Barcelona - Spain

I went to Barcelona, Spain on few weeks ago. It was a good trip. I would recommend my friend to go there instead of London. However, language is a problem. It is because most of them do not speak English at all although it is a famous tourism spot unless you speak Spanish. Still I love that city. I love the idea of having a coffee after meal, I love the atmosphere of the restaurant, the waiter, the chocolate drink, the food, the Gothic design souvenir, so many things that I enjoy myself there.

colorful souvenir

Their restaurant atmosphere is very different with the France fine dining or US style restaurant like Chillis or TGI. They are something in between for me. Not as noisy as US restaurants at the same time, not as quiet as France restaurant. I love the 'in between'. A restaurant that full of the chitchat of customers, the sound of the plate 'cling' on the table when it is served, the noise of coffee machines, the waiter is talking with his own volume...

The chocolate drink is one of the best I have ever drink before. I drank cappuccino chocolate; basically you do not taste coffee at all but chocolate. The little taste of coffee with super rich taste of chocolate, it melts me…Seriously, from the first sip, the scent of the drink, the just-nice sweetness of the drink…The other night, I drank chocolate extra rich. Wow…the drink texture is so thick until the drink is like mix with tapioca flour. Surprisingly, it is not sweet at all. Although it is very very thick and rich but it is not sweet nor bitter.

Cappuccino which looks like chocolate drink.

Talk about drink, of course I will not forget Sangria. Still remember I drank Sangria at Bangsar, when Bong (my secondary school’s friend) ordered it for me. Over here, Sangria is everywhere. It is like ice lemon tea at Malaysia. And, most of it taste not bad. =) Of course, there are places where make better Sangria, some are not. Generally, I just love Sangria. I drank every time I got a chance there. Frankly speaking, I am new with wine, not really know how to appreciate it. So, Sangria is the best for me.

The tasty sangria...

Paella…I had 2 meals with Paella on my 4 days trip there, isn’t that good enough to explain how much I like it? I don’t know why I enjoyed it so much. It is not as nice as Bukit Mertajam’s Yam Rice. But when you are away from home, rice will have some special chemical when it goes in your mouth. I like the rice with the rich taste of the seafood soup.

seafood paella with prawn, clam, squid

Before this, I am someone who like colourful tiles design. I have cup, earring, mirror, ring with the similar design pattern but I don't know that actually this design are came from Gaudi. Too bad all their souvenir are really too expensive for me. I couldn't afford to have too much of it. Besides, I also do not have my own house to put all this decoration. If not, I will really carry all of it back to KL.

The ceiling design at Park Guell

ps: I can tell long story about my trip, however, I keep it short for the ease of reading it.

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.

Netherlands - Holland

I would like to say, it is a heaven for guys. Nic was drooling over about going Amsterdam after listen to his classmate "detail" introduction on Amsterdam. I couldn't imagine if Nic was there, with Kam....add Jacky.....oh God....

Somebody favourite beer.

Amsterdam is a place which full of girls, coffees, drugs, tobaccos, sex toy shops, porn movie cinemas, alchohols, guys-services. Bla bla bla...isn't it guys heaven? There are famous with their red-light district. Around the red-light district, the "infrastructures" are really very complete. You can find sex toy shops which provide anything you want when you go naughty, and they open side by side, or just opposite. You can compare the price before you purchase it. There are hotel upstairs, "show-room" downstairs. And, even places for you to pee pee when you drink too much. Too bad, red-light district was not allow to take pictures. So, I can't show any pics here.

Can you see the green sign on top of it? The small guy was standing?

From the coffee shop's menu, there are coffee with marijuana, and some drink which contain unknown drugs in it.

My breakfast with choc drink. =)

However, after all the naughty act, if you feel guilty and want to confess, of course, there are places for you to do so as well. You can always go to St. NICHOLAS church to confess and ask for forgiveness. It is near the Amsterdam Central Station. Imagine this, Nicholas(moses) is going to St. Nicholas church from Nicholas Street and look for Father Nicholas.

