicated food but they are always cooked to perfection.

So much did people enjoyed it that even stars turned up to dine today here. There I was tucking myself into the delicious roast crispy pork belly when someone resembling Chris Martin (yes that one from Coldplay) walked in with a blonde lady. When the blonde lady turned around I immediately gave my cousin a nudge. That was none other than the stunningly gorgeous Mrs. Martin (yes Gwyneth). What luck, I bet Ng Yong would give anything to be in my position earlier tonight.

Just another night out in the city called London I guess.
Best regards,
Jing Qi Quah

Project 365: Day 3 Boredome solved......

2009-02-22T23:45:00.001Z

...... With monopoly, such a simple yet intriguing game. I remembered when I was in office during xmas with uncertainty of redundancy looming, monopoly became a dear friend. Is there any monopoly genius outside there? One who wins every game he plays?

Btw do you know that you can design your own monopoly board online? On mymonopoly.com.

P.s. Happy birthday chuan, and congrats hahaha =D
Best regards,
Jing Qi Quah

Project 365: Day 2 Music fuels the soul (at least for 3 hours)

2009-02-21T21:19:00.000Z

Last night I went to Ronnie Scotts jazz club to watch a performance from Billy Cobham's band. Billy Cobham is a legendary drummer who once gain fame playing alongside Miles Davis. I have to say I've never thought that a drummer could be a main act but it is.

The night started with a pre-gig act which wasn't too bad but prepared us nicely with the main act.

I also found another wonderful thing - the Glenfiddich 21 years old Grand Riserva. Excellent whiskey this is on the rocks and making the music sound that little much smoother.

Here's my entry for project 365 (technically a new day already hehehe).

Best regards,
Jing Qi Quah

Project 365: Day 1 What a Wonderful day

2009-02-20T11:27:00.001Z

Beautiful weather in London can be such a beautiful thing. Since I've been sent home on paid leave, it has been a good time for reflecting on what I've achieved over the last year. 3 totally different jobs within 1 year and half year is surely something.

Starting from a call centre, moving to the oldest insurance market in the world (Lloyd's) and going into an investment bank. Have to say that has been quite a journey. 1 thing stays the same though. I totally loved working with everybody in all my jobs, I wonder if it's something experienced by everybody as well?

Best regards,

Jing Qi Quah

Fooled by Confucius

2008-07-01T01:06:00.002+01:00

Never have I thought the roots of confucianism was so deeply embeded in my way of life and thinking. Maybe I was wrong, maybe I did not realise this soon enough, maybe it was just a way of life that I got so used to growing up.

One cannot deny that humaneness(仁) is a central theme of confucianism, using "a" as what the central theme actually is is still open to interpretation of many. Being humane means to be able to consider ones actions as to not cause harm to others. This reminds me of an anecdote I heard when I was young.
If somebody slaps you in the left cheek, what would you do? Jesus would ask you to turn the other cheek around so your right cheek will get the same equal treatment. In current standards, that would probably wage a war, let alone allowing the opposition to give you another slap.

What if?

What if you are the one slapping instead of being slapped, lets say by accident (just because you believe in confucianism) ?

Do you wait for retaliation (in which you are inviting the opposition to break his believe in confucianism)?

Do you slap him in the right cheek (in which you break your believe)?

Do you apologize profusely or just walk away quietly? (which I believe should be the best solution but again is up for interpretation)

Putting this in a political context, a ruler who acts inhumanely will lose their mandate to rule. If confucius is right, then those who attack oppositions or those inviting oppositions to retaliate should already lose this mandate.

Then again, only time will tell if confucius is right, or was I fooled by confucius?

Day 1: Fundamental Analysis

2007-09-19T11:36:00.000+01:00

My plan is to stick with EUR/USD and try to get something from there. I currently have a system which I will reveal when I have the time to do so. So let's start with fundamental analysis for Europe and US.

First of all, the biggest news yesterday was the 50 points Fed cut which spurs equities to rally upwards. Sad to say it is bad news for the USD as it EUR/USD (from hereon called "euro") soars. Markets are currently in consolidation on uncertainty after the rush yesterday. As can be seen here on the USD/JPY (from hereon called "gopher").
Look at the latest movements. The sudden spike was due to yesterday's rate cute of 50 points and then it cools off with a little of correction before moving sidewards with no clear direction of where to go. I am of course not trading on gopher but looking at how both stochastics and RSI linger around the midpoint is a clear sign of market consolidation.

I suspect all we need is a good news for the price to suddenly go up or down. I suspect that global equities rising leads to weakening of the yen but we'll see the full extent with a bit more time to come.

Back to the euro, now that we know people are uncertain about how the USD is relative to the JPY, we could say people are uncertain about whether the USD is overpriced or underpriced. It all depends on the euro. Let's look for signals, from fundamentals (i.e. news articles).

Here are some which I think might be relevant.

Belgium break-up fears.
With no new government for 101 days after their general election(good grief), concerns are growing that the country will finally split up. Uncertainty is not good for euro right now, as it casts doubts of a "united europe". No doubt about this.
Greenspan casts doubt on publication of inflation goals
"They will have to go through a tricky process of explaining if inflation deviates from target" Quite true, but I don't see how this affects the euro.
US housing market outlook worsens
Tricky this one, since the crash is not yet evident. It's going to be bad for the US economy as builder sentiment fell for the 7th consecutive month. Bad, but still waiting for the crash to actually happen.
Clouds gather in Germany as sentiment sinks
New data added to evidence that the best of Germany's economic revival was over, although economists did not expect a sharp decline in performance. Bad for euro, since they are still uncertain whether Germany's recover was TRULY over.
Dollar plunges to new low versus euro
Reasons: fed cut on interest and discount rates, UK inflation fell below BoE's target in august, Northern Rock crisis to have lasting effects on consumer confidence.

I think those are the relevant news. Nothing really significant but it shows a probably weakening euro in the long run and an unpredictable USD.

Day 0: Beginning of a new trade

2007-09-18T22:51:00.000+01:00

So I've been talking about forex for a while now. Since the investment club plan is put on hold for the moment until the preliminary meeting, I've decided to explore trading in the forex market.

I'll try to explain what I've come to understand so far.

Forex = Foreign exchange

Forex trading is done by trading on a pair of currencies. The big 5 currencies traded are USD (US dollars), GBP (Great Britain Pound), EUR (Euro), JPY (Japan Yen) and CHF (Swiss Franc). There are some other traded currencies as well but because of the size of their economy to be comparatively smaller than the above mentioned, I shall for the time being avoid them.

In layman's term, forex trading is more or less like trading the economies of a country compared to the other. For example, I would buy (go long) on GBP against the USD if i think the british economy is progressing, or the american economy is regressing, or both.

It is not always this simple though, as there are many factors that can determine the strength of the currencies.

If you are interested at this point, simply head to BabyPips to learn more. It's a lovely and informative site, take my word for it if I say it's the BEST forex site for beginners.

Let's get started right now as I start a strict trading regime. But before all that, just a little comic to calm the nerves.

He is in fact wrong, money can buy happiness, but that depends on what type of happiness it buys. If you're talking about fast cars and the adrenaline rush then you have an idea of what I'm thinking. So the aim of my trade is of coz to make money (fake money but still as important nonetheless, it's my pride)

So here's the brand new account with USD1000 and a leverage of 1:100, which means I have USD100,000 to trade but could lose money A LOT faster than a 1:1 account, double-edged sword this is.

I shall talk about my plan next.

Euro Yen Power

2007-09-13T15:21:00.000+01:00

Did I say 159.85? It's going towards 161.00 now.

13 Sep 2007 14:19 GMT

BULLET: EURO-YEN: Breaking through tech resistance at MNI....
EURO-YEN: Breaking through tech resistance at Y159.97/00, MNI Techs
suggesting a close above this level would be a positive sign. Stops
going off now, with little seen on the orderboard until offers around
Y161.00.

Looks like I can cover my losses today, not a bad trading day I would say. So many things learnt, still it never ceases to amaze me the market can move on absolutely "NOTHING".

Forex, Khairy

2007-09-13T14:50:00.000+01:00

Started doing a little demo trade on the forex market in 2 eventful days. DEMO only, hehehe guess I don't have that much confidence in trading real money. And I can see why people always say try it on a demo account first, it's really risky, much riskier than equities.

First, Oil barrel reaching US$80 per barrel, and second, EUR/USD hitting the wonderful 1.39 mark, seems like it's going to hit 1.4 soon.

Also, fingers crossed for EUR/JPY to hit the 115.85 mark so I can earn some more $$$.

Anyway main news today is this.

