Don't Mess With Japanese Police

Certain Japanese police riders have been supplied with sophisticated motorbikes that has a large mechanical machine at the back portion of the motorbike.
No idea on the cost but Japanese stuff doesn't come cheap.
The mechanical machine's purpose once expanded could be used to tow a car.










If you simply park your as in Malaysia, it would be towed away without you noticing it.

Tags: Japan, Japanese Police, Motorbike

Most Expensive Burger in Malaysia

I have tasted and enjoyed burgers (hamburgers) from all the fast food joints and the individual stalls selling the infamous Ramly burger found in Malaysia since two decades back. Till today, most burgers' taste could not be differentiated except for the pricing.

A local restaurant located in Bangsar in Kuala Lumpur, The Daily Grind, went one step further in creating a burger for the rich and famous Malaysians or expats.

Heard of foie gras? The goose liver thingy. Yes, it has made its way in between two slices of buns. And it's called the Foie Gras Burger. Price? Selling at RM55.

Seriously, I still prefer the burgers from McDonalds.

Reading: Holy Meatimony, the most expensive burger in Kuala Lumpur City - Malaysian Insider
Tags: The Daily Grind, Most Expensive Burger, Burger, Hamburger, Foie Gras, Foie Gras Burger

Home Decorations & Renovation

On 1 May, it was a public holiday owing to the Labour Day. Heard that there was a small congregation of people protesting elsewhere in Kuala Lumpur. Forgotten the reason for their gathering. A protest?

But I drove out towards the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre for the HomeDec '08 exhibition around 9.45am. This is the exhibition where people would gather products / materials / services info so that they could renovate / re-model in time to come. One of the biggest exhibition of such.

Since I was early, I parked near the escalator entrance. Just look at the empty parking lots behind my car.










Looked for the sign heading to the entrance for the HomeDec '08.















I went into the exhibition around 10.10am and the crowd around 12 noon was shown at the left picture. Had lunch in their small cafeteria located within the exhibition hall. HomeDec '08 occupied all five exhibitions halls. Just imagine how big was the exhibition.

Was looking for an interior designer to draft something for my new house. Just by showing my floor plans, they could quote me their price. Never dealt with one before so I was not too sure how to negotiate or start to deal with them.

One asked for RM5,000 upfront before they start on any space planning or those 3D drawings.

Another said pay up RM1,000 and they would do the space planning and the 3D drawings. After reviewing their work and if I intend to appoint them, I need to pay the remaining RM9,000. Otherwise I could take the space planning and two 3D drawings of any spaces they have created and say bye-bye to them.

The worst response came from one of those interior designing firms in HomeDec '08. This lady took a look at my new house's floor plans and asked what was my budget. Told her the amount and she said that it was hard to plan for my house with my budget. Asked her what would be the recommended amount in order for her to do a good interior design for my new house and guess what - she said RM200,000!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And her fees would be 7% of the total amount done for my house.

Byeeeeeeeeeeee ....... did tell her that her company was charging very high.

Is this the way how the interior designers would operate right from the beginning? They don't even ask how you intend to decorate your place but quote the fees upfront to you. Really lost.

Guessed that I would be liaising with at least ten other interior designers that have been recommended by close friends. Hopefully, by virtue of my friendship with my close friend(s), these interior designers won't charge as high.

Left the exhibition around 6.15pm. Yeah, the whole day was stucked within the big four exhibition walls.

At the exit area, I could view the towering Petronas Twin Towers at the background with the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in front and Maxis Tower on the right hand side of the picture.








The evening crowd witnessing the co-ordinated fountain display at the lake just right in front of the Petronas Twin Towers.
Long day in the exhibition so time for some good meals with family members. Settled at The Apartment restaurant at the Suria KLCC, which was facing the lake. This restaurant serves fusion food.






Got this Piquant Cream Grilled Chicken that comes with mashed potatoes. Fantastic taste and wonder what was the ingredient for that cream. Should be fattening.













This is the Seared Salmon Fillet with roasted tomatoes as its topping.
This is the Baked Dory Fish, with cheese topping ..... couldn't resist the temptation of getting a piece.
Chicken with Peach & Walnut, kind of sweet taste in between the chicken meat.

With drinks, our bills came to RM193 for the night. Quite filling too.






On the way back to our car, noticed this boat model put up in Suria KLCC's centre court where Shiseido was promoting their cosmetic products. What has the boat got to do with cosmetic products?

Tags: Labour Day, HomeDec '08, Home Decoration, Home Renovation, Interior Designer, Suria KLCC, The Apartment, Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Petronas Twin Towers, Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Shiseido

Malaysia Exported US$1m Coconut Tree

Malaysia's name came into the picture when it was mentioned that a weird coconut tree that had three heads on a single trunk was actually exported by Malaysia.

Where is this weird tree now? It has been exported to Ivory Coast, Africa and the current owner of the coconut tree (or coconut palm as known in Ivory Coast) has intended to sell the tree for US$1 million.

