william (wN) Ng | Remaining Humble

IMPORTANT CONTACTS Japanese Earthquake 2011

2011-03-11T19:57:00.006+08:00

I am sure many would be scrambling all across the internet to look for the Important Contacts of the respective embassies based in Japan and their local country's Ministry of Foreign Affair.

MALAYSIA

Ministry of Foreign Affairs Malaysia, Putrajaya

+60 3 8887 4570

+60 3 8887 2770

+60 3 8889 2746

+60 3 8889 2830

Malaysian Embassy in Tokyo, Japan

+81 3 347 6 3840

SINGAPORE

Ministry of Foreign Affairs Singapore, Singapore

+65 6379 8800

+65 6379 8855

Singapore Embassy in Tokyo, Japan

+81 90 3208 4122

+81 90 2435 5543

Email: singemb_tyo@sgmfa.gov.sg

GREAT BRITAIN

Foreign & Commonwealth Office

+44 20 7008 0000 (outside of the United Kingdom)

020 7008 0000 (within the United Kingdom)

British Embassy in Tokyo, Japan

+81 3 5211 1100

British Consulate-General in Osaka, Japan

+81 6 6120 5600

NEW ZEALAND

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, New Zealand

+64 439 8000

New Zealand Embassy in Tokyo, Japan

+81 90 5994 6587

LIVE UPDATE: Japanese Earthquake 2011

2011-03-10T22:25:00.064+08:00

One of the strongest earthquake measuring 8.9-magnitude hit northern Japan, unleashing a 10-metre high tsunami that tossed ships inland and sparked fears that destructive waves could sweep across the Pacific Ocean.

OFFICIAL DEATH TOLL: 900 people dead [as of 09:15pm (JST), Tokyo time]

Saturday, 12th March 2011

UPDATES majority came from CNN.com

Emergency messaging service (JAPAN)

If you're stranded and you need to leave someone a message, dial 171, then 1, then your own home phone number, then leave your message. To pick up a message, it's 171, then 2, then your home phone number (the number you think the stranded would have left).

LIVE FEEDS TO BE CONTINUE . . . . .

12th March 2011 (JST Time, Tokyo, Japan)

[8:01 a.m. ET, 10:01 p.m. Tokyo] U.S. Marine Corps cargo aircraft and helicopters were being dispatched from bases on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa to mainland Japan to help in quake and tsunami relief efforts, the III Marine Expeditionary Force said in a statement.

[7:54 a.m. ET, 9:54 p.m. Tokyo] Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan called the natural disaster that struck his country Friday "unprecedented" and said the quake caused a bigger tsunami than expected. Kan said that "we'd first like to focus on saving lives and secondly the comfort of the evacuees" and "there will be many resources that will be needed for this evacuation process."

[7:24 a.m. ET, 9:24 p.m. Tokyo] Dozens of aftershocks from Friday's 8.9-magnitude earthquake jolted Japan on Saturday. Four of Saturday's temblors were of magnitude 6.0 or above, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

[7:07 a.m. ET, 9:07 p.m. Tokyo] Fires were burning at more than 200 locations in 12 prefectures after Friday's earthquake and tsunami, Japanese broadcaster NHK reported, citing the nation's Fire and Disaster Management Agency.

[6:54 a.m. ET, 8:54 p.m. Tokyo] The explosion at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant was not caused by the nuclear reactor but by "water vapor that was part of the cooling process," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said Saturday. He said no harmful gases had been emitted by the explosion.

[6:44 a.m. ET, 8:44 p.m. Tokyo] Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan confirms that the evacuation area around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has been increased to 20 kilometers. But no one has been harmed by radiation, he says.

[6:23 a.m. ET, 8:23 p.m. Tokyo] No people were visible Saturday in the streets of Minamisoma, Japan, a city whose population on Friday had been 70,000. All that was left of many structures were their foundations. Only concrete and steel buildings appeared to have withstood the wash.

[6:18 a.m. ET, 8:18 p.m. Tokyo] Authorities extended the evacuation area around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant to 20 kilometers, Kyodo News Agency reported.

[6:11 a.m. ET, 8:11 p.m. Tokyo] The roof of a reactor at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant collapsed following an explosion around 3:30 p.m. (1:30 a.m. ET), Japan's Kyodo News Agency reported, citing Tokyo Electric Power Company.

[5:59 a.m. ET, 7:59 p.m. Tokyo] The powerful earthquake that unleashed a devastating tsunami Friday appears to have moved the main island of Japan by 8 feet (2.4 meters) and shifted the Earth on its axis, a U.S. Geological Survey geophysicist reports.

[5:17 a.m. ET, 7:17 p.m. Tokyo] Friday's earthquake and tsunami crippled cooling systems at two Japanese nuclear power plants and workers were working Saturday to contain temperatures.

"This is a situation that has the potential for a nuclear catastrophe. It's basically a race against time, because what has happened is that plant operators have not been able to cool down the core of at least two reactors," said Robert Alvarez, a senior scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington.

[4:47 a.m. ET, 6:47 p.m. Tokyo] At least seven homes sustained substantial tsunami damage on Hawaii's Big Island, including one that was pulled into a bay. Hotels in Kailua-Kona also reported damage. CNN affiliate KHON has a full report.

[4:22 a.m. ET, 6:22 p.m. Tokyo] The Tokyo Electric Company said four workers were injured in an explosion at the Fukushima Daiichi plant. NHK said the injured workers were in the process of cooling a nuclear reactor at the plant by injecting water into its core.

[3:46 a.m. ET, 5:46 p.m. Tokyo] Rescuers plucked dazed survivors from collapsed homes, muddy waters and raging fires Saturday, a day after a powerful earthquake tore through Japan and unleashed waves that swallowed entire towns along the coast.

More than 900 were killed and about 700 others were missing Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported. The number is expected to go up as rescuers reach more hard-hit areas.

The 8.9-magnitude quake was centered about 130 kilometers (80 miles) from Sendai, a farming and fishing region battling to stay ahead following decades of brain drain from its youth moving to the capital of Tokyo.

[3:08 a.m. ET, 5:08 p.m. Tokyo] An explosion has been reported near a nuclear plant in northeastern Japan's Fukushima prefecture, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported, citing the country's nuclear and industrial safety agency.

[2:19 a.m. ET, 4:19 p.m. Tokyo] A small amount of radioactive Cesium has escaped into the air surrounding a nuclear plant in northeastern Japan's Fukushima prefecture, Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Agency said.

The agency said there was a strong possibility that this was caused by the melting of a fuel rod, adding that plant engineers were continuing to cool the fuel rods by pumping water around the rods.

[2:17 a.m. ET, 4:17 p.m. Tokyo] Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported Saturday that the death toll after an 8.9-magnitude earthquake and tsunami is more than 900, with about 700 others reported missing.

Earlier Saturday the nation's Kyodo News News Agency, citing police, reported that the death toll was 433, with at least 784 missing.

The official death toll is likely to rise as authorities continue rescue and relief efforts in the worst-hit areas.

[2:00 a.m. ET, 9:00 p.m. Hawaii] Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie signed a "State of Disaster Proclamation" after the tsunami caused millions of dollars or damages as it swept through the islands. The proclamation will allow Hawaii to get federal funds to help rebuild, the governor said in a statement.

[12:00 a.m. ET, 2:00 p.m. Tokyo] The death toll from the 8.9-magnitude earthquake that hit Japan rose to 433, the nation's Kyodo News reported Saturday. At least 784 are missing, Kyodo said, citing police.

[11:01 p.m. ET, 1:01 p.m. Tokyo] At least 398 people are dead and 805 are missing after the massive earthquake in Japan, the Kyodo News Agency reported Saturday. Earlier, the news agency said the death toll from the massive earthquake would likely surpass 1,000.

[10:01 p.m. ET, 12:01 p.m. Tokyo] As rescue crews continue to account for the damage caused by the country's largest earthquake on record, people in Japan on Saturday are struggling to contact loved ones near the hardest hit areas.

Lucy Craft, a freelance correspondent in Tokyo, has a teenage son at a high school near the epicenter in Sendai, northeast of Tokyo. More than 18 hours after the quake, she hadn't been able to make contact.

"The phone lines are still down... I haven't been able to get in touch with him by cell phone, I haven't been able to contact anybody there. I have his teacher's phone number," Craft said Saturday morning in Tokyo. "It's a very upsetting situation, as you can imagine."

[10:32 p.m. ET, 12:32 p.m. Tokyo] Residents of northern Japan streamed south from their earthquake-stricken hometowns Saturday, crowding stores in search of vital supplies as rescue teams worked north toward the historic quake's epicenter.

Roads and buildings showed cracks as far away as 200 kilometers (125 miles) from Sendai, the closest city to the epicenter. One man told CNN the scene in towns hit by the quake and the resulting tsunami was "unimaginable."
Shoppers were polite but tense as they sought food, water and gasoline from stores where shelves were quickly emptied and pumps soon ran dry.

[9:20 p.m. ET, 11:20 a.m. Tokyo] At least 200 people are dead in Japan, 700 are missing, and the death toll is increasing every hour since a devastating earthquake hit the country Friday, Japan's ambassador to the United States said.

"This is the most terribible earthquake we've had," Ichiro Fujisaki told CNN's Piers Morgan. "This is a terrible incident that has hit Japan."

At least six million homes are without electricity, accounting for about 10 percent of Japan's households, he said. The government is responding to recovery efforts with 8,000 self-defense forces, and the Coast Guard is contributing 300 ships and 40 airplanes, he said.
"We are mobilizing all we can."

[8:30 p.m. ET, 10:30 a.m. Tokyo] Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa ordered the evacuation of the Galapagos Islands and of cities along the country's coast Friday.

[7:45 p.m. ET, 9:45 a.m. Tokyo] Potentially dangerous problems cooling radioactive material appear to have cropped up at another of the Tokyo Electric Power Company's nuclear plants. Kyodo reported Saturday the power company alerted authorities that the cooling system at three of the four units of its Fukushima Daini plant – which is different from the Fukushima Daiichi reactors, nearby in northeastern Japan in the Fukushima prefecture – has failed.

The news agency also reported Saturday that Japan's nuclear safety agency ordered the power company to release a valve in the Fukushima Daiichi plant's "No. 1" reactor, in order to release growing pressure. This comes amid Kyodo's reports, citing the same Japanese agency, that radiation levels were 1,000 times above normal in the the control room of that facility's "No. 1" reactor.

[6:50 p.m. ET, 8:50 a.m. Tokyo] California Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in Del Norte, Humboldt, San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties Friday after tsunami waves moved ashore in those areas.

[6:45 p.m. ET, 8:45 a.m. Tokyo] In addition to the United States, 24 countries have offered to provide assistance to Japan, including the dispatch of rescue teams, and the provision of relief supplies and transportation, the foreign minister said, according to Kyodo, among them: Australia, China, South Korea, Mexico, Thailand, New Zealand, Singapore, Indonesia, India, Russia, Turkey, Germany, France, Belgium, the United Arab Emirates, Switzerland and Jordan.

[6:15 p.m. ET, 8:15 a.m. Tokyo] As day breaks Saturday in Japan, tsunamis continue to wash ashore on the Pacific northeast coast, toss about cars and boats like toys and forcing residents to seek refuge on the roofs of buildings. A fire has broken out in the city of Kesennuma, NHK reports.

At least 427 are dead, with 200 to 300 bodies unidentified, NHK reports.

[5:15 p.m. ET, 7:15 a.m. Tokyo] A 25-year-old man who was washed out to sea while trying to photograph the tsunami in northern California was confirmed dead Friday, according to Del Norte, California, authorities.

[4:50 p.m. ET, 6:50 a.m. Tokyo] Chile upgraded a tsunami warning to an alert for residents of the Easter Islands on Friday evening and urged coastal residents of Chile to evacuate to higher ground, CNN Chile reported, citing the country's interior minister. Elsewhere, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa said Friday that off-shore drilling has been halted because of the tsunami warning triggered by the 8.9-magnitude earthquake in Japan.

[4:45 p.m. ET, 6:45 a.m. Tokyo] Radioactive substances could have already leaked at the quake-hit Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, the operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Saturday, according to Kyodo News.

Radiation has been more than eight times the normal level at a monitoring post near the main gate of the plant, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency under the industry ministry said.

[4:14 p.m. ET, 6:14 a.m. Tokyo] What's next for Japan? Robert Jensen, whose company assists in natural disaster recovery efforts, says, "right now Japan is in the life-saving, immediate-response mode, not the recovery mode. In the next several days as it moves to recovery mode, Japan will have to take care of its citizens and meet the basic needs of food, water and shelter."

The Japanese are very good at this, he says, but the scope and scale this time are significantly greater. "Japan hasn’t seen damage like this since World War II."

Read the full post at Global Public Square blog

[3:56 p.m. ET, 5:56 a.m. Tokyo] An estimated 6.3-magnitude earthquake has hit near the west coast of Honshu - the latest in a series of aftershocks and fresh temblors that struck on and around Japan's largest island within a span of 70 minutes early Saturday morning. A 6.2-magnitude quake hit at 3:59 a.m., followed by six more with magnitudes no less than 5.2.

[3:44 p.m. ET, 5:44 a.m. Tokyo] At least 184 people have been killed, 722 have been injured and 530 are missing after the 8.9-magnitude earthquake that hit Japan on Friday, according to the official count by Japan's National Police. Between 200 and 300 bodies have been found in the coastal city of Sendai in Miyagi Prefecture following the subsequent tsunami that struck that area.