Love him or hate him, he's a daddy now. Congratulations.

Red wine to try

2007-09-10T11:53:00.000+01:00

No.1 currently on my list of wines to keep(or drink)

Introducing Chateau Monbousquet. This is a Bordeaux red from the region of Saint Emilion. The one that caught my eye is this year 2000 Chateau Monbousquet. According to this website here, the right time to drink this is from 2006 to 2018 so expect the price of this to be reasonably expensive. Trust me when I say the price of this wine will rise again within the next few years as I've already seen a lot of wine wholesalers running having the "out of stock" label on this wine.

The one I've got a chance to try was the Chateau Monbousquet 1999 which is very lovely and much cheaper than 2000. Still was a great experience.

So if you're a wine connoisseur, give this wine a try. Tell me what you think.

Dining at Kai Mayfair and New Ideas

2007-09-07T22:06:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I had the opportunity to dine at Kai in Mayfair, once voted the best chinese restaurant in the UK, thanks to my uncle :P I suspect Hakkasan to be the current best in UK so "pa, the next time you come to UK let's go to Hakkasan"

As with most of the fine dining here, the food were quite beautifully prepared. Taste-wise you would expect them to taste more or less like your normal chinese food, just that it comes in smaller portions and with fresh ingredients.

I didn't take any photos but will try to search online for some of the dishes I tried.

Here's the menu.

Our orders last night were:

Wasabi Prawns
Aromatic Crispy Beancurd
Tan-Jia's Lobster Broth
Asparagus, Spinach & Glass Noodle Salad
Stuffed Aubergine
Roasted Pork Belly
'Yin-Yang' Dover Sole
Almond Jelly in a light syrup with fresh fruits
Pumpkin Cream with Purple Rice and Coconut Ice Cream

Can't remember all the desserts we ate.

Verdict on atmosphere:

Very nice atmosphere, one of the more quiet restaurant which is quiet odd considering the fact that it's a chinese restaurant. I particularly liked the effort by the restaurant to have a harpist playing last night, thumbs up for that. I was told it can be quite quiet sometimes during lunch.

Verdict on food:
Let's list the verdict in order above.

Starting with the appertisers, I thought the wasabi prawns could do better with a little more actual wasabi with it as I like that little tingling feeling in my nose when I taste wasabi.

The aromatic crispy beancurd is a great idea I thought. To some, it's just regular "siew ngor"(vegetarian goose) cut into strips served in a pancake with peking duck sauce and the usual spring onions & cucumber. Simple ingredients, great effect. Not to mention it's great for vegetarians.

Tan-Jia's Lobster broth is yummy with its sticky chicken stock over lobster and cooked spinach. The overpowering chicken stock complements the lobster well where you taste 2 distinct sweetness together. The stock was so flavorful I couldn't even taste the usual "bitterness" in the spinach, I usually like this bitterness but in this dish I prefer otherwise.

The Asparagus, Spinach & Glass Noodle Sandwich came with honey & lime dressing. I thought if the chef could shred the spinach and asparagus to make them easier to eat the whole experience would be better. No offence to the chef but a suggestion if he thinks of improving this dish.

The stuffed aubergine is yummy. The only downside to this is that I might be able to replicate the same dish in my own kitchen with my own ingredients. A suggestion for improvement could be to cook the aubergines and line them up symetrically on a nice plate. Also maybe they should serve the sauce separately and not flood the aubergines.

The roasted pork belly came with an apple salad with a sauce. I thought the sauce complemented the pork well. Just a little problem, the belly was a bit too fatty, they should instead use a slightly leaner meat. Personally I still prefer the roasted pork belly I get from Haatyai. No offence to the chef, you could replace this roasted pork with the one from Haatyai and customers will enjoy it more.

I thought the 'Yin-Yang' Dover Sole was quite a creative dish. The bone of the fish is fried to crispy and shaped into a bowl. Under the bowl, deep fried pieces of dover sole are accompanied by a sweet and salty sauce. In the bowl, the same pieces of fish are accompanied by a thick curry sauce. They were tasty but I thought that if we could replace the sweet and salty sauce with the usual "chilli-kicap-limau" sauce which is served in "chap-fan" stalls in Malaysia it would be better.

The above 3 dishes were eaten together with rice.

We had 4 dished but the 2 desserts mentioned were the best. Pumpkin cream dessert was made to look like pumpkin soup served with coconut ice cream and purple rice, a must to try when you visit Kai. All of us enjoy the Almond Jelly which wasn't too sweet and tasted better than "tau fu far".

Dining here gave me a few ideas on some businesses which might work in Malaysia so budding entrepreneurs take note here.

The 'Yin-Yang' dover sole eaten with rice gave me an idea to possibly serve smaller cubes of fish coated in sauce and then lightly battered in cooked rice. This is to be eaten like sushi but obviously with less portions of rice. One can maybe open a "sushi-bar" style eatery in Malaysia to serve these type of dishes. Possibly even coining a new name for this style of eating. Just replace the cubes of fish to cubes of anything you can think of and serve immediately.

Alternatively, you could serve a plate of rice (layered thinly) so people could coat the food themselves. This is an age where experiential marketing works so by doing this, it gives customers a sense of involvement in preparation of the food which increases the whole experience altogether.

So, any takers of this idea? What do you think?

Good start or are we still early?

2007-09-07T00:47:00.000+01:00

High-end, upmarket living at Perak hub

IPOH: High-end, upmarket living with branded goods and at least 50 fine dining restaurants to choose from.
That is the lifestyle the state government wants to promote among locals and tourists with the unveiling of the RM250mil Perak Tourism Hub project at Bandar Baru Medan here.
Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamad Tajol Rosli Ghazali said he was impressed with the concept of Penang-based Emerald Capital Group in wanting to bring the “best of the city into a single place.”
“We want the best food in the city to be made available at the hub including special gifts and branded goods which are sold only in Kuala Lumpur,” he said yesterday at the ground-breaking ceremony of the project, which comprises four multi-storey towers.
This, he said, could attract visitors from as far as Thailand and Penang to stop here to shop for branded goods.
Tajol Rosli said the project would be an integrated one-stop tourist information centre with an extensive shopping mall, a clubhouse with complete recreational facilities, cineplexes and a banquet hall to accommodate 2,000 people.
The project is expected to be completed by 2010. [Source: The Star]

Exactly the type of thing that is pushing the bustling city of London to even higher grounds. Think of the Fat Duck, Le Gavroche and Nobu here. Don't get what I mean, check out the world's best 50 restaurants here. It is exactly the type of thing Malaysia needs, right?

Just in response to 5xmom's article on "Tell me why Malaysians go to Singapore for holidays". Singapore is the other city with an increasing emphasis on quality of service and most importantly the "experience". By experience, I do mean the experience of fine dining.

All I can say is this is a good move. Just a little problem, there are already several fine dining restaurants in KL and not many of them have the means to survive.

The problem here is Malaysians are not too willing to spend that much on fine dining. How many of you are willing to fork out RM100 per head for a meal? Not many I suspect, and even if you do I think you're expecting Jogoya's buffet which is totally off.

Another aspect of fine dining is wine appreciation. All restaurateurs can tell you that the big money is to be earned from the huge margin on wine sales. That is exactly the type of thing that keeps a restaurant alive. As Gordon Ramsay once put it, "If the food you serve is fucking tasty, customers enjoy the meal. When customers enjoy the meal, they are going to spend on wine, and then you make money."

So think about it. Are we Malaysians still a bit too early for fine dining? Do we have the spending power to keep the industry alive? Only time will tell.

I'll leave you guys with 1 last question. How much are you willing to fork out for a plate like this?

p.s. this is "Letter soup" from El Bulli, ranked #1 restaurant in the world. Interesting? You fucking bet it is.

References:

High-end, upmarket living at Perak hub, 7 September 2007, The Star.

More Namewee

2007-08-17T17:46:00.001+01:00

Here's RPK's take on Meng Chee's Negarakuku incident. What I find most interesting are the comments, here are some.

1.Zakaria mat derus built his mansion eventhough he knows he dnt hv the proper approval or documents yet he dnt care about our malaysian law and carry on building it.
Action: false apology and some crying drama for sympathy.
Verdict: Forgiven and case close.

2.Bung mokhtar and Said insult women with nasty remark "bocor" in parlimen.
Action: False apology
Verdict: Forgiven and case close.

3.Said ask the customs enforcer officer tp "close one eye" on some timber shipment.
Action:Continue to haunt customes dept accusing them not selling him a mecerdes benz of his choice.
Verdict: still a monkey in parlimen and forgiven.

4.Baddrudin MP Jerai calls indian "keling" in parlimen.
Action:False apology
Verdict:forgiven and case close.

