Hari Raya Haji in Sudan - Part 2

Part 2 - Day Two ....... were invited for lunch at a senior Petronas staff's house which was in the same vicinity. Less than five minutes drive. This was a two blocks apartment and the compound was properly maintained.












Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaah ...... Malay dishes .....slurp!!!!!
Ayam masak merah, rendang chicken, curry lamb, tender beef ..... you name it lah ... comes with briyani rice too

Ya ya been eating too much actually. It's rude if you don't eat what was served and at the same time, you could be misunderstood by implying that the food was not nice .... no no. Can't let your host think like that.






My three other colleagues agreed and they whacked the food too.

We had to remember not to overfeed ourselves as there was another invitation at night. So, we ate sparingly ..... sparing some space for the night actually.

Ahhhhhh here we are, joined by other Malaysians in Khartoum. The last time (few years back) I heard that there was about 800 to 1,200 Malaysians in Sudan but spread out all over due to work commitment. The Embassy of Malaysia in Sudan held a get together for Malaysians who were in Khartoum.

Of course, there was food too but as I was seated away from the food area, I was lazy to take pictures. Not many choices though but enough for the visitors.

Had to take this picture to proof my existence in Sudan. Our friend who was working in the embassy told us nobody takes such picture. Hehe

Well, we broke the duck and let me tell you, right after me and colleagues had taken the pictures .... roughly about a dozen others took turns.

Some said they have to show proof to their wives. Wondering where they have been all this while? hahaha ..........

The best laugh we had was that our friend in the embassy posed for a picture for the first time even though he has been walking past this signboard numerous times

This was the front lawn where Malaysians from all walks of life were mingling around.

As the night was still young (we left the embassy at 9pm plus), we decided to adjourn to Assaha Traditional Village ..... the Lebanese restaurant. This is definitely one of the better place to relax with a good environment.

The satisfied look of having good meals for the two days of Hari Raya Haji ........... we exist to eat!
Tags: Hari Raya Haji, Sudan, Khartoum, Embassy of Malaysia, Assaha Traditional Village

Hari Raya Haji in Sudan - Part 1

Day One of Hari Raya Haji celebration in Sudan. We were to Petronas Sudan headquarters for a get together for Malaysians.

They put up tents to shield the food from the heat ...... so that we can have fantastic Malaysian food. We arrived there quite late and only managed to salvage some 'sup kambing' or lamb soup / mutton soup whatever you name it.











The place we sat on was situated between the two residential blocks. My company was involved in the construction of this Petronas headquarters.

It comes with the office complex and there are places for badminton courts, gym and ping pong area.

The other side of the office complex is facing the Blue Nile River. It will join up with the White Nile River few hundreds metre downstream to form the great Nile River that flows through Egypt up the north and out to the Mediterranean Sea.

As it was winter time, cool air was felt and of course, we were blocked from the sun ray by the building. Otherwise it would still be stinging hot on yr skin.













My colleagues, all got used to the Sudan environment and culture (not all though). We chit chat till it was time to adjourn to another invitation.

We are supposed to cross to the other side of Khartoum city, Omdurman, for the next invitation. We had a map drawn up for us but still got lost. Everywhere looks the same to us.

We called for help ..... the host, who sent his eldest son to lead us the way.

Here we are, found at Mr. Sasooq's huge bungalow house that has five bedrooms, three living halls, one dining area overlooking one of the living hall and one cat ..... but didn't ask how many washrooms were there. He's one of the senior engineers in our client's office.

This living hall was big and if you want to talk to the person opposite of you, like where Amin was sitting, you just have to speak a bit louder than usual.

Don't know what Nazril was trying to depict to our host who was besides me.










At long last ................ meal time. We ate enough to cover our dinner and supper and maybe part of tomorrow's breakfast.

We were joined by senior Petronas staff. Boss, if you were reading this blog, don't worry. We behaved ourselves. In order not to mess up the dining table, we took the dishes to where we were seated.

Let me try to recall what was on the table - deep fried mutton, briyani chicken rice, turkish salad, turkish vege, fresh fillet fish and fresh fruits were served at the end.

