from the uae with love...

no reason for the title, it just sounds good... =)

i'm back! after such a long long long long time. and it actually feels even longer for me. once the school started here in abu dhabi, i've barely had time to catch my breath. from the first day, it's studies for 6 days, exam on the 7th day and it went on like this for 5 straight weeks. by the end of the 5th week, i felt like i've been pushed to the limit and i was just too exhausted to do anything. honestly, the materials thought were more practical if it were handed out in 2 months instead of 5 weeks.

thankfully the 6th and 7th week is practical week. although the work is more tiring but at least it's physical and i was looking forward to it after 5 weeks or torture in the classroom.

anyway, that was when things turned around here in abu dhabi. the 6th week for me was unbelievable. it started with a dinner on the boat for the whole class with the instructors which was nice. it was relaxing and it had a good atmosphere, and it feels especially good as we know we're done with 50% of school by then.

and then came the highlight of the week - BON JOVI! yup! i went to the bon jovi - lost highway concert. it was amazing! it's in an open arena but the sound system was superb. when he sang songs like i'll be there for you, it's my life, beds of roses and living on a prayer, the whole arena went crazy! it was the best concert i've ever been to so far. it's just simply amazing...

man utd's victory in the champions league was like icing on the cake that week. champions of england and europe. almost matching the 99 season so couldn't ask for more there...

and by the end of the week, we finally had a 2 day weekend and we took the opportunity to go to dubai. dubai is a city which you have to see to believe. the whole city is under construction right now with more than 5000 projects going on. they're building dubailand which is twice the size of disneyland in fluorida. they're building an underwater 5 star hotel which is being constructed in germany. they've got money and they know how to make an impression with it. i just wish i have the chance to come back in 5 years to see all these feats once it's completed...

well, that was the end of the week which felt so much like a vacation for me. and although i was looking forward to the practical weeks, there was one factor which i never considered - the weather. for the last few days, it reached a high of 50 degrees and it was schorching hot! it doesn't matter how much water you drink, you'll still be dehydrated. but it all ended well for us and now it's 7 weeks halas...

3 more weeks to go and i can end my craving for malaysian food... =)

ps: i'm too tired right now to be elaborating more in this post. i'll just end it with a few shots of my "vacation"... =)

the highlight of the week - the lost highway leads to abu dhabi

bon jovi rocks!

burj al arab - the all famous 7 star hotel taken from souk madinat

class of ots stim, from left - hassan, sheriff (instructor), anna, myself, aminullah, renie, indra ,igor, liza, istvan, dmitriy, julio, martin (instructor)

just to add, this class consists of egyptians, russians, malaysians, indonesians, hungarian, mexican and nigerian - almost from all continents of the world... amazing huh?

Danger on the Net

Aware of this email. It is not true!

Case 1

Dear CIMB Bank Berhad Customer,

CIMB Bank Berhad is committed to making your online transactions safe and secure. We take very precaution to protect our users’ information by utilising the latest technology and international industry standard practices.

We have upgraded our new SSL servers to serve our customers for a better and secure online service, against fraudulent activities.

Due to this recent security process, you are requested to secure your CIMB Internet Banking Information by following the reference below.

Note: After the first process is completed, a TAC code will be sent to your mobile phone within 10min. You will then provide us the code on page two. Failure to upgrade with this new security will result in account suspension.

http://newcimbprotections.com/CIMB-BankOnline.htm

Regards
Customer SupportCIMB Bank Berhad

____________________________________________________________________

Case 2

Attention To All Maybank Customers

Maybank Berhad is committed to making your online transactions safe and secure. We take every precaution to protect our users’ information by utilising the latest technology and international industry standard practices.

We have upgraded our new SSL servers to serve our customers for a better and secure online service, against fraudulent activities.

Due to this recent security process, you are requested to secure your Maybank Internet Banking Information by following the reference below.