5.Meng chee, singing "Negara Ku" in rap.
Action: Apologize and seek forgiveness.
Verdict: Will be procecute or strip of citizenship.

Yea....... quite true.

Please explain why people like Nordin Mat Top,Hambali and few more well known terrorist figures still have a Malaysian citizenship ha?

Yes again..... quite true....

Wow - RPK,

True to form, when you are out of form.

Under the weather, and you kick up a storm.

You used 24 paragraphs, 2,176 words and 11,928 characters for the article and you summed it all up with a crisp last sentence:"Come to think of it, some of what Meng Chee said in that video is not too far from the truth."

LOL.....

What kind of person are you?

You need to get sick to "whack" others?

Please look at most of your commentators. I do not think they need to get sick before "whacking" the others!

What an excuse, huh?

When the Ministers in the Government of Malaysia tried to correct a wrong, you still "whack" them with your reasoning like red herring, diverting attention etc.

I think you have seen so many wrongs until you cannot figure what is corrections.

Yeah, like you said, just forgive. What the Ministers, be it from UMNO or MCA, are doing should be considered a "start" to better governance.

You agreed it is blasphemous of the rapper. To me, he is kind of "raping" the Country's National Anthem! Supposing someone is caught raping, we cannot just beat him, right? Forgive him? I think we still have to charge him in court. This is the civilise method.

Therefore, was that not the Law Minister suggested? I do not see anything wrong for a Minister in the Country trying to correct a wrong. Besides, the rapper has even admited he is in the wrong. Even a juvenile who did something wrong WILL be punished accordingly. So, he who sings has to face the music!

SEMUA tak jadi sama lu!

The above commentator clearly missed the hippies era, but well said as well. Raping the national anthem...... nice phrase...... now lets all go hump the national anthem. Here's RPK's response

Raja Petra wrote:

Dear Sajida, sebab you cakap macam budak belum sunat. Sebab tu I tahu. Allah tak marah kalau hina National Anthem. Tapi Allah marah kalau membunuh, rasuah dan menzalimi rakyat. Siapa lebih penting dan Siapa yang you lebih takut? Orang Melayu suka bergaduh sebab isu sunat macam pakai kopiah puteh semasa sembahyang lebih afdal atau tidak. Tapi makan duit rasuah takde siapa nak bincang. Lepas tu dengan duit rasuah tiap-tiap tahun buat umrah. Yang sunat tu ketepikan dulu. Selesai yang wajib dulu baru cerita pasal yang sunat. Fardu tinggal. Yang sunat dikejar. Itulah Melayu.

17/08 17:12:52

Lots more go see for yourself. This is funny hehehe.

Namewee

2007-08-17T14:39:00.000+01:00

First came the song on youtube......

Then radio broadcasted it.....

Then came the response...... all the furore of the garmen

Then taiwanese news interviewed him....

Then the garmen said they wanna investigate him if he's taking a loan from the garmen or a garmen-sponsored student.......

HELLO GARMEN!!! HOW CAN YOU LOSE HIS FILE?? YOU TELL ME YOU HAVE TO MAKE AN ANNOUNCMENT THAT YOU WANNA CHECK IF HE'S A "SPONSORED" STUDENT?

Damn dumb...

Then malaysian news made a big splash out of it and demanded his apology..... which he did.....

Look at his dad's plea, and the cabinet rejected his apology.....

Then a day after that, the cabinet "accepted" his apology......

Ladies and gentlemen...... this is your (our) government....... how about just let it go, do your fucking job running the country (into the ground).

Hypocrisy it is.

Let known your dissatistifaction

2007-08-10T13:27:00.000+01:00

That is exactly the difference between Malaysian and UK residents. I've just received my free trial of Moneyweek today and guess what caught my eye. In the bottomline section on the 2nd page, here's 1 of the numbers I saw.

£110,000 How much taxpayers' money the Health and Safety Executive spent on a 140-page, year-long study of risky behaviour at amusement parks. Main findings include the fact that passengers often stick their hands above their heads on rides.

You don't have to go to university to figure out that THIS

would pose a hazard to safety.

£110,000 and you could see people complaining. Do we ever question whether there are any unnecessary projects given out by the government for our 9MP or more recently the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER)? Do we ever think what would happen if we just overbuilt without ever considering whether these infrastructures would be ever occupied.

The fact is there is absolutely no evidence of Malaysian increasing their spending and certainly no evidence of increase of disposable income. With prices going up and up do you see your salary going up and up?

Let's take some time off to think about this.

Man Utd signs 9-year-old

2007-08-02T14:07:00.000+01:00

Just on the strength of a Youtube video.

Just another talent spotted on Youtube, check his video out. He does look quite promising. Not that I'm a United fan but new football talents do excite me. That means more exciting football.

Anyway, keep your eyes on this Lewis Hamilton of football. Remember Lewis going up to Ron Dennis when he was 9 telling him that he's gonna be driving for Mclaren when he grows up.

WOoosh

2007-07-31T22:05:00.000+01:00

Taking some time off from reading the wonderful Norwegian Wood, which turns out to be quite a love novel, I would like to tlak about the headline of the week.

Uncle Jeff joins DAP

Everybody in the blogging world knows that.
Everybody who reads newspaper in Malaysia knows that.
Subsequently, everybody in BN knows that, I smell trouble for them.
I think those boys from the 3rd or 4th floor are smelling smoke and they are rushing for the fire extinguisher.

If you ask me who I would vote for during the next election, XXX or Jeff Ooi, my answer is Uncle Jeff.

Why?
At least he lets me know his political thinking and how he intends to tackle political issues. Unlike the incumbent, they have the power of money on their side, Jeff has instilled that certain trust among his readers. Love him or hate him, you gotta praise his guts for taking matters head on.

The timing of this is perfect. Certainly it would set the government back if they were planning the General Election before National Day. Jeff's in the hot seat now and it would not be wise to rush things, agree (3rd/4th floor boys)? Unless you are willing to sacrifice like a seat to the opposition. Not too much harm? Think again.

Until then let's see how things unfold. I've just seen some news flying around in The Star a few days ago about the rulers of the country having to abuse their powers to detain people at their pleasure. Another constitutional crisis started by UMNO? It was a quick update on The Star but I couldn't find the same news on the paper the same day, conspiracy?

Update me if you have seen that news or heard anything like that.

p.s. Kai Yan n Kelwin, Good to be back.

Go down if you're not going up

2007-07-27T03:10:00.000+01:00

Watch your comments in your blog, because the police are starting to catch bloggers.

When your dad tells you that, you know things are turning sour, so it's getting bad or even rotten. The big talk recently is that RPK was arrested(or called in for a statement) by the police. One wonders where this is all heading?

Ideally, as a country we should be going up and only up. Instead, I see us going around in circles. Don't get what I mean?

First, RPK vs those in the corridors of power. Then they strike back at him. Then he strike back at them. Then they bash him again. When RPK said he won round one, in fact there were already hundreds of round fought. Well, so who will win this 1?

Personally I want RPK(on one side of the ring) to win and I think he is going to win. He has thrown everything away just to get some action with those he loath, and when you're at the bottom, pushing you won't make you drop further. On the other side of the ring, the PM has everything to lose, personally I think this is a rather stupid move by him, why make a big fuss? Now all eyes are on you and game on.

Let's watch. In the meantime, I won't be reading what happens until we have some conclusions. Instead, I've bought a copy of Norwegian Woods(挪威的森林) by Haruki Murakami(上村春树) which I hope will keep me entertained. It's been a long while since I've read a chinese novel(translated from japanese) and I want to enjoy it.

Social entrepreneurrrrrrssssssss

2007-06-16T03:48:00.000+01:00

I came across this news on The Star which is aimed at social entrepreneurs. It says:

Young entrepreneurs who have businesses with social causes, here’s your chance to pitch for funding from international organisations later this year.

Striking isn't it? Does MORSEHack qualify for this? It probably needs a better name, any suggestions?

The criterias according to the article are:

those below 30 years old
have revenue-generating enterprises that benefit the community
use information and communication technologies (ICT) widely

Not too sure about the revenue-generating part but definitely the benefit the community part. Also, ICT is the core of MORSEHack isn't it? This all looks so tempting, doesn't it?

Social entrepreneurs get chance to pitch for funding, The Star, 16 June 2007.

Not so boring Mr Woo

2007-06-08T02:00:00.000+01:00

Another one of boringest's not-so-boring links. This 1 I am truly amazed at, even my engineering friends said this put them to shame. Such dedication.