St Nicholas Church

Nicolaaas Straaaat.....
hmmm...nicholas was famous there.

If you want some church which are nearer to you after you finish your naughty business, you also can go to Oude Kerk - The Old Church which is located in the middle of the red-light district. After your one whole night business, just walk down the hotel, turn a corner. There you go!

Since 1371

Oude kerk

Or maybe something for your brain? Museum + museum + museum?

Rijk Museum?

Van Gogh Museum

sex museum for knowledge too?

Ok...this blog is kinda too long with too many pics. I understand it take forever to load a blog which is full of pics. So, that's it for today. =)

Bye bye from me and Robbie Williams.

Norway

I never inform anyone except my close friends. Although this is a space to update Nic's friends about him, still I wanna update some of the reader of this blog that who might know me as well. Now, I am at Sandefjord, Norway. I am here because there are some projects going on that Norway do not have enough engineer. So, I am here to support the project. I do not know how long I have to be here. Basically, it is up to me.

I am here for the second week. Weather is fine, except for some nose bleeding early morning when I wake up from sleep. Now is spring and going to summer, for me it is the best time to be here. I missed the winter, although I heard that it is tough for a Malaysian to go through the whole winter over here, -15 deg. But, I am so sad that I missed it. Not because of the snow but it is because I can't snow skii anymore, go for whale-seeing and Northern Light. There is one indian engineer actually saw the Northern Light during winter. Aurora Borealis, you know? Argh!!

Activity is fine, because I will follow my coll to go fishing. I will join them soon, once I purchase my own equipment. And, watch EPL about 8pm time over here.

Go fishing lo~!

I am the photographer while they are fishing.

Accommodation is fine for the time being, because I am staying at a hotel. I am going to get an apartment soon. Once the office lady rent an apartment for me, I have to move out from the hotel.

My room with ar duck.

Food? er...so far so good, will update some food pic when I got the chance. Driving on the left hand side? er...so far so good too. I drove a few times, not too big problem for me. Speed limit here is 50km/h. The police are very hardworking so everyone drive very slow. No traffic jam, not many cars. I don't find a problem driving here. Time difference? not really as well...no jetlag problem for me.

The only problem? "Their" keyboard. Over here, Norwegian language is very dominant like Japan. You can't find English anywhere. Anywhere....Yes, they can speak, but they won't like French. Even their keyboard is in their own way....§£¤å€øæ...ya...all the weird symbol...and the key is at different place as well.

Any other questions? Anything else you want to know? Maybe you guys can post some questions, then I can answer through the blog (including Nic and Uncle)

Charity

I always want to do some charity. Like Seow's trip to Tanzania, no doubt is a useful, direct way to give help to those people who are needed our help. You are there to see, to feel and to live their life, and also to be able to give them the help that are practical and useful. Or like Bill Clinton, his foundation which helps uncountable people in the world, of course is a good way to give a hand to people who need it.

I...do not have the time like Seow, do not have so much money like Bill Clinton to raise a foundation or the influential power like Bill Clinton to promote charity and humanitarian work. Still I wish to give some help with what I can afford.

I am always very suspicious on those people who come and ask for donation. I never give any money for beggar or handicap. I always saw a lot of handicap can survive on their own, if they really wish to earn for their own living. It is not easy, but is not impossible.

I am also very curious about when I donate one amount of money to the association, how much the money can help, how much it will go to the "person-in-charge". And, how much and how badly they need the money. My mum always go to those old folk home or orphanage house to give ang pao during CNY. We always heard some stories about some of them are very rich because of a lot of people always give them help. So, everytime before go to those places, we will always had the headache, where else that actually really really need our help badly. I know there are a lot out there, but I don't know where.

Malaysia unfortunate people condition compare with other countries people like those from Cambonia, Lebanon, South Africa, or even some part of India, Malaysians condition are always better than the other. How bad they can be compare to African who got no food at all? I know some of Malaysian condition are really really bad, still got some people are worse than them!