The official death toll is likely to rise as there are few casualty counts yet from the worst-hit areas.

[3:17 p.m. ET, 5:17 a.m. Tokyo] Large sections of highways in the Tokyo metropolitan area and the Tohoku region were closed after the quake. Air transportation was also heavily affected, The Japan Times reports.

A total of 711 flights were canceled at domestic airports, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. About 13,000 people were stranded at Narita airport in Chiba Prefecture and 10,000 at Tokyo's Haneda airport.

[3:00 p.m. ET, 5:00 a.m. Tokyo] Japanese authorities have informed the IAEA’s Incident and Emergency Centre that today’s earthquake and tsunami cut the supply of off-site power to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. In addition, diesel generators intended to provide back-up electricity to the plant’s cooling system were disabled by tsunami flooding, and efforts to restore the diesel generators are continuing.

At Fukushima Daiichi, officials have declared a nuclear emergency situation, and at the nearby Fukushima Daini nuclear power plant, officials have declared a heightened alert condition.

So far been no release of radiation from any of the nuclear power plants affected by today’s earthquake and aftershocks. The IEC continues to liaise with the Japanese authorities, and is in full response mode to monitor the situation closely round the clock.

[2:40 p.m. ET, 4:40 a.m. Tokyo] Tokyo Electric Power Company says it will vent possibly radioactive air from its Fukushima nuclear power plant to avoid a breakdown of the reactor's containment vessels, broadcaster NHK reports on its website.

[2:21 p.m. ET, 4:21 a.m. Tokyo] An estimated 6.6-magnitude earthquake has struck Nagano and Niigata prefectures in Japan, the Kyodo News Service reported. The U.S. Geological Survey says this latest event is a 6.2-magnitude temblor.

[1:42 p.m. ET, 3:42 a.m. Tokyo] Using Air Force planes, the U.S. government has sent over coolant for the Fukushima nuclear plant, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Friday. Japan's officials say a small radiation leak could occur at the plant after Friday's earthquake and tsunami.

[1:34 p.m. ET, 3:34 a.m. Tokyo] According to the official count by Japan's National Police, at least 151 people have been killed, 722 have been injured and 530 are missing after the 8.9-magnitude earthquake that hit Japan on Friday. Additionally, between 200 and 300 bodies have been found in the coastal city of Sendai in Miyagi Prefecture following the subsequent tsunami that struck that area. The official death toll is likely to rise.

[1:24 p.m. ET, 3:24 a.m. Tokyo] Japan's trade minister, Banri Kaieda, says a small radiation leak could occur at the Fukushima nuclear plant, Japan's Kyodo News Agency reported Saturday. Prime Minister Naoto Kan is planning to inspect the plant, according to Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano.

[1:12 p.m. ET, 3:12 a.m. Tokyo] Tsunami of more than 8 feet recorded in Crescent City, California.

[1:08 p.m. ET, 3:08 a.m. Tokyo] Sailing vessels were knocked loose from their moorings at a marina in Santa Cruz, California. Several were swamped.

[1:05 p.m. ET, 3:05 a.m. Tokyo] President Obama said that Japan's prime minister told him there was no evidence so far of radiation leaks from nuclear reactors due to the earthquake and tsunami.

[12:45 p.m. ET, 2:45 a.m. Tokyo] Gerard Fryer with The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii says they are lifting the evacuation orders for Hawaii.

"The shoreline is still hazardous so we're updating the warning to an advisory. What that means is you no longer have to remain evacuated, but stay off the beach and don't tend to the water," he said.

[12:39 p.m. ET, 2:39 a.m. Tokyo] Friday's quake is the strongest earthquake in recorded history to hit Japan, according to U.S. Geological Survey records. The previous record was an 8.6 magnitude earthquake that struck near the Chubu region near southwestern Honshu on October 28, 1707, that may have killed 5,000 people, said CNN meteorologist Sean Morris.

That quake generated a 33-foot (10-meter) tsunami, and some scientists believe the quake may have triggered the eruption of Mount Fuji 49 days later, Morris said.

The world's largest recorded quake took place in Chile on May 22, 1960, with a magnitude of 9.5, the USGS said.

[12:20 p.m. ET, 2:20 a.m. Tokyo] Damaging waves reported at Kailua-Kona on Hawaii's Big Island, Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency reports on its website. Maui police have reports of a 9-foot wave hitting Lahaina Harbor, Maui County Civil Defense Agency reports.

[12:06 p.m. ET, 2:06 a.m. Tokyo] Radiation level rising in Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant turbine building, Kyodo News Agency reports.

[12:02 p.m. ET, 2:02 a.m. Tokyo] The death toll from the massive earthquake in Japan will likely surpass 1,000, the Kyodo News Agency reported.

[11:57 a.m. ET, 1:57 a.m. Tokyo] The U.S. Navy has announced the following ship movements in reaction to the earthquake in Japan:

– USS Essex, with the 31^st Marine Expeditionary Unit (about 2,000 Marines) aboard, is preparing to leave Malaysia for Japan.

– USS Blue Ridge is in Singapore loading up with humanitarian supplies and then heading to Japan.

– USS Tortuga is at a base in Sasebo, in the far south of Japan ready to assist where needed.

– USS Harpers Ferry and USS Germantown are in the region and steaming towards Japan.

– USS Ronald Reagan was in the region for a long-planned exercise off Korea, but now steaming towards Japan to help.

– USS George Washington was docked at a maintenance pier in Japan when quake struck. Unclear what help, if any, it could provide.

– USS Dubuque put to sea from Seal Beach, California.

[11:54 a.m. ET, 1:54 a.m. Tokyo] A dam has broken in Fukushima prefecture, washing away scores of homes in the area, Japan's Kyodo news agency reported early Saturday. The Defense Ministry says 1,800 homes have been destroyed in Fukushima.

[11:39 a.m. ET, 1:39 a.m. Tokyo] At least 133 people were killed, 722 were injured and 530 were missing after the 8.9-magnitude earthquake that hit Japan on Friday, Japan's National Police said. Additionally, between 200 and 300 bodies have been found in the coastal city of Sendai in Miyagi Prefecture following the subsequent tsunami that struck that area. The death toll is likely to rise.

[11:31 a.m. ET, 1:31 a.m. Tokyo] Delta canceled 29 flights into and out of Tokyo on Friday. American Airlines canceled six flights en route to Tokyo on Friday, with some of the planes diverted to Anchorage, Alaska, and others to the Sapporo and Osaka airports in Japan. American Airlines, Delta and United have issued travel waivers for passengers flying to, from or through Japan in the next several days. The waivers will allow travelers to change their plans without a fee.

[11:07 a.m. ET, 1:07 a.m. Tokyo] At least 137 people were killed, 539 were injured and 351 were missing after the 8.9-magnitude earthquake that hit Japan on Friday, according to the Kyodo News Agency, citing police. Additionally, between 200 and 300 bodies have been found in the coastal city of Sendai in Miyagi Prefecture following the subsequent tsunami that struck that area. The death toll is likely to rise as there are few casualty counts yet from the worst-hit areas.

[10:59 a.m. ET, 12:59 a.m. Tokyo] About 4 million homes had no power in Tokyo and surrounding areas.

[10:53 a.m. ET, 12:53 a.m. Tokyo] As the first light of dawn broke Friday in Hawaii, officials reported no significant damage from a series of tsunami waves that struck the islands after Japan's earthquake.
Tsunami brought waves of nearly 7 feet to a harbor in Maui, authorities said, but other areas reported lower levels.

[10:42 a.m. ET, 12:42 a.m. Tokyo] A dam has broken in Fukushima prefecture, washing away scores of homes in the area, Japan's Kyodo news agency reported early Saturday.

[10:39 a.m. ET, 12:39 a.m. Tokyo] Video aired by NHK showed widespread fires in Hakodate in the southern part of Hokkaido island in northern Japan. An oil refinery was burning in Chiba prefecture near Tokyo, according to NHK, and firefighters could not get close enough to fight it because of the heat. And Kyodo said fires could be seen in extensive areas of Kesennuma in Miyagi prefecture.

[10:33 a.m. ET, 12:33 a.m. Tokyo] Forecasters say waves are expected on the Oregon coast after 7 a.m. local time (10 a.m. ET). The predicted heights of the waves are as follows: Astoria, less than a foot; Clatsop Spit, 4.7 feet; Cannon Beach, 3.9 feet; Oceanside, 3.5 feet; Neskowin, 2.8 feet; Siletz Bay, 7.5 feet; Newport, 3.6 feet; Yachats, 3.9 feet; and Siuslaw River-Florence, 3.2 feet.

[10:15 a.m. ET, 12:15 a.m. Tokyo] Tsunami waves resulting from Japan's earthquake rolled onto the Hawaiian Islands about every 15 minutes Friday morning, bringing waves of nearly 7 feet to a harbor in Maui, authorities said. No significant damage had been reported two hours after the first waves arrived, but officials said they will know more after sunrise.

[10:13 a.m. ET, 12:13 a.m. Tokyo] The Japanese Defense Ministry is readying 300 aircraft and 40 ships to help with relief efforts, the Kyodo News agency reported Friday.

[10:11 a.m. ET, 12:11 a.m. Tokyo] Expected tsunami heights on the U.S. West Coast: Morro Bay, 3.9 feet; Port San Luis Harbor, 7.1 feet; Pismo Beach, 2.4 feet; Santa Maria, 3.3 feet; Santa Barbara, 1.6 feet; Ventura, 2.9 feet; Malibu, 1.2 feet; Santa Monica, 2.8 feet; Redondo Beach, 2.1 feet; San Pedro Harbor, 1.3 feet; Huntington Beach, 2.3 feet.

* * * * *

11th March 2011 (JST Time, Tokyo, Japan)

[9:54 a.m. ET, 11:54 p.m. Tokyo] Queen Elizabeth II has sent a message of sympathy to Emperor of Japan following the massive earthquake and tsunami. "I was saddened to hear of the tragic loss of life caused by the earthquake which has struck north east Japan today. Prince Philip joins me in extending our heartfelt sympathy to your majesty and the people of Japan. Our prayers and thoughts are with everyone who has been affected by the dreadful disaster."

[9:53 a.m. ET, 11:53 p.m. Tokyo] Fire crews have been able to extinguish a fire at Japan's Onagawa nuclear plant, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

[9:40 a.m. ET, 11:40 p.m. Tokyo] The toll in the Japan 8.9 quake stands at least 93 dead, 539 injures and 351 missing, according to Japan's National Police. Additionally, in Miyagi Prefecture, between 200 and 300 bodies have been found following the tsunami that hit that area.

[9:38 a.m. ET, 11:38 p.m. Tokyo] Officials are reporting one train derailment and loss of contact with another train in Miyagi prefecture in northern Japan, according to the Kyodo News Agency.

[9:37 a.m. ET, 11:37 p.m. Tokyo] 60,000 to 70,000 people were being evacuated to shelters in the Sendai area of Japan, according to Kyodo.

[9:06 a.m. ET, 11:06 p.m. Tokyo] The tsunami waves that have hit Hawaii "are not going to be a major damaging event" but will cause scattered damage, according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. Waves of nearly 8 feet have been reported Friday on the island of Maui.

[8:48 a.m. ET, 10:48 p.m. Tokyo] Police in Miyagi prefecture say between 200 to 300 bodies have been found in the coastal city of Sendai alone, Japan's Kyodo News Agency reported late Friday.

[8:39 a.m. ET, 10:39 p.m. Tokyo] The National Weather Service said the waves could hit Oregon and California between 7:15 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. PT (10:15-10:30 a.m. ET).

[8:37 a.m. ET, 10:37 p.m. Tokyo] The first tsunami waves have reached the Hawaiian Islands following a massive earthquake in Japan, local authorities say.

[8:35 a.m. ET, 10:35 p.m. Tokyo] The toll following the major earthquake that hit Japan Friday stands at 64 dead and 57 missing, according to Japan's National Police.

[8:29 a.m. ET, 10:29 p.m. Tokyo] Some cooling functions at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant are not working and authorities are "bracing for the worst," Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said Friday. There is no danger to the environment, but authorities have ordered the evacuation of a few thousand people who live closest to the plant, the Kyodo News agency reported. Others who live nearby have been urged to stay indoors, Edano said.

[8:28 a.m. ET, 10:28 p.m. Tokyo] Watch a live stream from Hawaii.

[8:24 a.m. ET, 10:24 p.m. Tokyo] The Japan Meteorological Agency said it cannot rule out the possibility of more tsunamis hitting coastal areas in Japan.

[8:19 a.m. ET, 10:19 p.m. Tokyo] Indonesia's Bureau of Meteorology, Geophysics and Climatology has lifted its tsunami warning. Only 10 centimeter waves were reported in Bitung, Manado, North Sulawesi and Halmahera, Maluku, according to the bureau.

[8:15 a.m. ET, 10:15 p.m. Tokyo] Tsunami warning lifted for Guam; no damage reported.

[8:10 a.m. ET, 10:10 p.m. Tokyo] Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano ordered the evacuation of a three-kilometer area around the Fukushima nuclear reactor Friday.

[7:56 a.m. ET, 9:56 p.m. Tokyo] Live webcam on Kauai, where first wave expected at 8:07 ET. Waves could be as high as 10 feet in some areas of Hawaii.

[7:51 a.m. ET, 9:51 p.m. Tokyo] First tsunami could hit Kauai, Hawaii's westernmost main island at 8:07 ET, Coast Guard says.