I'd say, Honda, please, just go sign this fella on contract to help build the best robots ever. Sheesh

Enjoy the video, WATCH IT I TELL YOU, you wouldn't regret it.

Be amazed, be very amazed.

Biofuels again?

2007-06-07T14:25:00.000+01:00

I hate going down the stupid line of people arguing that biofuels are efficient etc etc. Contrary to popular beliefs, it is NOT efficient at all.

The thing with biofuel is that it is supposed to be a petroleum replacement, and like everything that can replace petrol, it has to function like petrol, i.e. emit all those unwanted gases.

5 myths debunked in this website. (Remember all these are FALSE beliefs)

Biofuels are clean and protect the environment.
Biofuels do not cause deforestation.
Biofuels allow for rural development.
Biofuels do not cause starvation.
Biofuels of the "second generation" are within reach.

Thanks to boringest for provinding those boring links.

So IOI, better rethink your strategy. And government of Malaysia, please consider again when you want to open more lands for oil palm plantation.

BTW, Pak Lah was quite knowledged when he tried to explain that oil palm is the tree and palm oil is the oil, not bad, but does he realise it was the IAP conference he was talking in? That explains why the likes of Bill Gates is never ever gonna show himself in these kind of conferences.

Weird eh, considering it's a meeting to discuss about IT issues. Haha, maybe he was fantasizing about his marriage already then :P

Are you kidding me?

2007-06-07T05:40:00.000+01:00

For those who haven't heard the news (which should be on the front page of every mainstream newspaper in Malaysia), Pak Lah is "finally" getting married. RPK was right, and we know it. Nonetheless, I wish them both a happy marriage. Maybe this is the thing we need into the political scene, someone who could make Pak Lah look at correct direction instead of being led around by the No.1 son-in-law.

Hurray.

On another note, the news that caught my eye is this.

Studying under a street lamp........ that's a first. A good move by MIC and I applaud that.

Hey, it's not easy to have to walk 7 kilometers to school everyday ok? Ask yourself, do you find walking around One Utama or Midvalley in the weekend tiring? And that's for your own pleasure as well.

Community message

Moral of the day, the next time you feel an urge to buy some "more" new clothings, think about what you are going to do with your old ones. Give them away to charity or sell it off, make sure it goes to the right people who really needs these cash which you consider to be "extra".

Russia vs US part 1

2007-06-04T12:01:00.000+01:00

Freaking exam, shits shits shits. Sigh sometimes I ponder what's the point of exam, but without it who bothers studying anyway?

3 down, 2 more to go, hardcore studying underway.

This update is just to alert you about something interesting I saw today on FT.com.

I'm not joking. This must be on the headlines of every major newspaper in the world, in particular in the US. Stay tuned for more Putin action.

Wondering what missiles the Russian have? (Btw, do you know Malaysia have our missiles targeted at Singapore? Hahahaha)

Check this website out. So far, Putin wants to target US bases in Europe. So it should be under Air-to-Surface, Surface-to-Surface (Naval), and Surface-to-Surface (tactical). Not bad right??? Wait for World war 3....... already waging with me against the exam.

Bomb you.

Happy day for you?

2007-05-20T13:58:00.000+01:00

It was a happy day for me. Why?

For Chelsea fans, congratulations on winning the FA cup.

For Man Utd fans, in YOUR FACE!!!! But you did win the Premier League title.
shorttalk: I actually went to the bar to watch this match. There were loads of Man Utd fans around us and it was obligatory for me and my friends to provoke them. Hahaha, I mean it's just football and they can really get very emotional when their team loses, it's the UK after all.

For those who don't know who I support in football (I actually got asked this question during one of my interview to make sure there's no conflict with the office atmosphere), the answer is none other than........

Yes, I do have to admit myself to being a Juventus fan and also a Del Piero fan. It was absolutely disastrous when they were involved in the Serie A scandal which resulted in them demoted to Serie B.

No matter, the past is the past and the current Juve is rejuvenated under Didier Deschamps.

After bombing Arezzo 5-1 with 3 games to spare, the Old Lady is back in Serie A. Oh YEA!!!!

One more season to go until we get to see some European action once again from Juve.

Now, all follow Del Piero and go "YEEEEAAAAAAARRRRRRRRR"

Job Update & Palm Oil Bitches

2007-05-19T13:31:00.001+01:00

Firstly, my job update. I went for an assessment day 2 days ago with a human resource consulting firm(Mercer HR), I thought it went pretty well. The HR personnel contacted me yesterday to deliver to me the news that I got rejected, AGAIN. Nothing much to note here, other than the fact that she told me the reason I failed was because they think I was more suited towards working in the life/non-life insurance business rather than on pensions.

A note to you Malaysians who don't know about pensions. Pensions in Malaysia is managed by our lovely KWSP who is known for a lot of mismanagement of money but nonetheless is the BIGGEST investor in the Malaysian market. Things here in the UK is a bit different however as they were no central agency managing everybody's pensions.

Sure there is a state pension but most of people's pensions really depend on their employer. For instance, if you're an employee of Tesco, then Tesco would be responsible for your pension. It is however customary that they "sub-contract" these responsibilities out by taking up a trustee to do these work.

It is required by law that every trustee has to appoint an actuary to help them value their funds at least once every 3 years. This is where consultancies such as Mercer, Watson Wyatt and Towers Perrin come into play. Weirdly, many misconceptions about actuarial jobs being "boring", "mathematical" isn't always true. From the lots of interviewers I've had, most of them admitted that A-levels maths is probably the only requirement for them to do their job.

This however does not mean that an actuary doesn't have to know the sophisticated, complicated side of statistics and mathematics. They still have to sit for exams and most likely the exams are going to involve these high-level problems(hint hint). So basically, the hardest part of their job is to sit for exams????

Hmmmm............... anyway hope that gives you an insight on the things an actuary does in pensions. I however, am really starting to question what kind of career I want. I mean it's not possible that I know it now but is actuary a good choice for me?

On a lighter note, read tomorrow's The Star to see a very familiar article pop up.

Well...... not too familiar but on an issue I've already mentioned ---- Palm Oil.

Read my previous posts here and here.

If you're too lazy to read, then I'll give you an idea of what I was trying to say.

It is true that Malaysia needs and is surviving on Palm Oil. A lot of corporations are even making a hell of profit out of it, such as IOI corp and PBB(who incidentally is taking the firm private now). It is a blessing to Malaysia when somebody came up with the idea that palm oil can be used as a biofuel to replace petroleum. But yet another smart ass came up with the idea that palm oil is very inefficient in terms of the lots of waste it produces which offsets any merits we get from it.

A few examples of the problems we are facing because of palm oil are haze, deforestation and waste mis-disposal. Just take my words for it that it is a real upset to see the palm oil industry facing such attacks.

Today, though the attacks have suddenly got stronger. Apparently a group of western NGOs are planning to lobby against palm oil. If they succeed, we might see all palm oil products taken off the shelf in supermarkets across Europe, and that's a BIG threat.

The report from The Star says that Malaysia will be sending representatives there to talk with these people. I quote:

Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui
said he would explain the truth to British MPs in London and members of the
European Parliament in Brussels about ”our efforts to conserve the environment
and biodiversity while we develop our palm oil industry.” [Source: The Star]

Well, given Malaysia politicians' track record of being bad at negotiations (crooked bridge), I'm not expecting to see this go too well. Take a look at Mahathir's video on youtube here to get what I mean.

Watch the stock market, as this is a make or break situation for Malaysia.

p.s. sorry for the pictureless post, I'm in the IT center(library) so I don't have the luxury of cutting n pasting pics :D

References:

Delegation heads for Europe to counter anti-palm oil lobby, The Star, 19 May 2007.

Bocor every month

2007-05-15T14:27:00.000+01:00

Talking about no post to update, after the circus incident last week in Parliament, where 2 MPs, namely from Kinabatangan(of Keluar Malaysia fame) and Jasin(of Close one-eye fame) argued (with a straight face):

“Mana ada bocor, Batu Gajah pun tiap-tiap bulan bocor juga (Where is the
leak? Batu Gajah leaks every month too).”

Batu Gajah here refers to Batu Gajah's MP(DAP) Fong Po Kuan, who incidentally(like all other DAP MPs) have a blog here. Thinking that this matter should be easily resolved had Bung Mokhtar and Said Yusoff issue an apology of the statement, they went further by saying

“It is normal to play with words,” he(Bung Mokhtar) said, adding that it would be wrong if the statement had been made with malicious intent.
Mohd Said said the statement was made in the heat of the argument.
“I don’t see what the fuss is about,” he said. “It is normal to play with words,” he said, adding that it would be wrong if the statement had been made with malicious intent.