As I behaved, I didn't get to take close-up shots of the food that was served. My apologies, has to follow office instruction.
Tags: Petronas, Petronas Sudan Headquarters, Blue Nile River, White Nile River, Nile River, Egypt, Mediterranean Sea, Hari Raya Haji

Healthy Breakfast

One of those days that I thought of a healthy breakfast. Most of the time will wallop the butter or margarine on toasted bread with chunky peanut butter on it.

I did buy one of this supposedly healthy crunchy bar (hopefully not tainted anyhow), the Nature Valley. Bought it for RM10.50 that comes with twelve crunchy granola bars of peanut butter.

This product is one of the sponsors for the PGA Tour golf tournament in the USA. They regard this food product as energy food. It was because of this branding tie up that helped me to decide in trying it.

After opening up and biting it, I don't find the crunchiness as stated on the packaging. Maybe you need to eat it fresh.

It was crunchy but you need to bite real hard to have a piece of it. Do you call that crunchie? Hehe

Disappointed with it.

Tags: Nature Valley, Peanut Butter, Energy Bar, Crunchy Granola Bars, Whole Grain, PGA Tour

The Economics of Blogging

Haven't started a blog yet? A blog was known as weblog in the early days when one of its main function was like a personal diary or to jot down important events or notes for reminder purposes. As time progresses, more people are being exposed to blogs that are hosted by a number of blog platforms.

In Taiwan, blogging is already on a different level. Of course, socio-political bloggers were there long time ago and still around but Taiwanese bloggers are going full time nowadays. Not only that, money is rolling into their bank accounts for blogging.

What do the Taiwanese bloggers do? They worked hard to promote instant food, cosmetics, 3C, travel trips and anything that can be sold. To the extent that in the recent launching of the McDonalds Taiwan new hamburger in Oct 08, there was a need to get three well-known bloggers to taste and blog about the hamburger which was not an option.

The internet advertising agency that handled the McDonalds Taiwan's new hamburger advertisement recruited hundreds of writers to blog about the hamburger to spread the news in a much faster pace.

A known Taiwanese food blogger, 迴紋針, took the opportunity to write about the hamburger but wrote a blog against the product instead. As her blog was well read, the advertising agency has to call her to revise her blog post to which she declined to do so. Personal blog, so personal comments about the hamburger.

Such marketing tactics are known as "blog marketing" or "blog economy" where it is one of the most popular jobs in a time of recession.

Interactive Communications, one of the top five communication agencies, is helping their clients to promote their products via bloggers. End results, sales was twice as much as the initial target. Why blog marketing? Reason number one is that the costs are low and the effects are directly measurable. It was estimated that there are about 200 'blogging spokesperson' campaigns every year.

In Malaysia, there is already a column in the Star newspaper reserved blogger columnist Nicole Tan who usually writes about her travels, happenings around Malaysia, internet shopping or about the blogosphere and bloggers. This is just the beginning for bloggers.

I know of a number of bloggers who are usually invited to attend product launches, events or opening of restaurants or boutiques. The bloggers do not receive payments but free trial products instead. Of course, some full time bloggers do get paid for writing about those functions. Taiwanese bloggers do get paid up to NT$10,000 per blog post. Not too sure what's the market rate in Malaysia.

The world is changing and direct marketing efforts are considering bloggers as the new media era. I have something up in my brain already and have spoken to a hotel in Kuala Lumpur in which bloggers could assist. Can't do much as I'm in Sudan right now.

Besides having a Public Relations Department, companies should be thinking of Bloggers Relations Programme in time to come. Mark my words!
(some of above info was sourced from China Times)
Tags: Weblog, Full Time Blogger, Freelance Blogger, Taiwanese Bloggers, Blog Marketing, Blog Economy, Interactive Communications, Nicole Tan, Bloggers Relations Programme, Internet Advertising Agency

Police to Race Against Other Drivers

Malaysian policemen are a lucky lot as they will have the opportunity to drive the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution on the roads in weeks to come while test drives are being conducted.

* Engine Type: 2.0-liter (1,998 cc) turbocharged inline-4, aluminum-alloy block and head (4B11)
* Valvetrain: DOHC, 16-valve with Mitsubishi Innovative Valve-timing Electronic Control (MIVEC)
* Horsepower / Torque: 291 hp @ 6,500 rpm / 300 lb-ft @ 4,000 rpm

The police contingency is willing to spend millions of ringgit to purchase twenty five of such powerful racing cars. Let's see, one of this car has a price list of RM323,888. Twenty five of them will cost us, the taxpayers, RM8,097,200.