[7:42 a.m. ET, 9:42 p.m. Tokyo] Japan has asked U.S. forces to help with relief efforts, the Kyodo News agency reported.

[7:35 a.m. ET, 9:35 p.m. Tokyo] Four Japanese nuclear power plants closest to the quake were safely shut down, the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency said. About 2,000 residents near the Fukushima nuclear power plant were being told to evacuate, Kyodo news service said.

[7:35 a.m. ET, 9:35 p.m. Tokyo] The U.S. State Department issues a travel alert for Japan, saying U.S. citizens should avoid travel there. The alert expires on April 1.

[7:28 a.m. ET, 9:28 p.m. Tokyo] The U.S. ambassador to Japan, John Roos, has moved a U.S. Embassy command center in Japan to an alternate location as a result of numerous aftershocks following a major earthquake in Japan, U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said on Twitter.

[7:27 a.m. ET, 9:27 p.m. Tokyo] The death toll from the earthquake in Japan has risen to 59, the Kyodo News agency reported.

[7:23 a.m. ET, 9:23 p.m. Tokyo] The city of Honolulu says residents who are not ill are going to hospitals seeking shelter. It is asking them to go to hospitals only if they are ill as hospital do not have facilities for them. CNN affiliate KHON reports.

[7:15 a.m. ET, 9:15 p.m. Tokyo] From Matt Alt, a Tokyo resident, reporting on CNNGo: "Parts of both downtown and in the suburbs are without power. Aftershocks, smaller but still unsettling, continue to rock the area from time to time. As darkness falls over the city, only one thing is for sure. It's going to be a long night."

[7:12 a.m. ET, 9:12 p.m. Tokyo] Fires were burning at more than 80 locations in Japan after a massive earthquake, the country's Kyodo News agency reported.

[7:05 a.m. ET, 9:05 p.m. Tokyo] The death toll from an earthquake in Japan has risen to more than 50, the Kyodo News agency reported.

[7:01 a.m. ET, 9:01 p.m. Tokyo] Sailors aboard the aircraft carrier USS George Washington docked in Yokosuka, Japan, tell Stars and Stripes the force of the quake moved the 60,000-ton ship away from the pier.

[6:51 a.m. ET, 8:51 p.m. Tokyo] Hawaii's first tsunami impact may be felt at 3:07 a.m. local time (8:07 a.m. ET), according to Hawaii State Civil Defense, which issued a tsunami warning. Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle told CNN the city is planning for several contingencies, because it is not certain how large the waves could be and where they may rush inland.

[6:45 a.m. ET, 8:45 p.m. Tokyo] Hotel fire, building collapses reported by Japan's NHK TV.

[6:41 a.m. ET, 8:41 p.m. Tokyo] CNN International, citing Reuters news service, is reporting a ship with 100 people aboard has been swept away by the tsunami off Japan.

[6:23 a.m. ET, 8:23 p.m. Tokyo] All major commercial airports in the state of Hawaii have been closed, CNN affiliate KHON reports.

[6:17 a.m. ET, 8:17 p.m. Tokyo] The U.S. Navy air facility in Atsugi, Japan, is allowing commercial flights to land there in an effort to help commercial airports in Japan, military officials said.

[6:15 a.m. ET, 8:15 p.m. Tokyo] Japan government issues emergency declaration for nuclear power plant near Sendai. Plant having troubles with electrical system, CNN's Kyung Lah reports.

[6:11 a.m. ET, 8:11 p.m. Tokyo] President Obama sends condolences to people of Japan, says U.S. is ready to help in recovery.

[6:09 a.m. ET, 8:09 p.m. Tokyo] Officials fear that waves from a tsunami caused by the 8.9-magnitude earthquake that struck Japan could be so high that they wash over entire islands in the Pacific, a spokesman for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said Friday.

[5:59 a.m. ET, 7:59 p.m. Tokyo] Gerard Fryer of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center says a five-foot tsunami is being indicated by buoys at Midway Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. A higher tsunami is expected in Hawaii, he tells CNN.

[5:54 a.m. ET, 7:54 p.m. Tokyo] The U.S. Navy's Pacific Fleet says via Twitter that its ships at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, will remain in port.

[5:39 a.m. ET, 7:39 p.m. Tokyo] At least 32 people have been killed and numerous others injured, Japan's Kyodo news service reported.

Burberry Trench Coats for Men

2011-03-10T21:52:00.003+08:00

I am really obsessed with Burberry products and what's more if I have a chance to step into one of its shop, I would without fail. Soon, my dream to visit Burberry in its homeland, London will come true when I am going to London, Birmingham and Nottingham for my brother's Masters Degree convocation.

Double Breasted Cotton Trench Coat

$2,395.00

This Double Breasted Cotton Trench Coat is one of my favourite. If I had the chance to purchase it, it will definitely look good on me as it is slim fit and certainly it is good on all occasions especially during cold winter days.

I just can't wait for my trip to London. Time to save up some cold hard cash before I go there this July over summer.

CHRISTCHURCH EARTHQUAKE 2011

2011-02-22T12:07:00.009+08:00

Christchurch Cathedral: The Landmark of the City

WELLINGTON (Dow Jones)--New Zealand's second-largest city Christchurch was rocked Tuesday by an earthquake that destroyed part of its cathedral, killing residents and trapping workers as offices and buildings collapsed.

The initial 6.3 magnitude quake hit 10 kilometers south-east of the city at 2351GMT according to the Ministry of Civil Defense and Emergency Management. The first quake was followed by aftershocks, including one measured at 5.6 magnitude. Tremors from the earthquake were felt as far away as the city of Dunedin, about 320 kilometers south of Christchurch.

A spokesperson for the local unit of Marsh & McLennan Cos. (MMC) told Dow Jones Newswires that its office building in Christchurch had collapsed, trapping many of its employees.

Sky News television footage earlier showed the collapsed spire of Christchurch Cathedral, a major landmark in the city, cracked roads and a number of badly damaged buildings. The city's international airport was closed indefinately following the quake, with the mayor asking residents to leave the area.

Police confirmed multiple fatalities in several parts of the city, including two buses crushed by falling masonry.

"Other reports include multiple building collapses, fires in buildings and persons reported trapped in buildings. All available police staff are assisting with evacuations and emergency responses," said the police in a statement. Sky News reported that emergency services in Christchurch have run out of ambulences to respond to the disaster and hospitals are being cleared across New Zealand to cope with the injured.

The earthquake comes nearly six months after a 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck the area in early September. Matthew Stevens, a geologist with GNS Science, said the earthquake was occurring in the same fault line as September's shock.

"This is technically an aftershock because it only happened because of the first earthquake," said Stevens.

The latest quake is another blow for New Zealand's economy and sent the currency, known as the Kiwi, sharply lower. The New Zealand dollar was trading down half a cent at US$0.7650, its lowest this week. The country's benchmark share index was slightly lower down 0.8% in afternoon trading. Christchurch continues to recover from the last quake which caused an estimated US$3.8 billion of damage.

"It was slightly more violent than the September quake," said Brent Collins, a resident of Christchurch, in a telephone interview with Dow Jones Newswires. "The time of the day, more than anything, means this one is way, way worse."

Prime Minister John Key has called an emergency cabinet meeting within hours of the quake hitting the city. Further destruction to Christchurch will add to Key's economic problems, with rebuilding costs expected to be high. The current account deficit that reached 5.93 billion New Zealand dollars (US$4.48 billion) in the year up to September and a decline in tourism income have added to the government's agenda.

"Some people are really freaked out about it," said Collins, an eyewitness. "Since September last year it has been pretty full on with loads and loads of aftershocks. it has been very unsettling."

By Rebecca Howard and Lucy Craymer, Dow Jones Newswires; 64-4-471-5990; rebecca.howard@dowjones.com

--James Glynn in Sydney contributed to this story.

Knights & Dames of Silicon Valley with President Obama

2011-02-19T16:51:00.008+08:00

I stumbled upon this picture and I thought it was a huge move that President Obama dined with the Knights and Dames of the Silicon Valley last Thursday night.

Ever wonder who gets the VIP seat both on the left and right of President Obama? Look at the picture carefully: Steve Jobs (CEO of Apple) who sits on the left of Obama and on the right is CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg. He is the youngest amongst the most powerful Knights and Dames of the Silicon Valley.

The Seating Arrangement at Barack Obama’s Techapalooza Dinner

They were hosted at the home of venture capitalist, John Doerr of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, reports Bloomberg. In attendance were the crème de la crème of the tech circle. In addition to Jobs and Zuckerberg, invitees included Google CEO (until April 4) Eric Schmidt, Yahoo! CEO Carol Bartz, Twitter head Dick Costolo, NetFlix chief Reed Hastings, Genentech chairman Arthur Levinson, Stanford president John Hennessy, and venture capitalist Steve Westly. (Sorry, Microsoft. It sucks being in Washington state instead of California sometimes, doesn’t it?)

Members of the press were not invited, but a White House spokesman tells Bloomberg that they discussed “the economy and education.” With various class action lawsuits over privacy issues brewing against Apple, Google, Netflix, and Facebook, I have to believe that privacy came up as well.

Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit (Road Show)

2011-02-13T21:31:00.006+08:00

I had the pleasure to be one of the few thousands that throng to Mid Valley today to view the project being unveiled to the public in the Mid Valley Exhibition Centre. Curious Malaysians; both young and old, angry residents and some greeted with support of this project were present.

This project is named "Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit Project’s Sungai Buloh-Kajang line". The RM36bil project stretches 51km from Sungai Buloh cutting through major townships skirting into Damansara, the capital of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Cheras and lastly ending in Kajang.

Construction work is expected to begin in July 2011 and will take about five or six years to complete, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak said middle of December 2010 when his cabinet approved the first MRT line.

[more to come when more news being announced in the near future . . .]

My Homecoming this Chinese New Year

2011-01-24T21:07:00.004+08:00

With the Year of the Rabbit in just less than a week away, I am sure many of the Chinese across the globe are gearing towards this festive season. Shopping, spring cleaning, rush to the bank for new banknotes, restaurant bookings, buying raw ingredients, family reunion, etc. it is no wonder everyone seems to be busy and working extra hard before the long break breaks.

As usual, my mum will be extremely busy this time of the year. She probably gets very panic on what else to buy to cook on the Chinese New Year Eve, what else to buy so that exchanging of gifts will not be left out (*hint* She doesn't need to buy, she uses my dad's hamper gifts. I reckon my house is full of hamper. When I say that, probably almost 20 hampers or probably more each year).

As I have missed Chinese New Year twice already for the past two years, this is going to be my homecoming Chinese New Year. I will board my flight back to Kuala Lumpur exactly one week from today. Many people have been speculating about my return. Yes, I will be home for the Year of the Rabbit.

Till then, see you all in Malaysia. To those in Singapore, be ready for my visitation.

Starwood in talks to bring W and aloft to Malaysia

2010-04-14T14:29:00.003+08:00

STARWOOD Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, which owns and operates hotels under nine brands, including Sheraton, Westin and Le Meridien, is in talks to bring two more hotel brands into Malaysia, namely W and aloft.

"We are in two pretty advanced (stage of) discussions in Kuala Lumpur. We are looking at (introducing) a W and an aloft brand," its senior vice-president acquisition and development for Asia Pacific, Matthew Fry, told Business Times in a recent interview in Singapore.

He said one negotiation was for a W hotel and residences that will be built from scratch, and may be ready in four years should the deal be sealed.

"The Kuala Lumpur City Centre and the Bukit Bintang areas are the focus for our W brand," he added.
On its aloft brand, Fry said that there could be one in Malaysia within the next 18 months. The location could be in Kuala Lumpur, Johor or Sabah.

"aloft, basically, has the DNA of, and is the spin-off of W. The hotel measures about 28 sq m compared with a W hotel, which is about 42 sq m to 48 sq m or bigger," he said. "aloft does not have as much public space, and the food and beverage offerings are not as elaborate."

W is described as one which provides the "wow" factor and a holistic lifestyle experience integrated into the brand's sensibility through contemporary restaurant concepts, glamorous nightlife experience and signature spas.

Meanwhile, Fry said that Starwood sees a lot of activities around Johor, especially in the east coast of the state, and would consider this area to have Starwood's representation.

Currently, Starwood operates five hotel brands in Malaysia and has confirmed a sixth - The St Regis.

The hotels operating in Malaysia include Le Meridien Kota Kinabalu, Le Meridien Kuala Lumpur, The Westin Kuala Lumpur and The Westin Langkawi Resort & Spa.

In December 2009, it took over the management of The Andaman in Langkawi from General Hotel Management, and is now operating the property as a Luxury Collection.

The Starwood group also operates the Four Points by Sheraton Kuching and is scheduled to open the Four Points by Sheraton Sandakan in March 2011.

It has also confirmed the opening of The St Regis Hotels and Residences Kuala Lumpur in 2014.

Yet another brand which it operates in Malaysia is the Sheraton Langkawi Beach Resort. It also part owns and manages the Sheraton Imperial Kuala Lumpur.

On plans to divest its stake in Sheraton Imperial Kuala Lumpur, Fry said: "Our long-term strategy is to divest real estate holdings. At one point Starwood owned 190 hotels and we are now down to about high-50s.

"The long-term strategy is to divest our hotel ownership and become more of a management/franchise fee-based business. At one point 80 per cent of our income was from our own hotels and 20 per cent from fees. Our goal is to switch that.

"We are not actively looking (to sell). This particular estate (Sheraton Imperial Kuala Lumpur) has not been discussed," he said.