The owner is of the coconut tree is the Marc Delorme coconut research station in Ivory Coast. The reason that they are selling the tree is to raise fund for their further research. But before selling that tree, the scientists have taken some sample from the tree and hope to multiply it (hopefully to breed more 3 headed coconut trees and more $$$$$$$$). Unfortunately, it could take another 20 years for the results to be known.

The Malaysian owner must be very heart sick knowing the price that it could fetch. But there are millions more of coconut trees in Malaysia and I'm sure some of those trees could be like this too. QUICK!, coconut tree owners in Malaysia, check your plantation now and tell me ...........

I'll post it up here to let the world know so that you could sell it to the highest bidder (we will talk about the commission later ..............).

Reading: Rare coconut tree on sale for $1m - BBC News/Africa
Tags: Coconut, Coconut Tree, Coconut Palm, Malaysia, Ivory Coast, Marc Delorme Coconut Research Station

Malaysia Need to Rush Space Flight

Malaysia's intention to send the second trained astronaut up to space may have to be rushed. Although the Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Dr Maximus Ongkili has mentioned that there isn't sufficient funds to go ahead with it, I think the Malaysian government may have dig from somewhere to accommodate it. Why?

Russian Federal Space Agency ("RFSA") that accommodated Malaysia's first astronaut on the Soyuz spacecraft on 10 Oct 2007 has announced that they won't be selling seats anymore from year 2010 onwards as the International Space Station ("ISS") won't be able to fit additional space tourist. Reason is because the ISS operators are increasing their crew members up to six personnel in year 2010.

RFSA has stated that they do sell seats for space tourist ........ hehehehe. And Malaysia bought one seat last year and thinking of buying the next one????? RFSA has mentioned that space tourists have paid up to US$40 million for a round trip to space. So, I'm not surprised that the Malaysian government has paid a hefty sum and then claimed that the nation has started a space programme.

Due to this reason, no wonder till today, NASA has never listed our sole astronaut as a real astronaut but just a Spaceflight Participant.

Reading: Russia plans to cease space tourism from 2010 - China Post

Related post: Space Programme to Launch Another Astronaut?
Tags: Space, Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, Maximus Ongkili, Russian Federal Space Agency, Soyuz Spacecraft, International Space Station, Russia, Space Tourist, Space Programme, Space Participant, NASA

Facebook Used to Track Criminals

Facebook is becoming more useful lately even to the extent of it being used to track down criminals. Not just common criminals but war crimes criminals.

A group of forty organisations formed Wanted For War Crimes who has used Facebook and Google Earth to hunt two war crimes criminals in Sudan. They are Sudan's Humanitarian Affairs Minister Ahmed Haroun (they put him to be in charge of the right department or they named the department correctly) and Janjaweed leader Ali Muhammad Ali Abd al-Rahman. The Facebook account created is called War Crimes Wanted List.

Althought these two individuals have been charged and indicted by the International Criminal Court, the Sudanese government has rejected the charges by the ICC on these two individuals linking them to the heinous war crimes in Darfur where 200,000 have been killed and millions displaced from homes.

See how powerful is the internet nowadays.
Tags: Facebook, Africa, Sudan, War Crimes, International Criminal Court, ICC, Darfur, War Crimes, Janjaweed, Wanted For War Crimes, War Crimes Wanted List, Ahmed Haroun, Ali Muhammad Ali Abd al-Rahman

Gadgets Are Running Really Fast

What do I mean by the title of this blog posting?

Technology gadget manufacturers are keeping in touch with the speed required by consumers to run more complicated softwares. The manufacturers not only ensured that the equipment could run at a fast speed but they got sports car manufacturers involved to understand more about speed.

Asus got Lamborghini to take part in a handheld PDA phone project. The gadget is called Asus Lamborghini ZX1 which runs on a 450MHz Texas Instruments processor with a 128MB memory. It could connect you real fast to the internet world via HSDPA, Wi-Fi and GPS.

Price listing is not available yet for this gadget.

Not to be outdone, Acer got Ferrari or was it Ferrari that got Acer to tie-up with them to challenge Lamborghini. Acer has came out with this notebook or laptop (to some people in the world) which runs on the AMD Turion processor in which the notebook will be named as Acer Ferrari 1100. With a price listing of Australian Dollar $3,999 (available in Aussie now), I think only die-hard Ferrari fans would buy this notebook just for the logo sake.

There are additional buttons that would allow you to access certain programmes at a slightly faster rate. For example, inclusion of touch-sensitive shortcut buttons for email, Internet and a programmable application and the Acer Empowering Technology button. I think I can outdo the user with the current notebook that I'm using.........hehehe
Tags: Asus, Lamborghini, Asus Lamborghini ZX1, Texas Instruments Processor, Acer, Ferrari, Acer Ferrari 1100, AMD Turion, Technology, Gadget, PDA Phone, Notebook, Laptop