The purpose of this blog - I sponsor a child from India. She is a little girl who stay at India, Kangayam. That is not the poorest place in the world, but she does need help. I guess...There is a trip to visit her on July, if I am free, I might go there, until then, I only can answer all you guys questions.

ps: for ppl who are getting blur on reading my post, please understand that my brain is always jump here and there, which means my words, when i speak, i can change from one topic to the other topic simultanously. So, pls read my every paragraph as a new points.

from abu dhabi...

thanks to cl, most of you would have already known that i'm currently in abu dhabi. i've just completed my first week out of 10 and as expected, this is gonna be a tough journey. just had about three/ four weeks of materials on reservoir engineering, formation evaluation (logging), well testing and nodal analysis cramped into our brain for the past 5 days which ended in a comprehensive exam. i've passed the perception test (online paper) and i'm still waiting for the result on the written part.

anyway, i'm currently blogging from home - luckily it comes with internet connection, albeit a poor one, but i'm thankful anyway. and home for the next 10 weeks is a place called cassells blue towers. a service apartment of some sorts. i'm thinking of posting some pictures up but unfortunately i haven't taken much photos around this place as yet. i'm still trying to get used to the place and schedule among other things. but rest assured, i'll put up some pic on my apartment and it's surrounding - especially the much hyped lulu hypermarket that cl mentioned about.

about my school. it's in a centre about an hour drive away from here - middle east & asia learning centre (mlc). it's basically a slb training centre and i'll get some pictures of that place too, but for now, you've just gotta take my descriptions for it - that place is a brand new facility in the middle of no where. i have no idea why it's built in such a place, but that's the way it is.

so, what else? well, the schedule for the next 10 weeks is hectic. i dun see much of a break in it but i hope that once i get the hang of it, i'll just be able to live with it. the only problem that i can see myself facing right now is the condition of my eye. for the past one week, once i got back from the classes, i just can't seem to be able to read much. i dun really wanna use that as an excuse but i'll have to monitor it closely and if i really have to, then i'll just have to know when to stop.

i guess that's all i have right now. i'll be sure to return with more pics for the next post. oh yeah, one other thing - this trip has opened up my eyes on certain aspects of my life. although it has been a much easier trip compared to the trip to oman previously (in terms of being away from my loved ones), it has revealed a few pertinent things about my personality and character. i've had lengthy discussions with cl and i'll reveal what this is all about some other time - probably once i get back to malaysia. till then, i've gotta concentrate on the reason i'm here - to pass this bloody school!

back to my books...

Locate Nic on the Globe

The invention of technology will shorten the distant between human. No matter you are at which part of the earth now, I am still able to locate you. (unless you are at the outer space). These are some photos from Google Earth to locate Nicholas apartment at Abu Dhabi. Since this blog is to keep his friends update about him, then let me update you guys, this is where your friend is right now. =)

Abu Dhabi. Please forgive me for my poor geography knowledge, I don't know where it is the first time I heard abu dhabi or UAE. =P

Ok...I know Dubai but that is because Dubai is over promoted by all the mega structures and events.

The town. Abu dhabi is the capital of UAE - United Arab Emirates (not dubai). Since this is a city after 90s, the town planning is good, look at all the building and road are well planned.

Opposite his aparment is a plaza/mall called Al Falah Plaza. The Lulu hypermartket is the anchor shop inside it, Nic bought his rm1.5 per egg from there. Lulu hypermarket...what a cute name. His friend told us that the traffic there is bad, real bad. Nic took one hour drive from his aparment to his training school every day, another hour to go back to apartment.

turning a new page?

after three tries, i'm finally confirmed to be heading to abu dhabi this friday 11th of april at 2130 hours. the next three months is not going to be easy. and with my eye condition, it's definitely not helping. but i'm not going to make that an excuse. i'll give it my best shot and whatever happens from there, so be it.