The hotel is jointly owned by Indonesia's Rajawali group and Starwood.

Bid Farewell to El Bulli

2010-02-13T10:45:00.003+08:00

El Bulli to Close Permanently

By ANDREW FERREN

Sergio Perez/Reuters Ferran Adrià at the International Gastronomy Summit in Madrid in January.

Ferran Adrià, the Catalan chef who for two decades has been the leading catalyst and inspiration for avant-garde cuisine, has decided to permanently close his restaurant El Bulli, considered by many to be the world’s greatest, and to replace it with an academy for advanced culinary study, Mr. Adrià said in an interview on Friday.

In January, Mr. Adrià had said that the restaurant would go on a hiatus starting in 2012 , but that it would reopen in 2014. For many years El Bulli, in the Mediterranean town of Roses, north of Barcelona, closed for half the year so Mr. Adrià and his chefs could spend the off months developing new techniques, like the foams, airs and other culinary wizardry that he has created.

He told The Wall Street Journal at that time that his research would “be focused on sustaining and growing our brand however possible. A brand with goals like ours requires a big capital investment.’’

On Friday he said he decided to close the restaurant for good because he and his partner, Juli Soler, had been losing a half million Euros a year on the restaurant and his cooking workshop in Barcelona.

“At that level of contribution,’’ he said of the losses, “I think we would rather see the money go to something larger that expands the concept and spirit of what El Bulli represents.’’

He said he would use that money — which he earns mostly from consultancies and other businesses — to establish his new academy and to finance scholarships so the world’s most talented cooks can attend.

“We had planned to use the two years to see how El Bulli could evolve,’’ Mr. Adrià said in a telephone interview. “We’ve been looking at many options, but yesterday we decided that the foundation would be the most satisfying.’’

He said of the demands of the restaurant, “at that bestial pace, it would be impossible to continue.’’

Adrià said the academy would be “a place for free thinking and kicking around ideas’’ about food. The El Bulli academy would likely work with many cooking schools around the world and would seek students — perhaps 25 in the first year — who had the highest levels of professional training.

“Throughout the history of El Bulli we’ve made seemingly drastic decisions in order to maintain our level of creativity,’’ he said.

Mr. Adrià, 47, arrived at El Bulli in 1983, when it was a French restaurant. Soon he took charge of the kitchen and by the 1990s it became known as a laboratory for daring innovation.

“Mr. Adrià’s idea, as he describes it, was simply to ‘do new things with old concepts,’’’ Mark Bittman wrote in 2006. “So, seeing chicken curry as a concept and determining to do something that hadn’t been done before, he developed a dish, now famous, in which the sauce is solid and the chicken liquid.’’

In 1997 he won three Michelin stars. He has since been proclaimed by many to be the greatest chef in the world. He has been widely influential in the spread of “molecular gastronomy’’ — a term he has renounced.

The restaurant will reopen for six months on June 15 after its winter break and will close for good in December 2011.

The 3,000 people on the waiting list for one of about four dozen seats, will just have to hope that someday Mr. Adrià will open another restaurant.

He said that has no plans to, but the academy might be open for breakfast, or an occasional lunch. (And he is the director of gastronomy at El Bulli Hacienda Benazuza hotel near Sevilla.)

“Everything new looks strange,’’ Mr. Adrià.

Migrated to http://www.humblerboy.com

2010-02-05T23:42:00.003+08:00

Dear readers, I have successfully migrated my blog from http://humblerboy.blogspot.com to http://www.humblerboy.com as of 5th February 2010.

Also, do check out from time to time for my food review in Adelaide Foodies showcasing the best foods that you mustn't missed out while you are on your holiday trip here in Adelaide, Australia.

Cheers,
William

Top 20 High Performance Schools

2010-02-02T16:09:00.002+08:00

Of recent, the Government of Malaysia under the Education Ministry have came up with a list of schools that are of "High Performance School" list. But of the 20 schools that have been announced recently, it causes uproar amongst many quarters of Malaysians who thinks certain schools are left out even-though they were qualified.

There are even a few states that were not even in the Top 20 of the list at all. Why were there clusters in certain states? How was the evaluation being done? Of that 4 are from Kuala Lumpur, 2 are from each states of Selangor, Johor, Negeri Sembilan, Perak, Kedah respectively and, 1 from each state in Cyberjaya, Perak, Penang, Malacca, Putrajaya, Perlis respectively.

Where is Pahang, Terengganu, Sabah, Sarawak, and Wilayah Persekutuan Labuan? Are they lacking of something? I don't think so. How do they actually evaluate these Top 20 schools? That is what I want to know. How do you judge a school is a High Performance School? That is so subjective to measure how a school is performing well. There may be schools who are performing extremely well, but they are not in the list.

Instead of a High Performance School, why not list the opposite with Top 20 instead? I am sure we are also interested to see such schools in the country.

Such Top 20 High Performance School list would have motivated the Top 20 schools in the country but it doesn't motivate schools who are equally competitive with those on the list. Imagine this would leave other students and even teachers disparity than good. As I have left my high school for approximately 6 years now and is always in the loop with my former alma mater and my batch mates.

I am sure all my 400-odd high school batch mates would disagree with such ratings. It has done more harm than good in my own opinion.

Why spend $20 million by giving to these Top 20 so-called "High Performance Schools?" Spend it on training these teachers who complained "Saya tak fasih Bahasa Inggeris lah. Tak boleh ajar Sains & Matematik dalam bahasa Inggeris". Go spend on them on training.

My friend BITES OFF her bf's NIPPLE during ahem

2010-01-30T01:31:00.005+08:00

I nearly fall off from my chair laughing at this but I can't help but to blog about this. Approximately 3:30am on 30th January 2010 (to be specific, Adelaide, Australia's time), I suddenly received a phone call. I thought what happened.

My friend told me that she accidentally bite off here boyfriend's nipple during *ahem* just now. So, since was panicked and didn't know what to do, she called me up asking what to do next.

My answer was: WTF? Go to hospital lah, what else? You want him to bleed to death is it.

Lesson to learn guys: Go slow, don't be too excited. That nipple is fragile and not your regular KFC fried chicken ok.

World's Best Restaurant: Reservations Get Tougher

2010-01-30T00:36:00.001+08:00

Given the excitement surrounding the press conference in Madrid on Tuesday, you'd have thought that Jennifer Aniston were announcing that she and Brad Pitt had gotten back together. But no. Here at Madrid Fusion, an annual international culinary conference, the news is all about chefs, and no news is bigger than that of Ferran Adrià, the chef of elBulli, reputedly the best restaurant — and the toughest reservation — in the world. To the accompaniment of dozens of flashing cameras and a live feed for Spain's main television channel, one of the masters of the culinary universe declared that he would be closing his restaurant to the public for two years beginning in 2012.

It's not a definitive end to the restaurant that has been voted the best in the world five times (including in 2009) by Restaurant magazine, the recognized arbiter of such things. Adrià and his team will still be working at elBulli, developing ideas and trying to figure out what comes next. But he says the restaurant's current format is finished. "When we come back in 2014, it's not going to be the same," Adrià says.

Although rumors of elBulli's closing have circulated for years, the news still came as a mild earthquake in culinary circles. Frequently referred to as the founder of molecular gastronomy — a term the chef himself reviles — Adrià and his team have revolutionized modern cuisine with their constant search for new techniques and ingredients. In their hands, olive oil has been "spherified" until it takes on the shape and texture of caviar, and Gorgonzola cheese has been transformed with liquid nitrogen into a frozen globe that looked like nothing so much as a dinosaur egg. Dinner at elBulli, which consists of 30 or so courses, is a unique experience that has diners routinely laughing in delighted surprise at the new sensations provoked by the food on their plate.

The lucky few diners, one should say. Eight thousand people get reservations at elBulli each year, a mere fraction of the million who request them. (The restaurant is open only about half the year.) Indeed, despite its 230-euro price tag, dinner at every table for the six months that the restaurant is open is assigned in a single day. And now that it's clear that this year's reservations lottery may well be elBulli's penultimate, the number of gourmands clamoring to get in will surely grow.

The change will bring other sacrifices as well: Adrià and his team will have to relinquish their three Michelin stars, for example, and no one knows how they'll pay for the two years of inquiry without customers to finance them. But citing a desire to spend more time with his family, the chef says he needs a break from serving food to figure out what comes next. "We still want to be creating in 2020," he says, "but for that to be possible, we have to normalize our lives."

Adrià refused to speculate on what elBulli will be like once the two years are over, emphasizing repeatedly that at this point, he has no set plans. He did suggest, however, that although elBulli would once again feed customers, research would likely take on a greater priority than cooking. And he joked — if it was indeed a joke — that in whatever new outfit he comes up with, he might just have one table.

When journalists in the crowded room pressed him for more details, he cut them off. "Our challenge is just this," he said. "To find out if there's anything beyond what we've already done."

Abend is working on The Sorcerer's Apprentices (Free Press), a book about the young cooks who each year come from around the world to work in elBulli's kitchen.

Polish priest checks fingerprints for mass attendance

2010-01-29T22:26:00.001+08:00

WARSAW (Reuters) - A Polish priest has installed an electronic reader in his church for schoolchildren to leave their fingerprints in order to monitor their attendance at mass, the Gazeta Wyborcza daily said on Friday.

The pupils will mark their fingerprints every time they go to church over three years and if they attend 200 masses they will be freed from the obligation of having to pass an exam prior to their confirmation, the paper said.

The pupils in the southern town of Gryfow Slaski told the daily they liked the idea and also the priest, Grzegorz Sowa, who invented it.

"This is comfortable. We don't have to stand in a line to get the priest's signature (confirming our presence at the mass) in our confirmation notebooks," said one pupil, who gave her name as Karolina.

Poland is perhaps the most devoutly Roman Catholic country in Europe today and churches are regularly packed on Sundays.

May God save Brangelina's (Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie) marriage

2010-01-28T22:58:00.002+08:00

Pitt's mother steps in to help save Brangelina's relationship

Brad Pitt's mother is desperately trying to help save her son's relationship with Angelina Jolie.

Family counsellor Jane Pitt - who is famously close to her son's ex-wife Jennifer Aniston - is keen for the couple to repair their five-year union for the sake of their six children - three adopted children, Maddox, 8, Pax, 6, and Zahara, 5, and three biological children, Shiloh, 3, and 18-month-old twins Knox and Vivienne.

A source told the Daily Mail website: “Brad is trying to cling on to the wreckage of the relationship as he is still very much in love with Angelina and believes they can make it work.

“Jane wants what is best for her son and grandchildren and Angie has agreed to meet her. She has stuck at her own marriage and worked with families for 30 years trying to keep them together.”

Jane Pitt believes her skills as a mediator will come in useful when speaking to Jolie to whom she has become close in recent months thanks to their joint work in setting up a cancer centre.

It was recently reported that Brad Pitt and Jolie were heading for a separation after signing a legal document that split their $US330 million ($365 million) fortune and custody of their children equally.

However, sources close to the couple denied this and insisted “everything was fine” between them.

Friends also said the couple were planning to attend the Oscars together in March and had already started planning their outfits.

One friend said: "Angelina and Brad are still very much together. They're even in the process of planning out their Oscar outfits. Brad wanted to make sure he didn't clash with Angelina, who's putting some serious thought into her choices. They are still a couple.”

Pitt and Jolie - who has been married twice before - got together after meeting on the set of the film Mr and Mrs Smith in 2004, while he was still married to Aniston.

Driver watching PORN when he rammed into car

2010-01-28T13:45:00.000+08:00

BUFFALO (New York): State police say a truck driver was watching pornographic movies on his laptop computer when his rig struck a disabled car on the New York State Thruway near Buffalo last month, killing the driver.

Thomas Wallace of Ohio was arrested Tuesday. He’s been charged with second-degree manslaughter in the death of 33-year-old Julie Stratton, a mother of two from a Buffalo suburb.

The 45-year-old Wallace was being held in Genesee County Jail on Wednesday. It was unknown whether he had an attorney.

Investigators say Wallace also violated federal trucking rules by sleeping no more than four of 27 hours before the crash.

Stratton’s car was struck soon after she called police to report she’d hit a deer east of Buffalo. -- AP

Australian Open 2010: Roger Federer is through to Semi-Finals

2010-01-27T17:53:00.003+08:00

Australian Open 2010: Roger Federer beats Nikolay Davydenko to reach semi-finals

World No 1 Roger Federer recovered from a set down to overcome his recent tormentor Nikolay Davydenko 2-6, 6-3, 6-0, 7-5 and continue his remarkable run of reaching grand slam semi-finals.

Davydenko had beaten Federer in their previous two meetings and began confidently to roll through the opening set before grabbing an early break in the second.

The Russian had all the momentum, but Federer responded to the challenge in emphatic style as he peeled off the next 13 consecutive games and leave his Russian opponent stunned.

Davydenko, who had won his previous 13 matches, regained his composure to briefly threaten in the fourth set, but again Federer withstood the challenge to book his place in a record 23rd consecutive grand slam semi-final.

"I've played him many times and I know he goes through phases although they weren't a notch on what he did in that first set." Federer said.

"I just tried to stay positive. I wasn't playing bad but he was just playing so well.

"It was obviously a bit of a surprise to come back that great because obviously he has been on an incredible run."

The Swiss also revealed he had used a toilet break to his advantage at the end of the first set after Davydenko had broken him twice to take the initiative.

"I was having problems with the sun in my eyes also in the opening set," Federer said.