Shame shame la. Finally today YB Sharizat wants to take this matter to Cabinet. Even Najib 'bung' in to say

the remarks were not supposed to be taken seriously and that there were certain
parties out to make a big deal of the issue.

Hello Najib, if you still want the ladies to vote for you, better get a grip and become more sensitive. I'm pretty sure that had you have said this during your years in university(of nottingham), you will be subjected to great hatred.

Certain parties out to make a big deal?

Now I can see the issue of pariahs made by RPK here. Heck, even pariahs have their own respect, these 2...... no respect from me sorry. Being politicians doesn't give you freedom to make sexist remarks in public, let alone a parliament session.

Mind you, the sittings at that session was supposed to serve the following function:

The sittings last week were an extension of the March 19 to April 26 meeting for
Parliament to deliberate on several important bills like the Anti-Trafficking in
Persons and Employees Provident Fund amendments. [Source: The Star]

So instead of 'solving' problems, they create more problems. I say throw these MPs out of parliament, make damn sure to let them know
You serve the people, and if you don't serve them
right, you're out.

What say you on this issue?

Reference:

Sexist remarks to be brought up to Cabinet, The Star, 15 May 2007.
Sexist remarks becoming the norm?, Elizabeth Looi, The Star, 13 May 2007.
Let off despite 'sexist' remarks, The Star, 11 May 2007.

Circus show, Microsoft and Sugar

2007-05-12T21:31:00.000+01:00

How are you people?

Just fresh from watching the greatest circus show on earth, the only thing I want to utter out of my lips is "how the hell do we elect these monyets?" Both BN and DAP ought to take some time out to think about what they just did in the latest show. Yes, I see rude politicians and I see politicians who wants to make a small matter big. So what's the result in the end?

I don't care if you want to run it like a civilised nation or you want to continue the circus show time, as long as you churn out the results, that's the most I'm asking for. Remember more monkey shows two years ago, the infamous "Keluar Malaysia" quote? That's suratkhabar lama I know, look at how the Yang Dipertua handled both situations, speechless.

Enough of politics.

So I promised to blog about the recent RM10.50 Microsoft deal for Malaysian schools.

Not exactly "fresh" news but I had to take a stab at it because it's so related to MORSEHack.

I read about this a few weeks on linuxtoday, and any news related to microsoft trying to get some market share back from allowing linux to eat up all the 3rd world countries is BIG news!!!!

This is one of them. Microsoft is offering student suites at USD3 per copy of software to students on third world countries, but with a lot of catches:

The Government (of the qualifying country) must subsidise more than 50% of the purchase price of each PC, with the other 50% borne by the students.
A minimum of 10,000 PCs must be ordered and supplied by the Government within one year.

Aih, a bit old school this news. If you're wondering why microsoft is so desperate to do this, you should check out the One Laptop per Child initiative. They are running on an Operating system called Sugar, here's a screenshot for you. I'm actually pretty impressed by this.

Nothing too great, it gives a person the basic things needed for everyday life computing. Heck, my mom doesn't even uses computer and this would suit her nicely. Things a person need in their OS are:

Web browser (you need this to surf the internet)
Email client (Yes and no, if you're using web-based email clients you don't even need this)
Calculator (probably useful for students)
Word processor (Typing documents)
Spreadsheet (Not even needed sometimes if you're not doing office work)
Picture viewer (essential)
Movie + audio player (very essential)
Paint (To draw)

I think that is about the things one needs in their OS, and they have all of that in Sugar, pretty amazing yea?

One thing you will realise when you look at the screenshot, there's no Microsoft applications, meaning no worries of any copyright infringement issues etc, pretty neat eh?

Anyway that's about the only reason I can think about why Microsoft took this drastic move. I seriously think the government should reconsider using linux rather than microsoft. At RM10.50 per software it's still way more expensive than FREE.

Plus, what about all the technical support (follow ups)? How much would Microsoft charge for those? Dear oh dear, it's just getting more and more desperate.

References:

Microsoft pitches student-help plan, The Star, 7 May 2007.

Update on Job Hunt

2007-05-11T11:53:00.000+01:00

smalltalk: Hello Transport Tycoon, Goodbye life. Life after dissertation that is.

Weee, I've got an assessment day with Mercer HR next week, so hopefully it will go well and they offer me a job...... any tips guys?

It's gonna be 2 interviews, a written exercise, a group exercise and a presentation to make the day complete. So tough to get a job......... sigh.

Anyway that's it, haven't heard from the other companies yet.

I did however went to London last Friday for an interview with a reinsurance company. Not too sure if they liked me, but I certainly like the interviewer, she's such a nice person. Plus she tried to hook me on to this other actuarial recruitment company, sweeeeeet.......

So for now, consider myself trying to work hard for the interview next week.

Absence

2007-05-07T18:28:00.000+01:00

Will be absent from the blogging scene for a few more days, at least until Friday, my absolute deadline for my dissertation.

In the meantime, will have to put down some to do list when I come back including....

tag from KY a.k.a. Freethinker(I hate tags)
Update on the most recent RM10.50 offer from Microsoft to third world governments and its impact on MORSEHack.
Update on my job hunting.

Erm..... that's about it, see ya all in a few days. Sorry arr I promise to be back with more goodies goodies.

p.s. paiseh KY, have to do your tag a little later k?

Adverts, Twin Towers and Skydiving

2007-05-03T20:31:00.000+01:00

smalltalk: Lunch interview today, wish me luck. Fingers crossed.

I have to admit, when I heard about Mahathir's mega projects I thought it was really a big black hole for everybody's tax money. But it did some good in the end, although a small amount of people REALLY profit from it.

(A certain somebody who is now making a move to take his company, Maxis, private :D )

For those who are wondering, I got this off FT.com's website. Look, the 2nd easiest tower to recognise is out twin towers. It really put Malaysia on the global map doesn't it? Here's another nice pic of it.

But here's another mega project that you might have seen in the newspaper for the past few days (or weeks).

The once "mat-rempits" have done the country "proud". Check howsy's post on this for more info. The big question is, how did it put Malaysia on the world map? Did we benefit from this jump?

Trust me, do a search on google for news on "Putera Umno" or "North Pole" or "Skydiving". The only news you can see about this are from Bernama, Malaysia's very own news agency.

If there were so many records broken, why haven't any other news agencies reported it?

And there is one big flaw. There were NO photos whatsoever that they made the jump. The only photos were taken when they were on the ground. Chances are most of them didn't actually take the jump?

The only pics I could've found are here, here and here. So what's the truth? We demand some proof on taxpayers' money well spent.

I don't know, you be the judge on this. Whatever.

References:

Series of Skydiving records broken, The Star, 3 May 2007.
Putera Umno Skydiving Team Returning On Thursday, Syed Azwan Syed Ali, Bernama, 24 April 2007.
Comment: Exuberant energy at the North Pole, Rehman Rashid, NST, 27 April 2007.
Successful North Pole Landing for Putera Umno Skydivers, Syed Azwan Syed Ali, Bernama, 23 April 2007.

Fraud in schools? Believe it!!

2007-05-02T11:44:00.000+01:00

I should actually nominate johnleemk's blog Infernal Ramblings as one of the blogs that got me thinking. But I'm not into all these awards thingy as it's just another lame attempt to cook up something that would last for a few weeks.

Anyway I've came across this post of his about "Educationist Defraud a Charity" which he'd written a few day ago.

It was a very valid story and it reminded me of my alma mater. Let me summarize his story first.

His ex-classmate was involved in raising some fund for a charity (outside school I presume). After they had managed to collect an amount which in john's word is "not unsignificant", "the teacher in charge of advising the organising committee told them that she wanted half of the proceeds for the school."

Yes I know what you're thinking. Low-life etc etc.

Let me relate to you a few stories of my own.

As you may have known, I've started putting nuffnang ads on my blog to raise some money to be donated to my secondary school.

Let me tell you this. I'm actually not too keen on doing this for many reasons. One of the main reasons is that we would never know how these money have been put to good use.

I know that with the money, we have been building more classrooms, demolishing my beloved tennis court etc. Word has it that the contractors involved in these are charging the school at extraordinary amount.

What makes it worse is that they are on the board of directors of the school committee. They would also consistently donate RM3k or a little more to the school everytime there's a donation drive. The question is they donate, just to earn it all back from these contracts which would be easily worth more than RM500k? When I was still in school, I was told by the headmaster (whom I know personally) that we still owe the contractors a huge amount of money.

What is it with these people? First, we don't get enough funding from the Education Ministry. Second, our own donation drive (huge ones I assure you) would be just like a money making machine for these contractors.