Note: After the first process is completed, a TAC code will be sent to your mobile phone within 10min. You will then provide us the code on page two. Failure to upgrade with this new security will result in account suspension.

http://www.may2u-securednet.com/Maybank2u.htm

I am some one who use interenet a lot. Nic always said that I will die one day without internet. I can live happily without handphone but not internet. I update my friends, talk to my friend, find restaurant, buy mother's day flower, top-up handphone, clear credit card, pay all the bill, do e-shopping, buy entrance ticket, movie ticket, flight ticket on the net. Normally I would rather email customer service department instead of call them. I used internet video call and chatting more than make call by using a cellphone.

But, recently the internet fault cases are really getting more and more. Choy Yee had involve in one case which someone hack into her friend's MSN account and borrow money from her through chatting. One of my friend got some problems during internet banking as well. He transfered one amount of money to his family member, but end up the money was deducted from his bank, but never transfer to his family member's bank account.

This morning when I used CIMB clicks, I received a notification of not logging in to the page below.

Internet is so scary nowadays. It is a space which is full of trap and danger include your personal information and money. Still, it is so useful and convenient. How to stop using Internet? I don't know how about you. But, at least, I can't.

Just want to remind everyone to be careful, ok? Before this, I received an email regarding that a world wide web address start with https:// means that webpage is under some high security protection webpage. For example, webpage that we need to do any internet banking. Every time before you key in your credit card or do any online transaction, just double confirm the address before enter. Another example is like the 2 links on the above obviously it is not official website from CIMB. CIMB clicks website addres is https://. (the log in page)

Haih...human world. The more advance the city is; the more crime the city will have.

London - Great Britain

The big ben. London House of Parliment.

It is not in my inital plan to go there. I never plan to go London, but due to the difficulty of getting a hotel book at Bacerlona, I have to go London.

Let me lift up London Bridge to prevent it to fall down.

I want to use one word to describe London - DIRTY. The train station is worst than Pudu Raya, Brits just throw rubbish everywhere without any second thought. In the train, on the escalator before you go into the station, on the street...every where. The air is dirty too which I don't understand why. Everyday when I got back to the hotel, when I wash myself, my booger is black in color! I guess Milan, Italy will be similar to London like what Kam had said.

super dirty. every where is dirty, everything is dirty. The air, the tube(underground), the street...

Especially plastic bottle is every where.

Yeah...taking picture with rubbish at Thames River.

The only place which is clean is the area around Buckingham palace.

The park in front of the palace.

A Malaysian malay boy is chasing after the bird.

Buckingham Palace.

London is a very unique place which has two different sides. Total extreme two faces in every everything. There are places which are clean, is extremely clean. There are places which are dirty, and when I said dirty, it is really really dirty. There are people who are super polite, will addressed me: Madam, this way, please; and people who are super rude with their words, will teased me when I walked by: hey baby! Nicholas said this is the beauty of United Kingdom. And, some old lady will wear so gracefully but you also can find those punk hair style, or youngster with piercing and tattoo all over their body. Too bad I didn't snap their photos. However, tattoo for them is an art.

The taxi driver drive like mad, can compete with Penang driver. Haha...But, their double decker is very punctual. I guess they have some GPRS system on every bus. Before the bus reach, there will be a signboard is displaying how long it takes for that bus to reach the bus stop.

Double decker!

London is a very typical tourism spot. Every thing have to wait for so long to enter. For example. Madam Tussauds, London Eye, any famous place that you can name of, you have to queue for it. However, you can always pay extra to get the VIP pass.

London eye's capsule.

Super long queue to enter Madam Tussauds.

One thing I like about London is their Abbey and Catheral. Is amazing, speechless...maybe this is my first visit to Europe's church, so I am still very amaze with their structure and craft.

Westminster Abbey.

St. Paul Cathedral. Princess Diana wedding was held here.

However, there are some lovely part about London that make me smile. Every where you go, you can see lovely couple either kissing or hugging. They show their love to their love one openly, no matter gay, lesbian, young couple, or old auntie uncle. All of them are so enjoying in their own little world, don't care about how other people look at them. In fact, nobody will bother. I saw a gay couple was having their french kiss in the underground, and both of them look into each other eye for the whole journey. =) Still...this country got its own lovely side.