"I was waiting for it to move. I never use my toilet breaks so I thought I will use it and I hoped that maybe in that time the sun would move maybe one centimetre, maybe three.

"It might have been one point that it affected, but maybe that is important in the end."

His relief break did not work immediately as Davydenko again broke and went 3-1 ahead before the Swiss reeled off the next 13 games in a row.

The run handed Federer the second and third sets as well as a break in the fourth.

Davydenko had gone an hour without winning a game when he held to love and then broke to level at 3-3.

But after the players traded breaks again, and Federer failed to serve out the match, the Swiss finally landed the final blow with a cross-court winner.

Source: http://tinyurl.com/yggkb6r

A Lion Won't Cheat Its Wife But a TIGER WOOD

2010-01-26T21:39:00.003+08:00

Well, it's the time of the year again. It's the 2nd cycle of my life. It's the Year of the Tiger (Year 2010). This Lunar New Year marks the beginning of the Year of the Tiger and it coincidentally falls on 14th February 2010 which is also Valentine's Day.

For the 2nd year in the row, I have been missing the opportunity to toss the "Yee Sang" ("lou sang" in Chinese) but ironically, this dish is only found in Malaysia or Singapore. It's not a dish where you will find it in other parts of China or any Chinese speaking nations. Well, it is alright. I shall be back for THE YEAR OF THE RABBIT 2011.

YEAR OF THE RABBIT 2011
3rd February 2011 - 22nd January 2012

Of Religion vs. McDonaldisation

2010-01-25T20:14:00.007+08:00

How would McDonald's have changed our lives over the years? Since the existence of Golden Arches in Malaysia, I remember that my not so well-to-do father only took me there once in a blue moon when I was young but nowadays, McDonaldisation have changed us Malaysians. We can practically sit there through the night till the wee hours of the morning for their breakfast studying, using their Wi-Fi and refilling our drinks - all for a cup of Regular Coke and a Medium French Fries. That is just sufficient. But that's not what I am going to tell you here.

I'm sure all of us remember the stampede that took place back in the year 2000 in which McDonald's Singapore introduces the Hello Kitty, now they are back again, not with the kittens anymore but with animals.

Of recent McDonald's in Singapore were place on the griller not over their beef patties but over the "pig zodiac" toys in which they wish to introduce in their Happy Meal. A set of 12-zodiac toys were introduced namely: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and CUPID!!! The missing animal which supposed to be the Pig was purposely left out for fear it might offend their Muslim customers.

According to the Straits Times, the fast food chain was apologetic about the initial decision to yank the pig character. McDonald’s Restaurants communications director Linda Ming said the chain excluded the pig toy out of sensitivity for its Muslim customers and chose Cupid instead to commemorate Valentine’s Day, which coincides with the first day of the Chinese New Year this year, on Feb 14. "We seek our customers' understanding that it has never been our intention to be disrespectful towards any religion or culture."

But the damage is already done. Blogs and forums are already calling it an overreaction and experts say it showed a lack of cross-cultural understanding. Sociologist Daniel Goh said that if McDonald’s did not consult Muslim opinions before making the decision to exclude the pig toy, the company had then assumed Muslim sensibilities, which amounted to a form of self-censorship.

Dr Mohamad Maznah, a visiting senior research fellow with the Asia Research Institute at the National University of Singapore (NUS), said to the Straits Times that she felt the restaurant was just being cautious, although she doubted the Muslim community here would have been upset if the pig toy had been included. Dr Syed Muhd Khairudin Aljunied, an assistant professor of Malay Studies at NUS, said, "Pigs and dogs are not non-halal, except when they are consumed."

Pope Benedict XVI is blogging

2010-01-24T20:43:00.004+08:00

Pope to priests: Go forth and blog

VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI has a new commandment for priests struggling to get their message across: Go forth and blog.

The pope, whose own presence on the Web has heavily grown in recent years, urged priests on Saturday to use all multimedia tools at their disposal to preach the Gospel and engage in dialogue with people of other religions and cultures.

And just using e-mail or surfing the Web is often not enough: Priests should use cutting-edge technologies to express themselves and lead their communities, Benedict said in a message released by the Vatican.

"The spread of multimedia communications and its rich 'menu of options' might make us think it sufficient simply to be present on the Web," but priests are "challenged to proclaim the Gospel by employing the latest generation of audiovisual resources," he said.

The message, prepared for the World Day of Communications, suggests such possibilities as images, videos, animated features, blogs, and Web sites.

Benedict said young priests should become familiar with new media while still in seminary, though he stressed that the use of new technologies must reflect theological and spiritual principles.

"Priests present in the world of digital communications should be less notable for their media savvy than for their priestly heart, their closeness to Christ," he said.

The 82-year-old pope has often been wary of new media, warning about what he has called the tendency of entertainment media, in particular, to trivialize sex and promote violence, while lamenting that the endless stream of news can make people insensitive to tragedies.

But Benedict has also praised new ways of communicating as a "gift to humanity" when used to foster friendship and understanding.

The Vatican has tried hard to keep up to speed with the rapidly changing field.

Last year it opened a YouTube channel as well as a portal dedicated to the pope. The Pope2You site gives news on the pontiff's trips and speeches and features a Facebook application that allows users to send postcards with photos of Benedict and excerpts from his messages to their friends.

Many priests and top prelates already interact with the faithful online. One of Benedict's advisers, Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, the archbishop of Naples, has his own Facebook profile and so does Cardinal Roger Mahony, archbishop of Los Angeles.

In Saturday's message — titled "The priest and pastoral ministry in a digital world: new media at the service of the Word" — Benedict urged special care in contacts with other cultures and beliefs.

A presence on the Web, "precisely because it brings us into contact with the followers of other religions, nonbelievers and people of every culture, requires sensitivity to those who do not believe, the disheartened and those who have a deep, unarticulated desire for enduring truth and the absolute," he said.

Monsignor Claudio Maria Celli, who heads the Vatican's social communications office, said that Benedict's words aimed to encourage reflection in the church on the positive uses of new media.

"That doesn't mean that (every priest) must open a blog or a Web site. It means that the church and the faithful must engage in this ministry in a digital world," Celli told reporters. "At some point, a balance will be found."

Celli, 68, said that young priests would have no trouble following the pope's message, but, he joked, "those who have a certain age will struggle a bit more."

Source: Pope to priest: Go forth and blog

Check out also Pope2you, a website on Pope Benedict XVI's blogging

Not one but THREE Funerals

2010-01-23T19:32:00.002+08:00

How would you feel when some you loved and being close is gone? Death in fact is inevitable. I'm sure many of us have seen deaths taking place in our lives. But as I was indulge in a conversation with one of the bloggers early the wee hours of my day (at about 4am Australian Time), he told me that his day was bad as he has THREE separate funerals to attend.

With the news was being related to me, I had a sudden uneasy feeling over me and my gastric juice was being pumped up. How would you take it if two of your friends who were in Haiti volunteering in distributing foods and drinks to the victims of the earthquake became the victim of violent or stampede?

In this case, the two friends who were volunteering, distributed foods and drinks to the locals, beaten them up on their heads (I presume repeatedly) till they were dead. I guess when such catastrophe takes place, it doesn't matter anymore, you will snatch whatever food or drinks that you can find. You have to fight in order to survive.

My condolences to you and the family of your friends (I shall not name the name of the blogger here). Thank you for understanding.

The Controversial Sultan of Johor dies

2010-01-22T22:58:00.003+08:00

JOHOR BARU: The Sultan of Johor, Sultan Iskandar Ibni Almarhum Sultan Ismail, passed away at the Puteri Specialist Hospital here at 7.08pm on Friday. He was 77 years old.

He will be laid to rest at the Royal Mausoleum at 2pm on Saturday. Members of the public can pay their respects at the Istana Besar from 9am 10.30am, while dignitaries can do so from 11am to noon.

He was admitted earlier Friday due to an unspecified illness.

Sultan Iskandar was born on April 8, 1932 in Johor Baru and became Sultan on May 11, 1981. He was also the eighth Yang Di-Pertuan Agong, from April 26, 1984 until April 25, 1989.

Two hours before his death, the Tengku Mahkota of Johor Tunku Ibrahim Ismail was appointed the Regent.

News about the Sultan not being well had surfaced Thursday night. Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman cut short his trip to India with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and returned by 6pm on Friday.

The first to visit the Sultan in the morning was the Sultan and Tengku Mahkota of Pahang, who arrived by helicopter, while former prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi visited him at about 3.40pm.

By then, the press and a large group of members of the public were waiting at the lobby of the hospital. Media offices were inundated with calls from people who wanted to know about the sultan’s condition.

Tunku Ibrahim Ismail and the Raja Muda of Johor Tunku Ismail Idris Tunku Ibrahim Ismail left the hospital at 4.40pm.

The swearing-in of the regent was held soon after at the Istana Besar here.

Source: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/1/22/nation/20100122173117&sec=nation

On Twitter

by Datuk Paduka Marina Mahathir
Ok this time it's true. Sultan Iskandar of Johor passed on around maghrib this evening. Will be buried after zohor tomorrow. Alfatihah.

Stop Complaining - Eat What You Have

2010-01-21T12:24:00.005+08:00

HAITI EARTHQUAKES - 7.0 & 6.1-Magnitude

If you think you want to have a rib-eye steak for dinner or your favourite nasi lemak ayam rendang with your spicy sambal, stop being so fussy and eat what's in front of you.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - Approximately 8 days after the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake of 7.0 on the Ritcher's scale that kills 200,000 people, leaving an estimated of 2 million people to be homeless and tens and thousands injured everywhere, the nation once again was shook with another earthquake of 6.1 on the Ritcher's scale.

What was really needed is food, drinks, clothes to cover themselves, money to build their homes, medical aides and many more. We are so blessed to have everything at present. Even if there's anyone approaching you for donations, give generously without any questions. You are helping a life that is in need or in danger.

Haiti's main hospital is open again, but there are no doctors and few medical supplies and wailing injured earthquake victims litter the grounds, waiting for treatment on makeshift beds.

On the other hand, the United Nations also said that the body of Haiti mission chief Hedi Annabi has been found in the rubble of its headquarters in Port-au-Prince, which collapsed in the earthquake.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the bodies of Annabi's deputy, Luiz Carlos da Costa, and the acting police commissioner, Doug Coates, have also been found.

LIVE & INSPIRE: Dato Seri' Abdul Wahid Omar

2010-01-15T01:38:00.008+08:00

For the past half year or so, Live & Inspire has changed many human beings lives be it an overnight inspiration to something in which it can be use in a long-run. A team of young Malaysians who founded this whole idea of Live & Inspire by accident who now finds purposes in what they do.

Thus, every Thursday night for a short stint of one hour or so, they bring you bite size content, interesting and interactive sessions that add value to human potential and personal growth. The session focuses on the examples of ordinary people who have lived the extraordinary.

Thursday, 14th January 2010
Dato Seri' Abdul Wahid Omar, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Maybank

Dato’ Sri Abdul Wahid bin Omar is the President and CEO of Maybank, Malaysia’s largest banking group, since May 2008. He is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (UK) and a Member of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants.

Maybank is the third large organisation that he has led as CEO. Prior to joining Maybank, he was Group Chief Executive Officer of Telekom Malaysia Berhad from July 2004. He was formerly Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of UEM Group Berhad and UEM World Berhad as well as Executive Vice Chairman of PLUS Expressways Berhad.

Dato’ Sri Abdul Wahid had also served at Telekom Malaysia Berhad as Chief Financial Officer in 2001. Born 9 out of 11 children in the family, Dato Seri' had a tough beginning in his life. Prior to his acceptance in Maybank, he was with Telekom Malaysia. He added that "Leaders are not born and it applies the same to me. Each and every one of us . . . even you have a chance to become a leader."Of course every leader would have his / her visionar(ies) but Dato Seri' noted that "A visionary, an inspiring person, knowledgeable, a person open and prepared to learn from team members.

Growing together with Maybank

Since the inception of Maybank on 31st May 1960, the group grew from a local community bank with only 30 branches to 1,750 branches all across South and South East Asia alone. Back in the 60s, Dato Seri mentioned that Maybank was more of a "Kopitiam bank" which was pretty much not alien to many of us. Banking wasn't a trustable tool by many. They're afraid that the bank will cheat their longterm savings and it took a long time before the peole are convince to save their monies in the bank. He added that "No corporation can claimed to be a Regional Leader if their home base is not stable." This is very true especially if Maybank wants to be top in the region, they have to first convince their locals.

Q & A Session with Dato Seri' Abdul Wahid Omar

Question 1
Q: What sparked your interest in finances?
A: I come from a poor background, so money was an issue. One time he asked his mother RM 10 to buy the scouts uniform. Unfortunately they could not afford it and it was then he wanted to create changes so that they didn't live in poverty anymore.

Question 2
Q: If you have a chance to turn back the clock 20 years ago, what would you do to correct your mistakes or what you would have done that you really want to do?
A: I have made mistake before but what is important is for me to learn from them. Some of them are personal in nature and some of them are from my career. I don't have any regrets. I'm so blessed in my life.

Question 3
Q: Looking at the poorer education system in the country, it has changed trumendously over the years, how are we convince to send our younger generations to study with the current education system?
A: I went through a government education system. Many of my management colleagues went to local universities. There are challenges, however I don't think we should generalize that the local educational system are bad. I think we should stop complaining about how bad the school system is here, and do something about it ...to make it better.

To end the night . . .