Word also has it that the contractor involved was on the brink of bankruptcy. Now? He owns a huge hotel called Star City in the middle of Alor Star. How did he turn around? By getting petty cash from the school through his fraudulent schemes of being on the school board and the contractor involved at the same time.

I would call this a scam but I think this is much much worse. He's not conning just 1 person of their money but a whole bunch of ignorant people. Now I understand why my parents were reluctant to donate their money last time when I was trying my best to persuade them to.

I'm telling you "SMK Keat Hwa" in Alor Star. Stop asking for charity until you have proven that our money has been put to good use. Shame on you.

Onto my second story. Another school involved in these scheme is my primary school, SRJK (C) Keat Hwa (H). Here's a story that shocked the nation not too long ago. Photo taken from Paul Ooi's blog.

If you don't know. One of the teachers fell to his death after falling from a ceiling which is infested with termites. I'm telling you this, the SAME contractor is involved in this.

Nevertheless, I'll still donate as I've claimed earlier. For a simple reason that I really want them to improve. The next step would be for them to correct their mistakes and hopefully put all these money to good uses.

Lampe Berger

2007-04-30T23:38:00.000+01:00

IS A SCAM!!!!

Holy lot, some of you might not have heard of it but for those who have, I hope you have found out about the truth. I don't really care how much good it does for your health (so they claim)

It's actually a type of aromatherapy thingy. I believe that initially it was really meant to be a healing product of some sort but when it came to Asia, it transformed itself into a MLM (Multi-level Marketing a.k.a. scam, ponzi scheme, pyramid scheme) machine. Remember Amway or Cosway? Let's hope Elken not turn into one either.

My mom tried putting one in my room when I had difficulty breathing or my allergy (which I found out was actually hayfever) hit.

IT DIDN'T FREAKING WORK!!!!

Even my mom stopped using it already after discovering that it doesn't work.

To all you lots who are members of the group, I would advise you to pullout as far as possible. Forget about the money you put in, there's no way you could get that back now. And please stop all those unethical pulling of new members. You're actually destroying their life for all you know it.

There are a few blogs you can read:

The last I heard there were 2 big issues:

Lampe Berger was listed on the Securities Commission's list (Investor Alert issued in fact) and taken out shortly after that.
I heard the latest scam is for a member to pay a certain amount (on top of RM30k+) and they would be enrolled in a twinning programme with some college in Australia. Upon completion can get some diploma of some sort.

There are of course noteworthy things to take form here:

Their marketing strategy is perfect, and they aim people's greed and emotions. I would say it's the most powerful persuasion marketing technique ever.

If you still wonder why I say this is a scam, consider this:

What kind of business promises you that you would earn 6-figure salaries within a short period?
What kind of business makes money with a product that doesn't garner as much revenue to pay for those 6-figure salaries?

If you really want to donate these people, you might as well donate it to me to fund Project MORSEHack. I can personally guarantee you that you will never see your money ever again (same with Lampe Berger) but at least you know that your money will be put to good use for the next generation. Treat it as charity ok?

So readers, be smart or be f**ked. Ok? No other way.

Sheesh Lampe Berger.

I challenge you Lampe Berger, come sue me for defamation and let's make this a big court case.

ICT in schools

2007-04-30T12:24:00.000+01:00

Short talk: I'm supposed to be doing my dissertation now....... will resume after finishing this post.

2 pieces of news caught my eyes today. First it was the Govt telling GLCs (Government-linked Companies) to do their bit for rural schools.

Citing Telekom Malaysia as an example, there were 2 points worthy to note from it. It is particularly useful for Project MORSEHack I thought.

TM has provided broadband to schools (although the quality of it is subject to debate)
A group of students from Universiti Multimedia (MMU) will stay with their adopted families from within these schools and volunteer their services to the community here.

I think it would be particularly useful if Project MORSEHack also includes a volunteer program at its centres so that students who wants to learn more about

assembling computers
linux usage
possibly a bit of programming

can learn more about it from these various workshops. Other than looking good on their CV, it would also help reduce the burden of cost of running the project.

Do you have any opinions on this?

The second news that caught my eyes was this:
It says that despite the government's spending of over RM100,000 on computer labs, it is not utilised to the max. Well this is where the program could help them.

It is possible that, with the cost reduction in getting the coms and saving a bug chunk from using free software, the school authorities can spend the budget allocated to them on things like printer cartridges and papers.

Servicing the computer takes months and costs so much through official channels. However, it takes less than two hours to service it at the local computer shop at a tenth of the cost. [Source: The Star]

I'm pretty intrigued by this statement. What are the types of servicing needed?

The biggest challenge I can think of is the cathode-ray tube monitor. Until now, I think handling and repairing it is still the biggest computer hazard. Are there any effective ways to reduce the breakdown of these monitors?

Another common scenario is computers being supplied but schools not having electricity. In rural areas, there are generators but no fuel. [Source: The Star]

This is probably the next biggest challenge. But it is on the side of the school. To be eligible for the project I think it is the responsibility of the school to prove that they really have the infrastructure to accommodate these computers.

Minimum requirements should be set:

A suitable room which can hold the amount of computers.
Electricity being available in the room.
A good internet connection to the room.

I think these are the challenges that the project might face.

Honestly, it's a tough job but I can see it happen. What do you think?

References:

Do your bit for rural schools, GLC told, The Star, 30 April 2007.
ICT failure in schools, The Star, 29 April 2007.

Of scams and pissing them off

2007-04-29T22:17:00.000+01:00

I promised Kelwin(a.k.a. TenthofMarch) that I would do a post reminding people not to fall for scams. Well at least I could show you what is scam. Read on.......

Not too long ago, I was sent an email of notice that I've won some lottery. This is the email.

WARNING LONG POST AHEAD.

FROM:THE DESK OF THE VICE PRESIDENT INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/PRIZE
AWARDS DEPARTMENT AUSTRALIAN INTERNATIONAL SWEEPSTAKES LOTTERY
CORPORATION/EUROPEAN COMMISSION.

Winning Numbers GB8701/LPRC

AWARD NOTIFICATION: FINAL NOTICE

We are delighted to inform you of your prize release on the 24th of
April 2007 from the Australian International Lottery Programme with the
following information:

Date:24/4/2007
Ref: 475061725
Batch: 7056490902/188
Winning no: GB8701/LPRR

Which is fully based on an electronic selection of winners using their
e-mail addresses.Your name was attached to ticket number;
47161725070564909 serial number 7741137002 This batch draws the lucky numbers
as follows: 5-13-33-37-42 bonus number 17,which consequently won the lottery
in the second category.

You hereby have been approved a prize of US$450,000.00 (FOUR HUNDRED
AND FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS) in cash credit file ref: ILP/HW 47509/02 from the
total cash prize shared amongst eight lucky winners in this
category.All participants were selected through a computer balloting system
drawn from One hundred thousand E-mail addresses from Canada,
Australia,United States, Asia, Europe, Middle East and Africa as part of our
international promotions program which is conducted annually .

This Lottery was promoted and sponsored by a conglomerate of some
multinational companies in Australia as part of their social responsibility to
the citizens in the communities where they have operational base.

Further more your details(e-mail address) falls within our European
representative office in Amsterdam,Holland, as indicated in your play
coupon and your prize of US$450,000.00 will be released to you from our
Australian regional branch bureau in USA.

We hope with part of your prize, you will participate in our end of
year high stakes for US$1.3 Billion international draw.

HOW TO CLAIM YOUR PRIZE:

Simply contact our Fiducial Agent, REV Micheal Karl Via
(micheal.karl@bos-uk.info)to file for your claim .

Please quote your Date of draw, Reference Number, Batch Number and
Winning Number, which can be found on the top-left corner of this
message.Also you should give in your telephone number to help locate your file
easily. For security reasons, we advice all winners to keep this information
confidential from the public until your claim is processed and your prize has
been released to you. This is part of our security protocol to avoid double
claiming and unwarranted taking advantage of this programme by non-participant
or unofficial personnel.

Note: All winnings MUST be claimed by the 10th May 2007, other wise
all funds will be returned as Unclaimed and eventually donated to
charity.

Congratulations once again on your winning!

ALSO ENSURE YOU TYPE THE EMAIL ADDRESS CORRECTLY TO ENSURE SAFE & QUICK
EMAIL DELIVERY/RESPONSE. ANY BREACH OF CONFIDENTIALITY ON THE PART OF
WINNERS WILL RESULT TO DISQUALIFICATION.

Best Regards.

