Flåm, Norway

Instead of travel around Europe, last week, I decided to spend some time at Norway before I go back Malaysia. Norway is famous for the fjord. So, to be able to claim that I came to Norway, I have to visit one of the fjord before I leave Norway. Ok, don't ask me what is fjord, I do not how to explain it since I am not too sure as well (I only know it is form because of glacial and during ice age). If you wanna know click on the link and read it from the wikipedia. Flåm is the place that we are heading to which located at Aurland. Nærøyfjord is one of the famous fjord which located at Flåm. It is listed under UNESCO world heritage site.

The view on the fjord. Breath taking...

I went there with another 2 more colleagues who are Zaitul and Anas. Zaitul and I take turn to drive from Sandefjord to Flåm. We drove for 9 hours to reach there! Isn't that sounds crazy? Anas, our suppose-to-be-navigator, was not too sure about the road direction at a few junctions. Ends up, we got lost for few times before we reach there. We stop at every petrol station to ask for direction and get some coffee. There is one petrol station that we stopped, even the worker do not know where are we going because Flåm is just too far from there! hahaha...so he try to ask one of the customer who coincidentally came in at that time. And, even the customer also don't know where are we going. See! Can you imagine how far we are driving? Finally, the customer gave us his book. It is a map with all the road around Norway! Cool ya~! Sometime, traditional map is anytime more reliable and useful than the crappy Google Map or Michelin. Don't ever 100% trust what you got from the net.

Our summer trip? with ice along the way

On the way there, we passed by a lot of nice waterfall and water power plant. We drove pass all the ski resort, went through the mountain and uncountable tunnel. Finally, after 9 hours drive, we reach our destination! FLÅM! It is really worth for us to drive that long simply because the view is magnificent. Sorry for my poor english vocabulary, I really do not know how to describe how gorgeous it is.

Kjosfossen - the waterfall

One of the must do activity at Flåm is the Flåm train. The train trip is really worth every single cent that we paid. The journey takes about 20 km but along the way I do not have the opportunity to sit down since there are too many nice sceneries along the way! I have to swift to the left and right all the time so that I don't miss up any nice view.

The railway track. Cool ya?

Besides that, we took fjord safari... ate goat cheese...went to say hi to the goat and cow...

mek...mek...smile for the camera!

Although it is a tiring trip, still I have no regret and really enjoy it. Thanks for the mate of the trip. I really had a good time. Finally, thank you Anas who took the pictures too. (more pictures available on his link)

Anas : "bluek...you're welcome"

=P

home sweet home

i'm home! the title gives that away i believe... =)

i've managed to survive 10 weeks of ots stim in abu dhabi and i'm finally home.

at the end of it all, i have to admit it's been a pretty interesting 10 weeks. met people of all characters in the class. some "different" and some great. i've had plenty of good times as well as bad.

good times - bon jovi concert, dubai, brunch at the burj-al-arab, great nights with great friends.

bad times - exam, exam, exam...

well, no matter what, i've managed to get through it unscathed and that is all that matters. now, i hope things will turn out to be just fine and that i will have a smooth journey from here forth.

and now that i'm home, i just want to enjoy kl as it is...

ps: below are some pictures taken during the last day of our school at mlc and also during the brunch that i had with aminulla and julio at the burj-al-arab...

this is the class as it graduated with all three instructors - a diverse group to say the least

my final project group - could not have asked for a better group

burj-al-arab up, close and personal

view of the burj-al-arab from the lobby

i wish my garage would look like that - i would have to own a garage first... =)

here in my home

the first time i saw this video was from kam's blog. it touched me, as i assumed it would to anyone who calls him/herself a malaysian. but then, i got to thinking. this is too cliche even for us. how many of us truly believe that we are indeed living in harmony and not in tolerance with each other?

"Years of fears and years of tribulation
The heart keeps searching for that endless devotion
Hand in hand we’ll march like blood brothers
I speak for my people, hope we’ll find peace forever
May the road ahead quench my thirst for success
May the road behind echo a song of the blessed
Yes I feel it in my bones, so I will let it be known
No matter where I roam, this is home sweet home"

the first two lines were sung by a malay, lines three and four by a chinese and lines five and six by an indian... i think there's much more to this part of the song and if you just read between the lines, tell me what you think...

but the line that strikes the right chord with me is the final line there - no matter where i roam, this is home sweet home. it is still with pride that i call myself a malaysian. i truly hope this was an honest project to unite the people.

sadly, there are people in power that is destroying that sense of belonging to many of us younger generations. especially those who've been out of the country and who can actually see wat's going on despite all the bs they show to you on the national mass media. i dun usually talk politics on my blog but at times, you just get so frustrated.

PS : I Love You

Initally, I want to start a blog which talk about book reviews. Book reviews from my personal points of views.

Yes, you may said that it must be very subjective! I will not deny that I am someone who justify things very subjectively. The reason I never start a blog which only focus on book reviews because I read English book as slow as turtle crawling. The blog eventually will die off if I only post English books review. On the other hand, to post about Chinese book reviews...er...too many books, I don't know where to start.

At London airport, I saw this book - PS I Love You. I read a lot of good comment on the book. I got think of buying it at KL but Nic and I bought too many books during the MPH member's day till now I also haven't finish all of them. So, I never have the oppurtunity to buy it from KL. When I came to Norway, I only brought along 2 books which is ' The World Is Flat' and 'To Kill A Mocking Bird'. Somehow I really have no mood to read that 2 non-fiction books. So, I bought the book 'PS I Love You'.

From the synopsis of the book, I already knew that her husband will die. Still, from the first page of the book, the writer keep on telling about how sweet they were! It is so difficult for me to continue reading it because I know no matter how lovely this couple is, eventually the husband will leave her forever.

But, don't because of the synopsis and assume that the book must have a sad ending. Initially, I thought that as well. Somehow, it turns out to be ok. Of course, I am not going to tell the ending over here. Just go read it.

I love the story line of the book. For you guys who don't know it, the book is talking about the husband post a letter to his wife every months for a year after he passed away. Which means after he died, she will receive a letter each month. The letter is ended with 'PS I Love You'. Personally, I feel very touch when she received the last letter.

For the reader of this blog, I guess none of you will be interested to read such a love story novel. haha...So...for you guys, really you GUYS...you watch the movie. It is much easier. =)

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)