Gadgets Used for Muscle Toning

When I was not travelling from mid 2007 to mid 2008, I joined a gym. Thereafter, didn't renew the membership as I knew I would be travelling frequently.

When in Sudan, we are just not willing to sign up for the gym membership as it was too expensive in our opinion. Could easily end up paying more than RM200 per month here.

What's our alternatives then? Bright ideas from colleagues. They took some industrial nuts and bolts and did some taping on it and out came our own dumb bells.

Really proud of it.

You could say that this might be an enlarged picture.
Proof that this dumb bell is really large and heavy. It more than three times the length of my big watch.

Don't know the weight but easily more than 10kg per dumb bell as it's solid metal.
Spare dumb bells ................... those days there were lots of us staying together. These dumb bells were being transferred from one room to another.

Nowadays, I'm the only one still using it for my muscle toning. At times, lazy to do it. A gym is still a better place, anytime.

Want to bring back to Malaysia also cannot, as it will be definitely overweight.
Tags: Dumb Bells, Muscle Toning, Gym

Travel at Your Own Risk?

My colleagues were travelling back to Khartoum after they have gone down south to our project sites. On the way back last Friday, their Mitsubishi Pajero came to a stop as back tyre gave up on them.

Good thing that their vehicle was not travelling fast.

The tyre actually burst on the impact of a metal bracket that was holding the mud flap. The metal bracket was loose without their knowledge and it was grazing on the tyre throughout their journey. At some point, it went "BANG!!".

This is how it looks like. The tyre burst on few spots and their car actually wobbled before the driver managed to bring it to a complete stop, safely.

Just look at the tyre thread that was shredded pieces (at the bottom of the picture).

Were you guys awake for the rest of the journey?

Tags: Tyre Thread, Tyre Burst, Mitsubishi Pajero, Mud Flap

Dirty Day

When I woke up this morning, I could see the wind blowing against the trees outside. Seeing the tree branches moving like that tells me one thing, that sandstorm is on the way.

And the whole office cum house got so dirty as the minutes passed by.

Around 11am plus, the fine dust started to settle on my laptop too.
As I was working on a report without any figures, I only used the alphabets keypads and didn't touch those numerical keypads.

To show the difference .......

It's never possible to keep the fine dust out.

As we went out for lunch, the weather outside looked so gloomy.

Visibility was bad. We got to know via two Malaysian friends' facebook that their Emirates flight from Dubai to Khartoum has been delayed for two hours due to the sandstorm here.

Tags: Sandstorm, Fine Dust

Improved Security in Khartoum Base

We got this two German Sheperds to be our guard dogs since the day our house was broken into.

They were just cute little puppies a month ago. A month later when I dropped in again, this two little fellas have grown a lot.

A month ago, it was nothing for them to just gnare at my fingers as I knew they were playing. Their teeth have grown much bigger and sharper now ...... hehe

This is Kujo. We are still waiting for his ears to stand up straight being a German Sheperd breed.

It was not easy trying to capture this shot as they were so playful.











This is Leo.

Their naughty moments, trying to bite each other.

The moment I squat down to take a better picture, they will start running towards me and I have to stand up fast because they can jump on you easily now.

I remembered that I was chasing them around the house garden the last time. The scenario changed this afternoon. As I started running away from them, they came running after me.

We were just saying that in two months time, we will have two strong dogs in our house that we may be even afraid of walking into our garden area.
Tags: German Sheperd

Piranha Fishes for Lunch

When we arrived, we were requested to take our seats at this wonderfully made timber table and chairs. We saw that smoky stuff and thought otherwise.

That smoke was there to deter houseflies. But I think I'll faint before the smoke will have any effect on those houseflies.

The team members that I worked with for our assignments in Sudan.

The sight of a beautiful 'beach'.

This restaurant was set up by a lady owner for over a number of years now.

Here comes our food.

Plenty of deep fried piranha fishes. That's what our Sudanese said. They mentioned that this piranha specie is different from the ones found in the Amazon river.








Just look at the servings.
















I think I ate about 5 fishes. Really tasty and there's no murky taste in the fish meat.










Just when we were about to finish those fishes on the table, another plate of fishes was served again. There was about another 10 ....... too much of it already.













And then they brought fruits. I was wondering how many people was the restaurant owner expecting for this table.














After finishing our lunch, we went for a short walk out to the 'beach'.

This 'beach' is the White Nile that flows from Kenya in the south. This is actually a river bank where we are standing on. The width of this river at this point could be about 5 solid kilometres. This is what I call a river.

During the raining season, the river could be as near as the blue building on the left.

Many people from the city will come over here for family gatherings.

Tags: Piranha Fish, White Nile

Latest Recruits for Office Security

Well, the residence that we guys occupy was burglarised recently (just before I was there). The burglars came between 5am to 6.30am. One of the guys woke up early and went downstairs (which is our office) to send some emails back to KL colleagues.