Carol Sweet(co-ordinator)

PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL. CONTACT YOUR CLAIMS AGENT VIA EMAIL
(micheal.karl@bos-uk.info)

LOTTERY SPONSORS: CHIEF SPONSORS;

USA, MICROSOFTCORPORATION ASIA

Ok, a few points to note here:

They always have a deadline in which you have to claim before that date. (Just so to make you "kan cheong")
It's always a huge sum of money, which never in your life would you ever have the chance to win.
It's always sent to people living outside the country involved (In my case it's Australia)

I replied to it (for the fun of it)

To: micheal.karl@bos-uk.info

Winning Numbers GB8701/LPRC

AWARD NOTIFICATION: FINAL NOTICE

We are delighted to inform you of your prize release on the 24th of
April 2007 from the Australian International Lottery Programme with the
following information:

Date:24/4/2007
Ref: 475061725
Batch: 7056490902/188
Winning no: GB8701/LPRR

Would like to claim my winning

Go ahead, spam the fella's email as much as you want. I'm actually quite surprised he replied to my email. Wow....

British Organisation Center
Claims Department
Address-6903 Pouter Dr
E-mail:micheal.karl@bos-uk.info

Dear Wilson Quah,

The Claims department has received your information required for the claims
of your Australian Lottery Winnings ,to this effect we would require further
verifications to prove that you are the correct
beneficiary of this funds.

You are therefore advised to provide us with the following:

1)Scanned Copy of your international passport or drivers license .

2)Full Name:

3)Address:

4)Tel:

5)Occupation:

6)Age:

7)Marital Status:

These information are required due to security reasons ,Also to prevent
impersonation.
As soon as this information has been provided your details would be sent to
the funding bank for transfer approval.
Further inquires should be sent to us via e-mail

Best Regards,
Micheal Karl .

To which I replied,

Certainly, I would glady provide you with my information.

Just wondering if you're the Michael Karl I know


FROM THE DESK OF MR LUCKY
MICHEAL PERCIFICTRUST
SECURITY COMPANY BRANCH OFFICE ACCRA GHANA.
WEB;WWW.percifictrust corp.com
PRIVATE
PHONE,00233-27-7738400
SUBJECT:GREETINGS FRIEND

GREETINGS FRIEND.

I HUMBLY SOLICITING FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE REGARDS TO
CLEARANCE OF $6.5 
(SIX.FIVE MILLION UNITED STATE DOLLARS)FROM MY OFFICE
HERE IN GHANA OR 
HEAD OFFICE IN EUROPE THIS MONEY WAS FORMALLY
DEPOSITED IN MY COMPANY BY 
YOUR BROTHER(MR MICHEAL KARL) A MAJOR CONTRACTOR WITH
SHELL 
DEVELOPMENT COMPANY HERE IN ACCRA GHANA.WHOM 
DIED ON A MOTOR ACIDENT WITH THE WIFE AND THERE ONLY
SON MR BOB ON 
14-2-2000.IN VIEW OF THIS MY COMPANY DIRECTOR HAS GONE
TO YOUR EMBASSY FOR 
INSEARCH OF HIS NEXT OF KIN/HIS RELATIONS FOR THE
CLAIM OF HIS 
CONSIGNMENT MONEY BUT TO KNOW AVAIL , SO I WOULD LIKE
TO PRESENT YOU TO MY 
COMPANY AS THE BENEFICIARY/NEXT OF KIN TO THIS ACCOUNT
AS THIS MONEY COULD 
ONLY BE CLAIMED BY YOU HIS RELATIVE A FOREIGNER
FROM
HIS NATIONAL. ALL 
DOCUMENTS TO FACILITATE THE CLEARING PROCEDURES OF
THIS FUND WILL BE IN 
YOUR FAVOUR.THE PROJECTS TAKES JUST SEVEN WORKING
DAYS.I PROMISE TO 
REWORD YOU 40% OF THE TOTAL SUM AT THE END OF THIS
BUSINESS 50% FOR ME 
WHILE 10% WILL BE SET OURSIDE FOR MISCELLENEOUSE
EXPENSES.FINALY FRIEND I 
DINT WANT YOU TO DISCLOSE THIS BUSINESS TO THIRD
PARTY.I GUARANTEE YOU 
THAT THIS BUSINESS WILL BE EXECUTED UNDER A LEGITIMATE
ARRENGMENT THAT 
WILL PROTECT YOU FROM ANY BREACH OF THE LAW.IF FOR ANY
REASON YOU
DECIDED NOT TO ACCEPT THIS PROPOSAL THAT I AM OFFERING
YOU TODAY,PLS
DO GET BACK TO ME IMMEDIATLY SO THAT I  SEARCH FOR
SOMEONE
ELSE.BUT IF YOU ACCEPT IT PLS DO REPLY ME IMMEDIATLY
WITH YOUR 
TELEPHONE AND FAX CONTACT FOR EASY COMMINICATION.
BEST REGARDS,
MR,LUCKY MICHEAL.
N.B
PLEASE  ENTER THE WEBSITE  BUT DONT
CONTACT ANYBODY BECAUSE
KNOW BODY KNOWS ABOUT THIS DEAL APART FROM
ME AND YOU
WE HAVE THREE WAY TO CLAIM THIS MONEY 
(1) YOU COME TO CARRY IT PERSONALLY
(2)IT CAN BE DELIVERD TO YOU AT YOUR DOORSTEP THROUGH
CORIER SERVICES.
(3)THROUGH ONLINE BANKING TRANSFER.
BEST REGARD,

HAHAHA, PWNZ his face, think he can con me?

My uncle once told me, if you want to be rich, there's no shortcut, you have to work hard for it.

If you follow this rule, at least you won't be conned the many thousands of ringgit.

He still have the nerves to email me.

Dear Wilson Quah ,
I Am not in any way the micheal karl who sent you that e-mail message ,i would advise that you report every case of internet fraud to the internet fraud department of the london Metro Politan police Uk ,Contact information is as follows :

E-mail :internetfraud-department@londonmetropolice-uk.net

Best Regards,
Micheal Karl .

I say we SPAM him. Email is micheal.karl@bos-uk.info.

So any of you feeling itchy wanna spam somebody's email, spam Michael Karl's.

If you wanna join in the fight against scams, write a post about it. Together we can fight it.

Ijok and Bag

2007-04-28T23:12:00.000+01:00

The week of exam is over. It's going to be a race to the finish line for my dissertation now, so cross my fingers. :D

So the news of the day today which everybody knows is that BN won the Ijok by-election. I don't think this is a disappointment, BN NOT winning is a disappointment if that happens. Thanks to phantoms?(maybe not since it's sort of a landslide victory)

Let's look at this objectively. Compare both candidates for the by-election, Parthiban and Khalid.

We know Khalid led PNB and Guthrie Bhd in the past, he's a corporate man and he makes no mistake in letting people know that he is going to run politics like he runs business(although his performance in the past is subject to debate).

Parthiban to me looks like a better candidate overall, although he's running for a rotten party. He's a family man who raised his sisters, respect. He's a much cleaner candidate(at least in the public eye) than Khalid, respect. Most importantly, he's a teacher!!!!

2 reasons why I respect teachers:

My dad was a teacher.
Education is sacred.

To me, BN winning that is no big deal. They are going to have to compete for the seats again for the GE and let us hope that the opposition really presents us a REALISTIC case of how to run a country, rather than go on saying how bad and corrupted the current government is.

So, Uncle Lim, Dato Seri Anwar and Dato Nik Aziz, the onus is on you guys to show us the light if you think that you have a better way of running the country.

On a side note, as I said earlier, words on the street has it that the General Election which was supposed to be held just after Hari Raya is going to be postponed. Of cose, when the exact date is, only Pak Lah will know it.

End of the political talk today. I'm damn depressed I couldn't be at home to go witness Ijok the day before polling day. I heard got a lot of drama, and I like watching drama. Sigh........ sadness.

Enough of politics, I went out shopping(dragged by someone) and guess what I got.

A BAG!!!

A freaking BAG!!! That's like the first bag I've ever bought for myself in 5-6 years, no joke. I have to admit though that most of the bags i have are gifts from friends and I got one as well from my uncle.

Too lazy to take photo of it and show u guys now so I'll just find the pic of it online and post it here.

Woo hoo, it's a Ted Baker biffo!!! Welcome to Boss Lepton's family.

I have to say it's the nicest bag I've seen so far, non-leather of course. And it has lots of space inside which can fit a laptop plus a book and some notes nicely. Not to mention it looks great.

Ah..... vanity!!! Ok, enough indulgence, have to go back to normal life and dissertation.

Ciaoz

p.s. Kelwin, I'll get the promised post about scam up tomorrow ok? I have a good 1 :D

Why is the rum gone?