It was an eventful night of many people from all walks of life including a Senator attending the talk to young entrepreneurs who are the backbone of the future nation. Dato Seri' Abdul Wahid Omar concluded that "I learn a lot of my leadership skills on the job I've been blessed to work with a lot of inspiring people."

LIVE & INSPIRE
w: http://www.liveandinspire.com/
t: http://twitter.com/live_n_inspire (@live_n_inspire)

Astro B.yond Bloggers Night Out

2010-01-14T00:44:00.013+08:00

Greetings once again my fellow readers. Allow me to welcome all of you once again to my blog. Yes, I have disappeared here and there for the whole 2009 but I have decided to spice up my blog by popular demand from many of my blogger friends.
To kick off the year 2010, I have decided to begin my year with ASTRO B.yond Malaysian Bloggers Event. Blogging has gone beyond its distance that it certainly becomes the world's next source of communication in the media industry. It was a mid-week evening where approximately 200-bloggers were treated with an evening of fun, food and friends at Modesto's, Desa Sri Hartamas - but certainly it was the night where ASTRO wants the bloggers to be amongst the first to witness Malaysia's First High Definition Television Commercial for Astro B.yond.Since the inception of technology, Malaysian multimedia industry has evolved trumendously and today Astro prides to be the nation's number one High Definition (HD) broadcast. It will also change TV viewing experience with richer colours, picture-perfect clarity and cinematic surround sound. Of course, Malaysia is way behind many developed nations in introducing HD experience but nevertheless we were not the last to enjoy it.

According to Mr. Henry Tan, the Chief Operating Officer of Astro, he says that "it is undeniable that the bloggers are game changers as their nimbleness and the lack of pretense of their work drawfed and humbled media giants." He further quips that "underlying the success of blogging, we have all learned that it is people who are killer app for the internet age and with Astro B.yond, we are changing the game too.

The Astro B.yond Bloggers Night also saw the premiere of the Astro B.yond TV commercial in High Definition (HD) for Astro B.yond. This television commercial is one of the longest in Malaysian television commercial history with approximately 2.30 minutes. This commercial will be broadcasted in HD and Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound on the four HD channels on Astro - ASTRO Supersport HD (Ch 831), HBO HD (Ch 431), National Geographic Channel HD (Ch 573) and HISTORY HD (Ch 575) and followed by ESPN HD (Ch 832) in January 2010.

Dear all, stay tune for more pictures to come soon from the event. Awaiting some hi-resolution photos to come in.

RIP Yasmin Ahmad (1958 - 2009)

2009-07-26T01:10:00.003+08:00

Takziah kepada seisi keluarga Yasmin Ahmad. One of the greatest modern film director, Yasmin Ahmad suffered stroke recently and has passed away in Damansara Medical Centre this evening.

We will mourn your loss Yasmin. Thank you very much for your inspiring movies; Sepet and Gubra as well as the short video clips on every festive season in which you have directed for Petronas. Thank you once again and may you rest in peace.

Al Fatihah.

McDonald’s loses court battle against McCurry

2009-04-29T20:40:00.002+08:00

Published: Wednesday April 29, 2009 MYT 6:27:00 PM

PUTRAJAYA: Fast food chain McDonald’s Wednesday lost its exclusivity to the use of the prefix “Mc” when the Court of Appeal here allowed a local Indian food outlet, McCurry Restaurant, to use “Mc” in its business signage.

Appeal Court judges Datuk Gopal Sri Ram (now Federal Court judge), who sat with Justices Datuk Heliliah Mohd Yusof and Datuk Sulong Matjeraie, held that there was no evidence to show that McCurry Restaurant of Jalan Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur, was passing off McDonald’s business as its own.

“Where the learned judge, with respect, erred is to assume that McDonald’s had a monopoly in the use of the prefix ‘Mc’ on a signage or in the conduct of business.

“In my judgment, the irresistible inference to be drawn from the totality of the evidence is that McCurry’s Restaurant signboard would not result in reasonable persons associating McCurry with the McDonald’s mark.

“For the reasons given, I would allow McCurry Restaurant’s appeal and reverse the findings of the learned judge,” said Sri Ram in his 18-page written judgement.

He said the fact that McCurry Restaurant chose the name “McCurry,” could not, by itself, lead to the inference that it sought to obtain an unfair advantage from the usage of the prefix “Mc.”

“You have to look at the plaintiff’s (McDonald’s) getup or logo as a whole ... it consists of a distinctive golden arched ‘M’ with the word, McDonald’s, against a red background.

“The defendant’s (McCurry) signboard carried the words ‘Restoran McCurry’ with the lettering in white and grey on a red background with a picture of a chicken giving a double thumbsup and with the wording, ‘Malaysian Chicken Curry.’

“Thus, the defendant’s presentation of its business is in a style and getup which is distinctly different from that of the plaintiff,” said Sri Ram, adding that none of the food items on the menu card served at McCurry Restaurant carried the prefix ‘Mc’ unlike the items of food available at McDonald’s.

“It would have been different if McCurry Restaurant had offered to its customers, items that were labelled either the same as or similar to those sold by McDonald’s, for example McFish or McLamb,” he said.

Sri Ram also said that the type of food available at a McDonald’s outlet was very different as it served fast food whereas McCurry catered only typically Indian food.

“There is evidence to show that the type of customers who patronise the defendant’s outlet is very different from those who patronise the plaintiff’s several outlets,” he said, adding that the former was patronised by adults and senior citizens while the latter was mainly by children.

On Sept 7, 2006, the High Court held that the McDonald’s fast food chain, a household name among children, had the exclusive right to the prefix “Mc” and ordered McCurry Restaurant (KL) Sdn Bhd to pay damages to McDonald’s Corporation, the proprietor of the McDonald’s chain of restaurants.

In her ruling, Justice Siti Mariah Ahmad said by using the words “McCurry” and employing a signage which featured colours that were distinctive of McDonald’s, McCurry Restaurant was indulging in acts that could give rise to confusion and deception.

McDonald’s, in its statement of claim, said it created the prefix “Mc” as a trademark and that with the usage of the prefix “Mc,” together with the word “Curry,” McCurry Restaurant, which was formerly known as Restoran Penang Curry House (KL) Sdn Bhd, had misrepresented itself as being associated with McDonald’s business.

McCurry Restaurant, in its defence, contended that McDonald’s could not claim monopoly or exclusive rights to the use of the prefix “Mc,” as that prefix was extensively used around the world as surnames, particularly by people of Scottish origin.

McCurry Restaurant said the menu was essentially Malaysian and Indian cuisine consisting of teh tarik, roti canai, nasi lemak, nasi briyani, fish head curry, chicken tandorri, naan bread, tosai, chappati and various chicken and mutton curry dishes, which were totally different from those available in McDonald’s restaurants which comprise food typically found in western food restaurants such as burgers and french fries.

McDonald’s was represented by counsel S.F. Wong while counsel Sri Dev Nair appeared for McCurry. -- Bernama

RAHMAN vs. MAHATHIR Prophecy

2009-03-29T00:47:00.002+08:00

Dear folks,

The prophecy of RAHMAN has been fulfilled. Any Malaysians would probably know that RAHMAN acronyms stands for the names of all the six Prime Ministers of Malaysia.

R - Yang Teramat Mulia Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra al-Haj (First Prime Minister of Malaysia)
A - Yang Amat Berbahagia Tun Abdul Razak (2nd Prime Minister of Malaysia)
H - YABhg Tun Hussein Onn (3rd Prime Minister of Malaysia)
M - YABhg Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohammad (4th Prime Minister of Malaysia)
A - Yang Amat Berhormat Datuk Seri Hj. Abdullah Hj. Ahmad Badawi (5th Prime Minister of Malaysia)
N - Yang Amat Berhormat Datuk Seri Mohd. Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak (6th Prime Minister of Malaysia)

Thus, as I would forecast the next prophecy will probably be the MAHATHIR's Prophecy. It is my own personal forecast after studying the 59th UMNO General Assembly's results lineup in Najib's team.

M - Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin (7th Prime Minister of Malaysia ???)
A - Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi
H - Datuk Seri Hishammudin Tun Hussein Onn
A - Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal
T - ???
H - ???
I - ???
R - ???

I cannot foresee if such forecast will work on this new prophecy of MAHATHIR but if you are able to fill in the gaps, please do let me know.

My article in The Advertiser, Adelaide

2009-03-24T16:47:00.002+08:00

Dear readers, this is the article in which I was featured in The Advertiser newspaper in Adelaide, Australia.

* * * * *

Lost in translation

LAUREN NOVAK CALLIE WATSON

March 24, 2009 12:00am

South Australia has set targets to attract more international students but are we doing enough to integrate foreign scholars and capitalise on the qualities they bring to our state?

LAST year, more than 27,700 international students made a temporary home in South Australia to pursue their education.

They bring cultural variety, money and possible future skills to the state and its campuses and, by 2014, Education Adelaide hopes to boost the state's international student population to 62,000.

However, there are concerns the state is failing to capitalise on its influx of foreign students who, with proper support and incentives, could remain in SA as skilled workers of the future.

There are also concerns that the young people who travel here do not get the most out of their Aussie experience and that they have trouble integrating with the community and making friends with local students.

Universities Australia chief executive Glenn Withers said tertiary institutions were making an effort to improve the experiences of foreign students, but more needs to be done.

"It's something that is being taken increasingly seriously, particularly with how classes are being treated," he said. Dr Withers said many students from overseas also struggled to find part-time work to support themselves as they complete their degree. "What we really need is to make it easier for them to get a job that provides a few hours of work and is linked in with their studies," he said.

Adelaide cannot afford to be complacent about its efforts.

"Not only is there competition within Australia from Melbourne, Sydney and Perth, but universities in France and Germany are now teaching in English to attract international students."

A recent survey by Education Adelaide and the Adelaide City Council showed international students in SA found it difficult to mix with the local community and other Australian university students.

Of the foreign students who said they lived in share housing between 2004 and 2008, 70 per cent lived only with other international students. Overall, the visitors were dissatisfied with public transport and the proximity of housing to shops and the city. However, earlier research in the four fastest growing international student markets of China, India, Vietnam and South Korea, found the overall perception of Adelaide to be positive.

Many potential students related quality of education with Adelaide, which ranked third as a learning destination for potential students behind Sydney and Melbourne. Research also found students who preferred Adelaide nominated its quality of education, safety and better cost of living.

An audit of the University of Adelaide by the Australian Universities Quality Agency found it was to be commended for programs and frameworks it had developed, such as its International Student Centre. But it still faced the problem of melding its foreign and domestic student body. "One of the most urgent matters for the university to address is the social and cultural integration of international and domestic students," the 2008 audit said.

UNISA received an overall thumbs up for its efforts to grow and support its international student body. A 2006 audit of Flinders found international students had stronger academic progress than domestic students, though "some concerns were expressed (by students) including around enrolment and grievance systems".

Adelaide University Union president Lavinia Emmett-Grey said there was national recognition that foreign students needed ongoing support after O-Week.

"Their needs are a lot greater (because) they're not just coping with university issues but settling in to the city and finding accommodation too," she said.

Ms Emmett-Grey said international students were "far more willing to get involved" in campus activities than domestic students. "The thing that concerns me is that there's not a reciprocity from domestic students to engage them back," she said. "The domestic students don't want to break down the cultural divides."

Ms Emmett-Grey said international students also had particular problems with some educational requirements and "responsibilities". "(For example), a lot of students don't understand what plagiarism means," she said.

William Ng, 23, moved from Malaysia to Adelaide in January to complete a Masters in International Hospitality Management at UniSA and decided to also take on a mentor role to other international students. He said he acts as a "big brother" for those struggling to cope with Australian life.

"I spend a bit of time consoling my friends, some of whom cry almost every night," he said.

"I've spent a bit of time holidaying in Australia and I came here for World Youth Day in Sydney last year, but they are just not coping. I tell them that they will get to go home, they're not here forever.

"There is support, but probably not enough on the one-on-one basis; they feel as though they've got no one to talk to." He added: "Some of my friends said 'why go to such a boring place', you should be in Sydney or Melbourne, but I didn't have much of a choice." Mr Ng said "definite barrier" existed between local and international students.

"Generally Asian students are timid when it comes to mingling, so you can't solely blame the unis or locals, but maybe more could be done to help integrate," he said.

For Anders Stridh, 25, the biggest challenge in moving from Sweden to Adelaide a month ago was finding accommodation.

"We started looking on the Saturday, in the suburbs, but it was all a bit too far from uni," he said. "I started to worry a little about where I was going to end up, but it's worked out OK." Mr Stridh, who studies several law-related subjects at UniSA, found a room at UniLodge on Hindley St.

THE UniLodge, which can house up to 430 students, has developed a Community Spirit program to integrate students and promote self esteem and confidence. This includes encouraging activities from barbecues to tours of South Australia to having access to counsellors.

Group general manager for marketing and communications Karen Vanderpols said students can struggle with a feeling of isolation.

"Some tend to just stay in their apartments - they are not confident about things," she said. Nationally, the number of enrolled international students rose by a record 20.7 per cent last year to 543,898 - the largest increase since 2002 and the first time international enrolments have exceeded 500,000 in a calendar year. Most students, 127,276 of them, were from China.

International education contributed $14.2 billion to the economy in 2007-08, making it Australia's third-largest export behind coal and iron ore.

National Union of Students president David Barrow said universities needed to stop looking at pupils from overseas as "cash cows" and start valuing what they can add not just to a campus, but to society.

"They see them with a price tag attached, but they need to be treated with the same respect that we treat our own Australian students," he said.