The burglars climbed up with the help of some cables up to our balcony. The best thing is just right in front of the balcony, our house caretaker was sleeping guarding the garden compound.
Footsteps seen on the balcony floor (we don't open this door at all or clean this spot and the dust collected on the balcony was a good give away). They managed to break in by breaking the door knob.
There were four rooms upstairs. One was a temporary storeroom. One bedroom has no occupant. Another bedroom was occupied but the door needs a good push to open it so we presumed the burglars might have thought it was locked from inside.

The remaining room was occupied by the colleague who went downstairs and another fella who was in deep sleep. They went into the room and took his two mobiles (one of it was a iphone touch) and some money from his wallet that was on a table. The other colleague (who was downstairs) lost some money that was taken from his wallet too.

We suspect that due to the dust that was stucked on their shoes or feet (maybe one was not wearing anything as they saw footprints with toes on the floor), the burglars walked downstairs. Maybe they were suprised with a colleague who was working downstairs and they escaped via the balcony again. Good thing that someone was downstairs because if there weren't anyone there, a few laptops would be gone as well.

Because of this security breach, the colleague who slept in the 'locked' room decided to beef up the house security. Too expensive to install house alarms. One of their intelligent ideas was to recruit additional security.

We got two original breed of the German Sheperds. When I heard that, I was saying that even the house occupants could be at risk of being bitten (especially when I arrive).
Then I found out that it was only two little fellas. My my my .......... I really laughed out loud. If the burglars were to come back again, I hope they won't take away my two German Sheperds away. The one of the left is Leo and the other one is Kujo.

Managed to get them to remember my smell in my recent trip to Sudan. I would say that Leo is the 'cuter' puppy. They are about three months old now. Both are brothers and their mom was a former police dog. We source for the best hehehe ........

Guys, what does their father works as? Police dog too?
Tags: German Sheperd, Burglar, Police Dog

Champions League Atmosphere in Khartoum

On Wednesday, where the Champions League finals between Man Utd vs Barcelona was to be played in Rome, we were invited to Petronas headquarters to watch the match live over there.

Malaysians from all walks of life were there. The Petronas management has put up a huge screen. What a good staff welfare planning.

They switched off the surrounding lights and my colleague's camera couldn't capture quite good. Moreover, there are fine dust all over his lens.

The match had just started and some people (including me and colleagues) were still eating roti telur, roti canai with free flow teh tarik.

That's the big screen and there are quite a number of people. Who do they support?

Let me tell you ...... almost all of them are Liverpool-Chelsea-Arsenal-turned-Barcelona-fan for the night.

Those sourish fellas just cannot bear Man Utd winning another trophy. During the two seasons where Chelsea was the English Premier League champions, me and my friends who are Man Utd don't feel that way till you have to belittle Man Utd day in day out.

Till today, you can still read comments in my or friends' Facebooks (those who are Man Utd fans) where they are still receiving sourish comments from the Liverpool-Chelsea-Arsenal clan. Hahaha ........ they are so cute. They just can't face the fact.

This was half-time break and everyone rushed to get another cup of drink.

Sad night indeed where Man Utd was beaten 2-0 by Barcelona.

Barcelona really well and Man Utd was no where near their usual. Man Utd could still beat a lower ranked EPL team on their not so good day but playing against Barcelona in a such a final is just not the same.

Just have to wait for the next season to watch those exciting matches again and renew the Liverpool-Chelsea-Arsenal rivalry again.

Thanks to Petronas for that wonderful night.
Tags: Champions League Finals, Man Utd, Manchester United, Barcelona, Petronas

Prices of Cars in Canada

One evening after work, we wanted to buy some groceries or simple food stuff from a supermarket but ended up at Ozone Cafe located across the other side of the city.

As it was only 6pm plus, I ordered a Strawberry Tart (7 Sudanese Dinar), a cup of Vanilla Milkshake (10 Sudanese Dinar) and a small bottle of Safia Pure Water (3 Sudanese Dinar). With this it's already around US$8.70.






Chocolate Truffle ordered by Nazril. I think it was 7 Sudanese Dinar too.

This cafe is situated at a large roundabout. There's parking within the place and if you were to come later at night, you may have to park and cross the road to come into this large roundabout.

Don't know why they would approve such a restaurant in the centre of a roundabout. I'ts quite dangerous for customers to run across the heavy traffic roads around it.

As we relaxing ourselves, I picked up The Gazette newspaper from Canada at their newspapers stand. It's outdated anyway. As I flipped through the newspaper, I felt sad for my fellow citizens of Malaysia.

Managed to take a few snaps of some advertisements for your viewing.

Firstly, the BMW 323i model in Canada is available at a monthly instalment of C$445. That too, your downpayment is around C$6,000++.

Bearing in mind that this monthly instalment rate is for a four year financial loan period, not a nine year loan period as found in Malaysia.