2007-04-26T20:14:00.000+01:00

Was happily studying for my next paper until anonymous message me. For the sake of women, I'll need to extort a pirates ticket from nuffnang. Sorry yea boss, anonymous wanna kau more girls...... i sweat...... Nevermind la, I sending this anonymous as my rep ok yea?

Why is the rum gone?
Coz Bacardi just went bankrupt.........

Who am I kidding?

Bacardi is the world's largest privately held, family-owned spirits company; a producer of rums, including Bacardi Superior and Bacardi 151.

And from what I know, family-owned businesses don't go bankrupt so easily. The only reason they go bankrupt is when the head of the family kong and all their cucu-cicit want a piece of the gold. You know how the old story goes....... one stick is easier to break compared to a bunch.

So lesson of the day:

Same story goes everytime. If you're one of the heir to a family fortune, don't go fighting over a small piece of cake la. Please, go bake a bigger cake, then you can still get a bigger portion than originally.

Agree???

In the meantime, if you haven't watch the alternative version of pirates yet, please...... go to your nearest and legal BitTorrent site(is there one?) and download the infamous "Pirates" alternative version. You might feel disappointed with the action(ya I disappointed) but look at the bright side, their use of CGI is amazing for an ahem.... video.

Adam & Eve, may god love you long time. Long enough to produce "Pirates 2", but with more action please.

Update on Dissertation & Ubuntu

2007-04-25T01:00:00.000+01:00

If you're not aware, I am doing my dissertation on an algorithm called Coupling from The Past algorithm, also known as Propp-Wilson algorithm, an interesting part of Markov chain Monte Carlo. Interested readers can view the links to wikipedia.

Much work has been done on applying this algorithm to Markov chains (random fields) with monotonic structure. I've come up with a way to apply this algorithm to a specific model without a monotonic structure called the Potts model.

Download my "partly done" dissertation here, will be expecting to complete it within the next 2 weeks.

On a lighter note, I've finally decided to give Ubuntu a try, well at least I'm fairly impressed with the reviews it's getting for Feisty Fawn(7.04).

I've always been an OpenSuSE user since 10.1. If you are a linux person, you would probably notice this website called distrowatch.com. It's a site which "watches" all the linux distros there are out there and rank them in terms of popularity(page hit rank). OpenSuSE has always been in the 2nd spot since the day I found out about it, and Ubuntu has always been the champion of champion there.

Needless to say, there must be reasons why they are the champion to the distro games. From all the reviews I've read about Ubuntu, it's always stated that it is THE EASIEST desktop linux to use ever. If you know how to operate windows, you WILL know how to operate ubuntu, period.

The reason why I chose OpenSuSE over Ubuntu is that I was curious on which windows manager I would prefer, KDE or GNOME. And since OpenSuSE provides the option to install both and use either one for each session, I ended up installing it in my laptop.

Go here if you're interested in giving ubuntu a try. They deliver free(and the CDs are free too) to anywhere in the world, even in Timbuktu. No harm right?

I'm definitely gonna go all out to promote Ubuntu if my leetle project MORSEHack kicks off.

Until next time, folks.

Nuffnang

2007-04-24T04:09:00.000+01:00

Notice something familiar? It's nuffnang, yes I've finally added 2 nuffnang ads in my blog. Why?

Well because of this

I would like to donate to my alma mater and I can't think of anyway to do so other than getting some ads in and donate the proceedings. Aiks...... I have to say, thank you ya boss.

In the meantime, if you're an ex-keathwa student, please consider donating some money.
If you have nothing to do with this but you're feeling generous then please donate some money here too. Seriously they should start a paypal account for this.

Otherwise, you could contribute by telling me which schools you think might need the free computers from Project MORSEHack.

In the meantime, I shall leave you with the word of the day - alma mater if you don't already know the meaning to it.

Here is wikipedia's entry on Alma mater:

Alma mater is Latin for "nourishing mother".

In many modern languages it is usually and principally heard as a term of academia; thus, in the English language, it is often used in place of the name of the university or college a person has attended. In American English, it is also heard in reference to a high school or elementary school.

SMK Keat Hwa is my alma mater, so is the University of Warwick and SMJK(C) Keat Hwa (H).

What's yours?

Ijok phantoms

2007-04-23T22:05:00.000+01:00

According to RPK of Malaysia-Today, BN will WIN the by-election in Ijok, by hooks or by crooks.

I've been talking to several people on what they think will happen in Ijok. Most of the answers I was given is "50:50". It seems that even BN with all its "buy election" campaign still can't muster enough muscle power to win the election easily. Someone might want to explain how PKR can garner that much support within such a short period.

Word has it that it's not that KeADILan has been gaining popularity in Ijok, this switch in popularity owes itself to some issues concerning the local BN leaders in the Ijok constituency.

The main issue these few days is Anwar Ibrahim going all out on Najib. That is the headline in Malaysiakini(sorry I still don't subscribe to Malaysiakini, maybe somebody in MK wanna give me a subscription?). With all the VCD distributing, he has nothing to lose while Najib has ALL to lose and nothing to gain.

Najib: How about doing some cost-benefits analysis with your political adviser on how you're gonna approach this ok? Oh wait I'm sorry..... your previous adviser is in quite deep shit himself.

Here it is then, BN going all out and pulling out all the arsenal to get Ijok in control.

We have at least 2 voters who are 107 years old, with a few more in other pages which can be seen in MT. This must be a record, so many 107 year olds staying near each other, I tell you they must have some secret to eternal youth kept there. Guiness world book of records here Ijok comes.

Also check out this voter borned in 1999, he's younger than my little cousins.

This really takes the word "phantom voters" to another level. We have very old and very young voters. Hello, you wan phantom voters, make their profiles a bit more normal la, sheesh amateurs.

Also, words on the street also has it that the General Elections will be held much later than planned. It was originally planned that the GE would be held some time just after hari raya aidilfitri. But since BN is suddenly faced with an unexpected by-election, they've spent way too much(remember RM36 million?) on this one alone. Also, remember that a big chunk (RM10 million) comes from the Ministry of Works, meaning Samy vellu's department, he has to regroup and reallocate the funds to ensure he's re-elected again?

Don't believe me? Well, it's your choice.

UPDATE:

Found somemore, here are some screenshots, courtesy of SPR Malaysia here.

An apple a day keeps the doctor away......

2007-04-23T20:03:00.000+01:00

....... and it keeps your parents happy too.

I tried peeling an apple like so today -------->

I have to admit that using a knife to peel apple is indeed harder and slower than using a peeler. That was when I thought of how my mum, grandma or aunt peeled apple for me when I was younger. In fact, now even when I'm back at home they would do the same thing if there aren't any maid around.

Since I'm a lot older now, I think it's my turn to peel apples for them. Too bad I'm all the way in the UK now.

But YOU (yes you who are reading this) should get your bottom off the chair and walk to the fridge now to get some apples, wash them clean and start peeling them. Then, slice and remove its seeds before giving it to your parents(and grandparents). Trust me, it's not that hard and it will barely take 5 minutes of your time.

When was the last time you did this? I hope it's an answer other than "never". So start moving now and I'll assure you, they will be happy.

p.s. to reward yourself, get an extra apple and eat it yourself, keeps you healthy and helps lose weight you know?

Wish me luck

2007-04-23T01:28:00.000+01:00

Fu yoh, need all the luck and caffeine for an action-packed week.

Action-packed indeed.

Wish me luck and all the best to all of you for the upcoming week.

:D

Wonder why Proton is in trouble?

2007-04-22T04:19:00.000+01:00

Here's a fairly good reason why it hasn't been receiving a lot of good reviews. Take Top Gear's opinion on this, and I have to say this is very objective, unlike the infamous "Jeremy Clarkson bash Kelissa" video.

Now probably somebody would like to inform the Proton R&D department to take some tips from this video. That extra security feature could actually improve Proton's rating in other countries. We are talking about people's lives here and Malaysia is notorious to having one of the highest accident rates in the region.

Also, I have an opinion that Proton needs a major rebranding. It has to rethink its strategies not only in how it wants to build cars, it has to think of the how to convince the buyers they are getting value for their money. From what I've been seeing, it's no longer producing cars for the commoner in Malaysia, as that title should go to Perodua. What they should instead be doing is building a better car, in terms of design, functions, efficiency, and most importantly safety.

They should just snap out of talking bullshit in the media and get down to action. It is the unspoken rule of business(or in fact anything except entertainment biz) that action speaks louder than word. With this, Proton might in fact be saved once again. Make or break, it's getting critical the situation they're in.

Still wondering why are there so many fatal accidents in Malaysia?