Mr Barrow said while some students may initially feel like returning home, pressure from their families and financial commitments meant they were more likely to stay and finish their degrees in Australia.

The Thai-born acting president of Adelaide University's Overseas Student Association, Aushim Merchant, moved to Adelaide as a 17-year-old two years ago and said overseas students should try to accept cultural differences and learn English.

"I know what I found hardest at first was, where I came from there was no alcohol at all, but Australians have a pretty big appreciation for it," he said.

"Everywhere I went was beer, beer, beer, and I thought to myself 'oh my god'.

"But you need to come with an open mind and realise that things will be different. If you don't, then that's when you can end up a bit secluded."

MALAYSIAN WINS MICHELIN STAR RESTAURANT

2009-01-20T13:30:00.009+08:00

Michelin first for Malaysian restaurant in London

By CHOI TUCK WO

LONDON: A Malaysian-owned restaurant here has bagged the world-renowned Michelin Star award – believed to be the first for the country.

For Bernard Yeoh of Kai Mayfair Restaurant here, this is the biggest Chinese New Year ang pow and a 15-year dream come true.

“I have been trying to win this award from the day we opened in 1993,” said the Penang-born restaurateur, famed for his soup – Buddha Jumps Over The Wall (touted to be the world’s most expensive soup) which costs £108 (RM606) per bowl.

Winning combination: Yeoh (left) and Chow posing for photos in the Kai Mayfair Restaurant kitchen in London.

Kai Mayfair is the only Chinese restaurant here to win the Michelin Star this year, the highest honour for a restaurant.

Yeoh, 39, said the official recognition from the Michelin Guide 2009 could not have come at a better time due to the economically tough year ahead.

Yeoh said when he found out the restaurant had bagged the prestigious award, it was “one minute of complete elation and five minutes of relief.”

“From now on, it will be 365 days of stress in ensuring we keep to our standards to avoid losing the award next year,” he said, in describing the anonymous visits by food inspectors to evaluate the restaurant on a range of criteria.

He said his staff were surprised when a customer introduced herself as a Michelin inspector and asked to interview the chef and inspect the kitchen last October.

“It was a spot check and you have no time to do anything. She saw the kitchen as it was, spending more than an hour interviewing the staff and watching how food was prepared,” he added.

Yeoh said their success was also a reflection of the general standard of Malaysian-owned restaurants which were increasingly making a mark in the world.

Head chef Alex Chow, from Kuala Lumpur, described the award as the biggest achievement in his 23-year career.

“It certainly is a bullish start to the new year,” he said, in thanking his family for their support and Yeoh for giving him the opportunity to establish his culinary cuisine here four years ago.

Chow, who has 10 chefs under him, said that his advice for upcoming chefs was that they must cook from the heart and give their best to satisfy customers.

_________________

Some facts about Kai Mayfair Restaurant:

Kai Mayfair
65 South Audley Street, London, W1K 2QU

Cuisine:	Chinese
Times:	Mon - Fri 12pm - 2:30pm & 6:30pm - 11pm Sat 6:30pm - 11pm Sun 6:30pm - 10:30pm
Dress code:	Casual
Station:	Bond Street
Payment:	All major credit cards accepted
Capacity:	95
Av. price:	£55 - £64

Critic Reviews of Kai Mayfair:

	Hardens rated it Very Good The ""de luxe"" décor may not be to all tastes, but this ""formal"" Mayfair oriental continues to impress reporters... full review \| all Hardens reviews
	London Eating full review
	Square Meal After three years in charge, executive chef Alex Chow is starting to make some changes at high-priced Kai. The... full review \| all Square Meal reviews
	Evening Standard If you're fed up of the same old Chinese food book yourself a table at Mayfair's Kai. With a raft of awards to its... full review \| all Evening Standard reviews
	Time Out Kai aims to show off the breadth of China's culinary possibilities, and the depth of customers' pockets... full review \| all Time Out reviews
	Yahoo Local full review

For more information on this newly-investitured restaurant, please visit their website.

Adelaide, City of Churches

2009-01-05T02:39:00.015+08:00

Breathtaking of Adelaide City

Victoria Square

State Library of South Australia

Elder Hall, University of Adelaide

Parliament House, Adelaide

Edward VII in stone

University of South Australia, Adelaide

Rundle Mall, Adelaide City

City Tram in Adelaide City

Torren's River

Dear friends, this post signifies my last post from Malaysia and I'll be moving to Australia for the next two years. I will be based in Adelaide - City of Churches in South Australia. I will now leave you with this wonderful pictures of the city and I look forward to blog more in the near future.

Purpose: To pursue my Master Degree
Specialization: Master Degree in International Hospitality Management (M.I.H.M.)
University: University of South Australia (UniSA), City West Campus
(in collaboration with Le Cordon Bleu, Adelaide, Australia)
Duration: 2 years, including a 6 months internship

World Youth Day Themes for 2009, 2010 and 2011 Chosen

2009-01-02T18:35:00.001+08:00

Although the worldwide gathering of youth called World Youth Day only occurs every two or three years, the day itself is celebrated in parishes across the world every year. The Vatican has just released the theme for each of the next three World Youth Days, including the 2011 gathering in Spain.

The theme for 2009’s World Youth Day is “We Have Set Our Hope on the Living God” (1 Tim 4:10.)

The theme for 2010’s World Youth Day is “Good Teacher, What Must I do to Inherit Eternal Life?” (Mk 10:17.)

The theme for 2011’s World Youth Day is “Rooted and Built Up in Jesus Christ, Firm in the Faith” (cf Col 2:7).

Bestest New Year Present

2009-01-01T02:07:00.005+08:00

When party revelers out there throngs shopping malls, bars, pubs, busy streets across the globe, it is not unusual to see people partying, shouting, "cam-whoring" to usher into the New Year. Fireworks display like sparkle of colourful fires lights up the dark skies for a few minutes. Restaurants across the entire globe were booked months in advance and some were even asked to lined-up awaiting to secure a place in the restaurants. What a wonderful way of celebrating the New Year with families, friends, relatives and loved ones. However, I have found another way of ushering into the New Year this year. I happened to ask my friend of which church she goes to for New Year's Eve (she posted her status on Facebook indicating that she's attending midnight mass)? This is what I received as a reply:

"Should be my usual place, ie. Good Shepherd, Setapak, KL since those inviting me over r not in the same boat as mine.

I got invite from some SFX's folk for dinner but I heard they r heading to KL town for countdown oh ... not joining mass in church.

Another invite to party at a couple's house. Another one for dinner in Mines ... that ady tak jadi liao.

Well, I think it is still best to give thanks for all the good n bad in 2008 and start off 2009 with God in mind. Put Him 1st, I think all will come into place according to His time & will."

I didn't expect for the very one sentence of question I asked, this was what she replied to me. Her words are simple and makes me wonder why couldn't I do it if she can do it? Earlier during the day, one of my friend did asked me if what's my plan on New Year's Eve (he asked me on 30th December). I told him simply "I don't know". He smiled and said he is going to church too.

I felt as though my whole self was very peaceful as I walked into the church at 10.00 p.m. on New Year's Eve. With my mind thinking of many things, I placed everything behind.

It was also a reunion for me. Janice, one of my best friend went to New Zealand. Hardly had a chance to know her well, she took the flight to a foreign land to study. It was a great time she came back with her "ang moh" boyfriend spending Christmas and New Year in foreign land.

Well, it was one of the greatest New Year's Eve and New Year's Day present I have ever received in my entire life. A great choice indeed.

PARTY WITHOUT PANTIES PLANNED

2008-12-29T23:33:00.003+08:00

Cheap Sale !!! Only RM 250.00

KUALA TERENGGANU: Under-wear off – that is one of the conditions for guys who want to attend a mega sex party on New Year’s Eve that is scheduled to be held in Johor Baru.

The second condition is that girls must wear only G-string panties and be prepared to take them off after midnight to usher in the new year.

It is learnt that invitations enclosed in New Year greeting cards are being distributed here. Upon opening the greeting card, there is a note with this statement: “Are you below 40? If you are, then browse this web address and you won’t regret it.”

On the website are three handphone numbers for those who want to attend the sex party to contact. The Star managed to get in touch with one of the contact persons and the woman who answered the call identified herself as Ida.

She claimed to be the organiser of the sex party and she expected 350 revellers to attend the event.

Ida then demanded a deposit of RM250 as entrance fee for each participant and the amount had to be banked into her account number.

“Are you a male? Don’t worry, we have 200-over women there for you, including those from Batam (Indonesia) but you must be prepared to go naked, you know,” she said. Ida said there were also several female students from colleges in Kuala Lumpur and Malacca who had confirmed their attendance.

“We need more males for the party. We are short of men. Don’t worry about partners, there will be plenty of them on that night,” she said. When asked about the venue of the party, Ida replied, “You bank in RM100 first, we will send all the details. The balance must be deposited before we confirm your name.

“We will prepare the liquor and accommodation but you have to pay separately for these, but they will cost only a nominal sum,” she said.

Ida also divulged that the party would be held at a secluded area fronting the beach and gave an assurance that there would be scouts stationed at all entry points to the venue to alert the revellers in case there is a raid.

“The party will go on all night long, and you are free to do whatever you wish to do,” she said. Ida also recommended that guys should bring along condoms.

“With HIV on the increase, the organiser can’t guarantee it will be AIDS-free, so it’s better to be safe,” she laughed. However, Ida suspected something amiss when more questions were posed to her.

“Are you from Special Branch?” she asked, before ending the call.

Attempts to contact the other numbers were futile.

In JOHOR BARU, Johor CID chief Senior Asst Comm (II) Amer Awal urged the public not to be involved in the party and said the organisers could be con men.

“Why would they demand money before they reveal the location? In the end, they will probably just run away with the money.

“We will be investigating the matter. The police will also inform the state religious department and the local council to be on the watch-out for any suspicious activities,” he said. He said those with information could contact the nearest police station or the police hotline at 07-221 2999.

Adapted from: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/12/29/nation/2907043&sec=nation

STRANDED ON SINGAPORE FLYER

2008-12-24T00:48:00.004+08:00

The largest and the tallest (for now) observation wheel or better known as the Singapore Flyer was stopped temporary on 23rd December due to some "technical" failures. 23 out of 28 capsules, there was a total of 173 passengers at that time.

Time occured: Aproximately 4.15 p.m.
Time rescued: At 10.30 p.m.
Total time stranded: Approximately 6 hours, 15 minutes

Since the Flyer became operational in February this year, this is the third time it has encountered problems.

The last time a technical glitch occured was just three weeks ago, on December 4. The wheel was stuck for nearly five hours due to extreme weather conditions and some 70 people were affected.

In July, the Flyer stopped due to a minor fault in the braking system.

Tropicana City Mall, Petaling Jaya

2008-12-20T00:59:00.006+08:00

The backdrop of Tropicana City Mall

As there were too many shopping malls located in the heart of Petaling Jaya itself, on 18th December (as well as the following day), I have decided to pay a visit to Tropicana City Mall located at Damansara Intan (exactly at the curve towards SS2 along the LDP).

Tropicana City is a signature location created by Dijaya Corporation Bhd, setting the stage to shape a new identity for the Petaling Jaya skyline. It is strategically located at the crossroads of the LDP Highway and Sprint Damansara. This excellent location is well supported by a network of roads making it easily accessible from anywhere in Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya.

The center court of Tropicana City Mall (Christmas decos - 18th Dec 2008)

Tropicana City includes Casa Damansara Condominiums 1, 2 and 3 and together are more than 1.1 million square ft of mixed commercial development spread across prime P.J. property. Tropicana City has all the makings of becoming the latest modern business, retail and entertainment hub bustling with vitality. It is set to revitalize and redefine modern suburban living.

The friendly Concierge on their first day

This development is expected to take up to 4 years to be fully completed and will showcase Tropicana Mall as its centrepiece.

Starbucks Coffee located at the main entrance. I know the Store Manager. Call me to get his number for discounts . . .

Amongst the tenants that are set or have already set their foot in Tropicana City Mall includes: Starbucks Coffee, Kenny Rogers, Borders Bookstore, Wendy's Burger (all of which owns by Berjaya Corporation), Hang Ten, E Print, Esprit, ShopaLot, Samsonite, San Francisco Steakhouse, Subway, Sushi Tei (from Singapore) and many more others. For more information on its tenants, please click here. Carrefour, the highly successful and leading international hypermarket chain is the main anchor tenant, occupying 125,000 sq ft on the Lower Ground Floor of the Mall.

The mall is set to complete and have its Opening Ceremony after Chinese New Year in 2009.

P/S. Please note that 18th December 2008 is only the soft-launch of the mall. For other enquiries or media enquiries, please divert it to Ms. Serena Lim of Dijaya Corporation

ANTICIPATING LEGOLAND MALAYSIA ???

2008-12-18T01:24:00.004+08:00

IT'S SET !!! LEGOLAND COMING TO MALAYSIA IN YEAR 2013

Johor Bahru, 13 December 2008 – Iskandar Investment Berhad (”IIB”) today signed a landmark agreement with Merlin Entertainments (”Merlin”), the world’s second largest visitor attraction operator, to build East Asia’s first LEGOLAND Park in Iskandar Malaysia.