In Malaysia, you have to incur above RM2,000 per month for this BMW model for a nine year loan period. Malaysia priced it at RM338,000.

Next you could purchase the 2009 Honda Accord LX model at a monthly instalment of C$268. Maybe we can afford to purchase the Honda's four tyres with RM268 per month. Malaysia is selling the 2.0L model at RM136,800.

The 2009 Honda CR-V LX model is available at C$298 per month. In Malaysia, it's only RM147,800.

If at a dollar to dollar comparison, Canadians could afford to buy any car they want and replace their car within a short period of usage. At the rate of RM298 per month for example, we can't even afford to buy the cheapest national car of Malaysia.

Next few pages, the Nissan cars. You could obtain a 2009 Nissan Versa Hatchback at C$159 for the monthly instalment payment.

Best of all, you could get yourself the 2009 Nissan Murano at a bargain price of C$21,898. In Malaysia, the price is going at a staggering price of RM370,000.

How come? Why deny us the privilege to drive such a nice car?

This 2009 Mazda 3 Sedan is being retailed at C$15,995 compared to Malaysia's retail price of RM133,515.

The Mini Cooper 2009, another latest model, is found in Canada at a best price of C$349 per monthly instalment. Very cheap in Malaysia for the rich and famous people of course, retailing at RM195,000 only.

Monthly instalment at nine long years, as permitted by banks, could be around RM2,000 with a 10% downpayment.

Any Malaysian would have been able to afford a Mercedes Benz.

The B170 model is being sold at C$23,900 compared to Malaysia's price of RM220,000.

The C-Class Merz is being retailed at C$24,900. The Merz C-200 Kompressor in Malaysia is being sold at RM238,888.

The mouth watering SLK Merz convertible ..... oh my ...... only C$41,900. In Malaysia, don't even dream about it with our salaries, the SLK200 Kompressor is being sold at RM468,888.

Ok, Ok, don't talk about expensive car models. Why don't we just compare it with much more affordable cars found in Malaysia.

The Toyota Yaris Hatchback in Malaysia is being sold between RM92,800 to RM98,800.

In Canada, it's being retailed between C$11,315. Beat that!

Why can't Malaysian car dealers sell at those prices? Simple answer is found on my two other blog postings about Proton and Perodua car models. The prices are jacked up in Malaysia using various taxes, direct or indirect, to protect the Malaysian car industry.

Ok, Ok, I would understand if we are protecting the Malaysian car but we are paying high prices for electrical goods too.

Say for instance, a LG 50 inch Full HD Plasma TV is being retailed at C$1,498.99. In Malaysia? It would be close to five figures for sure. Wrong?

Today's exchange rate for One Canadian Dollar = RM3.01. Just look at the big difference!

Please note that all car prices quoted in Ringgit Malaysia are estimates only found at Car Standard website. So, don't quote me.

What about car prices in Sudan? It's almost similar pricing. Third world countries rely a lot on taxes and this would be their main source of income but for a much developed country like Malaysia .............. sigh.

That is why Malaysia has to produce mini cars like Proton Savvy and Perodua Kancil to please Malaysians who can't afford affordable cars.

In Sudan, there's only a few Petronas petrol station. Being Malaysian, when we are running out of petrol and if we are nearby, we wil pump Petronas petrol of course.

Related posts:-
* Proton Cars Being Ridiculed in UK
* Perodua Cars Being Ridiculed in UK

Tags: Ozone Cafe, Strawberry Tart, Chocolate Truffle, The Gazette, BMW 323i, 2009 Honda Accord LX, 2009 Honda CR-V LX, 2009 Nissan Versa Hatchback, 2009 Nissan Murano, 2009 Mazda 3 Sedan, Mini Cooper 2009, Mercedes Benz B170, Mercedes Benz C-200 Kompressor, Mercedes Benz SLK200 Kompressor, Toyota Yaris Hatchback, LG 50 Inch Full HD Plasma TV, Proton Savvy, Perodua Kancil

Karaoke Night in Khartoum

On Friday weekend night, we dropped by at Petronas Sudan's headquarters where it houses the main office and also staff quarters. We were told there would be Malaysian food and a karaoke session would be held in the open air.

When you are here, anything is interesting. The event started at 9pm.

There was a food stall opened up to sell food cooked in Malaysian style of course. You won't feel 'food sick' over here.
It was a relaxing night and there was a karaoke sing-a-long session. A stage was put up for guys to belt their favourite songs. Yeah, as long as I was there only the guys went up on stage.

Later, a group of kids performed a fast dance. Can't recognise that English song of theirs. It took them only one week to practise.

Soon, a group of men went up on stage to act as back-up singers to support a senior management guy who will be singing his favourite song. Didn't that long and went off for our late late dinner at 10pm.

Tags: Petronas Sudan, Karaoke Session, Malaysian Food