honestly, i'm nervous, scared and freaked out to be heading for school right now. i feel inadequately prepared. i'm just not sure if i know enough to handle whatever they throw at me in school.

but it's coming sooner or later and i might as well face it and get it over with. plus with school out of the way, my career path will be clearer and hopefully smoother.

ps: i was told the whole duration of the school will be hectic and tough. i'm expecting a crazy time there. so with that in mind, my blog might be left alone for a while. i guess this will be a good time to see if my partnership with cl on this blog works for the better or worse. =)

welcoming a new member...

if you've noticed, the previous post was not written by me. if you haven't noticed, you obviously have not read this blog before. anyway, i'm introducing a new member to this blog - ms kang chuu liu...

well, we've talked about this numerous times before as she has expressed her interest in maintaining a blog but has always been hindered by several reasons. so i've agreed to allow her into this space of mine and to blog whenever she wants to. i've given her total freedom in the choice of topic and also the language that she feels more comfortable with. so don't be surprised if you suddenly see a chinese post in this blog in the future.

although i've started this blog as a hobby and also as a space to voice out my opinion or whatever voices that go through my head and never bothered too much about attracting any number of readers, i do sincerely hope that this development will generate more interest in this humble space of mine.

and to cl, a warm welcome... =)

Malaysian Dreamgirl?

Adeline. Pretty pictures.
Cindy. Being boycott by other girls.
Eyna. Unique face but too quiet.
Fiqa. Malay and Chinese parentage.
Hanis. For me, don't know why she is in. =P

Jay. Indian got the genetic advantage on strong figure.

Nadia. She look fiece. =\

Ringo. Young is advantage.

For Nicholas, modeling is a tough job but they get pay for what they do. Like celebrity, they earn a lot of money by doing just one commercial adv or album. But, at the same time, they have to sacrifice their privacy and freedom. As an engineer who has a challenging job, outsider will not understand how boring it is a desk-bound job. As a business man who earn big money, outsider will not understand the risk and pressure they get through. As a marketing personnel who wear smart and nice to work every day, outsider will not understand how cruel office politics is in their field. Every job will have their sorrows stories behind the scene that no body will understand.

Modeling for me is not a easy job.

1. You need to be very determined to keep your body fit and in nice shape. It is not means slim, but nice shape which means regular exercise is necessary. You have to control your daily meal everyday. No holiday in 365 days a year.
2. You have to tolerate with the different working hour compare to usual office working profession. You have to wake up 3am in the morning, to start make up, to dress up and to go to the location, if you need a nice sun rise picture.
3. You have to take harsh criticisms from everyone and on everything. It is because different products will look for different characteristic on the models. Sometime, no matter how perfect you are, once you don’t suit the customer's product, they will criticize you like mad. Eye too small is wrong, but too big is also wrong…maybe the customers are looking for some moderate eye…You body too thin is wrong, too fat is wrong too…Of course. Your height too short is wrong, even too tall is wrong.
4. As we all known, girls are trouble. Imagine a industry that full of girls…OMG…back stab…small group…hypocrisy…competitive…wow…interesting ya?

There is a show which called Malaysian Dreamgirl. It is an internet reality show for the audience to vote for their “Malaysian” dreamgirl. The girls are competing not only for beauty or modeling skill but also on the personality and character.

Don’t be surprise that you never see this show adv in the TV or newspaper. It is because this is a totally internet broadcast show which means you only can watch it through internet. Internet nowadays can do everything, really everything. Imagine one day without internet? The city will be much more jam because every one have to go out to the town. Hahaha…(lame joke)

Recommended to watch the Episode 1- audition, Kenny Sia is like Simon in American Idol. And the sneak peek. Malaysian girl…haih…Nowadays Malaysian girls, where are the confidence and elegant? Sigh…

Along the show, there are some contestants with good body and face, but too quiet and doesn’t look like she is in a reality show. Some are so confident in speaking but the face and pose are just out. Hmmm….it seems like to get a Malaysian Dreamgirl is not that easy.