This exciting RM750m joint venture - LEGOLAND Malaysia – is expected to be opened to the public in 2013 – and will be located in the northeast corner of Medini Iskandar Malaysia (”Medini”), a 2,300 acre international mixed-use development in the heart of Nusajaya, on land being developed by Global Capital and Development Sdn Bhd. Merlin Entertainments will design and operate the Park, and will become a 20% shareholder, whilst a consortium led by IIB will own the balance. The LEGOLAND Park will be the centrepiece of a 145 acre integrated complex, with a Gross Floor Area (GFA) of 5.5m square feet that will include a unique lifestyle retail centre, offices, hotels, serviced apartments and residential units. This integrated complex, which will be substantially complete by 2013, will have a Gross Development Value of over RM3.5bn.

LEGOLAND Malaysia will be similar to the company’s four other hugely popular and successful LEGOLAND Parks - LEGOLAND Billund, LEGOLAND Windsor, LEGOLAND Deutschland, and LEGOLAND California.

Targeted at families with children between the ages of 2 to 12 years, LEGOLAND Parks are based on the universally popular LEGO® construction toy range. They offer families the opportunity to let their imaginations run free, and be immersed in LEGO® experiences with a unique mix of kid-powered rides, building challenges, spectacular LEGO® models, interactive attractions, family-friendly coasters and shows that pull the audience into the action. LEGOLAND Malaysia will feature more than 40 interactive rides, shows and attractions on the day it opens.

“IIB selected LEGOLAND as the partner for its first international theme park in Iskandar after many months of discussions and engagements with various operators and potential brand partners,” said IIB’s Managing Director Arlida Ariff.
“Given the significant increase in the number of themed tourism offerings expected in the Asia Pacific region over the next 20 year period, IIB felt that the product offering in Iskandar Malaysia had to be unique and focused.”
“Based on this rationale, IIB chose Merlin Entertainments/LEGOLAND because it provides educational entertainment that will attract families with young children to Iskandar Malaysia as a vacation destination,” said Arlida, adding that families with young children were a fast growing demographic group in South East Asia.

Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, commenting for KIRKBI Invest A/S – owners of the LEGO® toy company, and shareholders in Merlin Entertainments - said, “LEGOLAND is the ultimate experience of LEGO® values and potential. We therefore welcome this cooperation between Merlin Entertainments and Iskandar Investment Berhad to bring the LEGOLAND experience to East Asia, and we are confident that LEGOLAND Malaysia will be extremely successful.”

IIB believes that Iskandar Malaysia will benefit strongly from the presence of several key tourism catalysts into the area. Theme parks have a proven record of attracting a large volume of new visitors, as well as increasing the length of stay and expenditure by regular visitors - thus creating a strong multiplier for the local economy. Theme parks also create a vast number of jobs both during the construction phase, and once they open. Current estimates are that almost 5,000 jobs would be required, both directly and indirectly, during the various phases of the project.

The LEGO® brand is well recognised among Asian families, the very group that Iskandar Malaysia is targeting as its core tourist base. LEGO® is a strong brand in Malaysia and this is why IIB expects a strong following for LEGOLAND Malaysia from local Malaysian and Johor families.

“The Comprehensive Development Plan for Iskandar Malaysia identified the Tourism sector as one of the nine key economic pillars of the Region,” said Tan Sri Dato’ Azman Mokhtar, Chairman of IIB and Managing Director of Khazanah Nasional Berhad.

“At the end of 2006, we commenced a study to evaluate the feasibility of establishing an International Destination Resort anchored by a theme park in Iskandar Malaysia to further develop and deepen the Tourism sector.”

“We are pleased that such efforts have borne fruit and culminated in this signing of an agreement between Merlin and IIB, that will attract more tourists from neighbouring countries and the Asia-Pacific region into Iskandar. This is a significant first step in developing Iskandar Malaysia as an international tourist destination. We expect further visitor attractions to be developed in the coming years,” he said.

John Jakobsen, Managing Director of LEGOLAND Parks, said that he was looking forward to the rollout of East Asia’s first LEGOLAND Park, saying, “We love the location of Iskandar Malaysia and are delighted by our partnership with IIB. The LEGOLAND Malaysia Park will build upon the success of our other internationally recognised LEGOLAND Parks in Europe and North America, and we have no doubt that once open it will become the ultimate destination in the region for families with young children.”

Concluding, Merlin Entertainments’ Chief Executive, Nick Varney said: “We are very excited by this development which underlines our continued confidence in the market despite the current global economic situation. Our strong belief is that while not recession proof, quality branded attractions such as ours are recession resilient. Even when times are hard people will choose to get away from the ‘gloom’, and have fun together with family and friends. However they will choose destinations which offer real value for money and which they know will not disappoint. LEGOLAND Parks offer just that sort of reassurance and quality.”

Adapted from: http://www.lifthill.com/news/legoland-malaysia-announced-for-2013/

Nuffnang Singapore New Office

2008-12-13T01:52:00.012+08:00

It was an unprecedented visit to the Nuffnang's Singapore new office located in Kinta Road @ Farrer Park. When Malaysian blogger met Singaporean blogger at White Sand Shopping Center over lunch, the thought suddenly came up of why not we pay a visit since I'm there.

WHAT ??? We were greeted by this "machine" when we arrived at the doorstep of the building. Not too bad for Nuffnang SG huh?

Historical buildings at Kinta Rd

A mini apartment studio smacked in the middle of historical shop lots were visible if you pay a visit to Kinta Rd. You can't missed the building as Nuffnang's Office is in the super ultra modern office-cum-apartment.

You wouldn't even believed it that you have an equipped kitchenette awaiting you as you enter the "apartment" office. I was amazed of how equipped this office is.

Tired of working, the signboard shows you to your Refreshment Center. The team was pretty busy. Hong Peng, Aric and I were just sitting in the boardroom facing the four walls chit-chatting. Nevertheless, Brand Essence and obscene cups filled with sky juice accompanied us throughout the conversation.

The office has been well-stocked with Brand Essence, one of Nuffie SG's clientele

Hong Peng (the SG blogger) and myself (MY blogger) in the boardroom

Well, there are more to come when I'm back in KL tomorrow. I'll post more pictures soon. So stay tune...

SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE CREATOR DIES

2008-12-09T01:39:00.000+08:00

From New York Times
By FRED A. BERNSTEIN

Jorn Utzon, an architect who designed one of the world’s most recognizable buildings — the Sydney Opera House — but never saw it finished, died in Copenhagen on Saturday. He was 90.

He died of heart failure in his sleep, according to his son Kim.

Mr. Utzon left Australia amid controversy seven years before the Opera House was completed. He lived out most of his final decades on the Spanish island of Majorca while his gull-roofed building came to symbolize Australia, 10,000 miles away.

As a young architect Mr. Utzon worked for Gunnar Asplund in Sweden and Alvar Aalto in Finland before establishing his own practice in Copenhagen in 1950. In 1956 he read about the Sydney Opera House competition in a Swedish architecture magazine. He spent six months designing a building with sail-like roofs, their geometry, he said, derived from the sections of an orange. Mr. Utzon’s plan was championed by Eero Saarinen, the Finnish architect who was one of the judges in the competition.

In 1957, Mr. Utzon — who until then was hardly known outside his native country — was declared the winner, and for the next five years he worked on the project from his office in Denmark. In 1962, he moved with his wife, Lis, sons Jan and Kim, and daughter, Lin, to Sydney.

When only the shell of the opera house was complete, the architect found himself at odds with Davis Hughes, the New South Wales minister for public works, over cost overruns and delays. When Mr. Hughes stopped payments to Mr. Utzon in 1966, the architect packed up his family and left the country.

Supporters of Mr. Utzon said that an unreasonably low construction estimate made it seem as though costs had escalated far more than they had, and that Mr. Utzon had been treated unfairly.

Writing in Harvard Design Magazine in 2005, Bent Flyvbjerg, a professor of planning at Aalborg University in Denmark, argued that “the real loss in the Sydney Opera House project is not the huge cost overrun in itself. It is that the overrun and the controversy it created kept Utzon from building more masterpieces.”

In recent years, Australian organizations tried to heal the breach. In 2002, Mr. Utzon was commissioned to design interior renovations that would bring the building closer to his original vision; his son Jan, who is also an architect, traveled to Australia to carry out the work. And in 2003, Mr. Utzon received an honorary doctorate from the University of Sydney. (Jan took his place at the ceremony.)

The same year, Mr. Utzon won the Pritzker Prize, considered architecture’s highest honor. Frank Gehry, who was a Pritzker juror at the time, said that Mr. Utzon “made a building well ahead of its time, far ahead of available technology, and he persevered through extraordinary malicious publicity and negative criticism to build a building that changed the image of an entire country.”

Jorn Utzon, the son of a naval architect, was born in Aalborg, Denmark, on April 9, 1918. He studied architecture at the Royal Academy in Copenhagen. After leaving Australia, he worked in Hawaii, Switzerland and Spain before settling in Majorca in the mid-1970s. In addition to the Sydney Opera House, he designed the National Assembly of Kuwait, a church at Bagsvaerd, Denmark, and many private homes, including two in Majorca for himself and his wife. He chose the spot for the first house, he said, because it reminded him of the Australian beachfront he had hurriedly departed.

Though he suffered from failing eyesight in his final years, he continued to discuss architecture and could visualize plans the way a chess player can visualize a board, Jan Utzon said.

He is survived by his wife, three children — Jan, of Hellebaek, Denmark; Kim, of Copenhagen; and Lin, of Majorca — five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

When he was accepting the honorary doctorate in 2003, Jan Utzon said the fact that his father had never visited the opera house did not mean he had not experienced the building. “As its creator, he just has to close his eyes to see it,” he said.

RAJA PETRA (RPK) IS A NUFFNANGER

2008-11-27T03:47:00.002+08:00

With barely less than a week ago, I posted about what if Tun Dr. Mahathir is a supporter of Nuffnang? Guess what? The controversial blogger, Yang Mulia Raja Petra Kamaruddin or fondly known as RPK is now a supporter of Nuffnang. The proof is at his Malaysian Today website.

I guess his pockets will be extremely "thick" with cash loaded from Nuffnang. Cheers and Ole' to Nuffnang and RPK.

OLE' LONDON - AIRASIA X

2008-11-26T13:12:00.003+08:00

Finally! The much awaited and anticipated destination of the year is NOW OPEN FOR SALE! Grab your low fare seats to LONDON from as low as RM 499 or try our XL seats and enjoy premium comfort at an Xtraordinary fare from

RM 1,999.

Fly with AirAsia X on A340 direct into Stansted Airport, your gateway to Europe. Now everyone can fly low fares, xtra long!

It’s £99 or RM499 one-way – that’s the much-awaited opening fare of AirAsia X’s latest London Stansted – Kuala Lumpur route.

And AirAsia Group CEO Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes has pledged to knock down the price to as low as £49 (RM271) once they increase the flight frequencies.

Saying it would be “cool” to take a £50 note and buy a seat to Kuala Lumpur, he said there was no reason why they could not do it.

“Volume is the key. If we can find the plane and get two or three flights a day, I guarantee you £49 will be a reality,” he told Malaysian journalists after the sales launch of the latest route at London’s County Hall yesterday.

Even with the £99 fare, it’s still cheaper to fly from London to Kuala Lumpur than to take a Black Cab from the city to Stansted Airport, which costs about £110 (RM610) one way!

KRISPY KREME DOUGHNUTS IN MALAYSIA

2008-11-24T17:32:00.007+08:00

Berjaya Corporation Bhd via its 70 percent-owned unit, Berjaya Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Sdn Bhd (BKK), has secured the rights from Krispy Kreme Doughnut Corporation to develop and operate Krispy Kreme stores in Malaysia.

BKK plans to open 20 Krispy Kreme stores in Malaysia within the next five years with the first store to be opened in Kuala Lumpur by early 2009.

Development will continue in the Klang Valley region before expanding into the other major cities and towns throughout the country, it said.

Berjaya Corporation has extensive experience in developing and operating well known international food and beverage brands as it currently holds the franchise for Starbucks Coffee, Kenny Rogers Roasters, Wendys and recently in June 2008 also acquired the Papa Johns pizza franchise.

"The addition of Krispy Kreme will strategically complement and widen Berjaya Corporations existing food and beverage operations," said its chairman and chief executive officer Tan Sri Vincent Tan.

The business is expected to contribute positively to the future earnings of Berjaya Corporation, said the company in a statement to Bursa Malaysia.

There are about 490 Krispy Kreme stores operating in the United States, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Kuwait, Mexico, the Philippines, South Korea, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.

P/S. Reliable sources are saying that the first two stores is expected to be opened in 1 Utama Shopping Centre and in Berjaya Times Square before Christmas 2008

FRIED TELEPHONE & INTERNET

2008-11-19T16:41:00.003+08:00

Oh well, it's nothing new. Not that there's a new dish called fried telephone and internet. I was out yesterday and when I came back, telephone and my internet were unable to be connected. I guess lightning must have destroyed it amidst all the great protection and safety measures taken.

Contacted Telekom Malaysia and report was lodged at 7.00 p.m. on 18th November 2008 & they said, it will be verified by 7.00 p.m. on 19th November 2008. The operator told me that it takes exactly 24 hours for the technician to come over. They will not be any earlier than that she said.

Technician came at 11.30am today. But he asked for RM 20 to rectify this problem or else you can call your whoever wireman to come and do it yourself. He told me that your house is the 3rd house out of 22 houses around this area that has fried telephone line and internet connection.

Imagine RM 20 per house multiply by 22 houses = RM 440.00. I don't believed it's only 22 houses. Probably more man.

Well, at least I need my internet and telephone badly. I'M JUST GOING BORED & CRAZY ALREADY.

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