So ......... the money saved by the government in petrol subsidies will be spent in this way ... indirectly benefitting the public as policemen will be able to nab all those criminals as they can't escape this time ......... haha

Justified?

Reasons for buying, as given by Inspector-General of Police - "to be used in high-speed car chase, especially in cases of carjacking, kidnapping and hi­­jacking. The speed of the cars would enable the police to catch up with criminals who often used modified turbo charged cars to escape."

I find that reason from the Inspector-General of Police quite disturbing.

Malaysia do not have many super highways and normally high-speed car chase happens on city roads or rural areas. If the police starts to chase after such criminals and the criminals, out of panic and desperation, will be crashing all over the place and knocking into other cars or worse still, into people. Such scenario could be seen in action-packed movies.

Don't fret, the citizens of Malaysia, as you will have a chance too by year 2010. Our national car manufacturer, Proton Holdings Berhad ("Proton"), has decided to execute a development agreement to manufacture a new motor vehicle. Both Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional Sdn Bhd (subsidiary company of Proton) and Mitsubishi Motors Corp of Japan will roll out a replacement car for the ageing Proton Waja model. The new car will be a hatchback and targetted to be on the road in year 2010.

Upon reading this, I think I'll postpone my plan in getting a new car ......... Too bad you can't speed with the new hatchback as the police will be watching you with their new racing car ............... hehehe.

And in comparison with other developed countries' police cars, I'll be proud to show off my country's future police car.
Tags: Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, Inspector-General of Police, Proton Holdings Berhad, Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional Sdn Bhd, Mitsubishi Motors Corp, Proton Waja, Police Car

Which Plastic Is Safer?

We have heard / read that the plastic product is not good if used too frequently or certain plastic products could withstand longer usage. How are we to differentiate?

Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) can leach phthalates, known male reproductive toxicants. It can be identified by code 3. One way to avoid it in the kitchen is by choosing plastic wrap made from polyethylene rather than PVC. If a box is not labeled, find a brand that is or call the manufacturer.

Polystyrene is used in Styrofoam products. It may leach styrene (a neurotoxin) when it comes into contact with hot, acidic, or fatty foods. It's marked with recycling code 6.


Polycarbonate can leach bisphenol-A (BPA), an endocrine disruptor associated with a long list of health concerns. Baby bottles, "sippy" cups, 5-gallon water jugs, and reusable beverage bottles are typically made out of this plastic. Products may be marked with recycling code 7 and/or the letters "PC." It’s important to note that some containers that aren’t made from polycarbonate may also be marked with a code 7 because the category also includes any plastic that doesn’t fit into the 1 to 6 recycling code categories.

The following plastics are considered safest for food storage but still not encouraged (glass and stainless steel are better options):-

Polyethylene terephthalate ethylene (PETE), code 1.



High-density polyethylene (HDPE), code 2.



Low-density polyethylene (LDPE), code 4.



Polypropylene (PP), code 5.



Here are some tips for using all plastics safely:-
* Don't microwave food in plastic containers. Chemicals are more likely to leach out when plastic is heated. "Microwaveable plastic" doesn't guarantee that chemicals won't leach. Cover foods in the microwave with wax paper or a plate. If you do use plastic wrap, then make sure it doesn't touch the food.

* Avoid putting hot foods in plastic containers. Let leftovers cool off before storing them in plastic.

* Take good care of plastics by not washing them with harsh chemicals, and dispose of scratched and worn containers. Research has shown that older, scratched items will leach more. Don't put them in the dishwasher if you want to be completely risk-averse.

Reading: Institute for Agricultural and Trade Policy
(The above posting has been extracted from Yahoo Green)
Tags: Plastic, Polyethylene, Plastic Container, Polycarbonate, Polystyrene

Watch Made Beyond Its Purpose

Nowadays, watchmakers are making watches beyond its purpose or usage. Only way to differentiate themselves from other watchmakers, each party will manufacture a watch to claim the title of the most complicated watchmaker.

Romain Jerome, a Geneva watchmaking house, has manufactured a watch that doesn't tell time. Now, why would you want to buy something that is called a watch but doesn't tell its time.

The watch is called Day&Night which has two tourbillons working in sequence, one during the 12-hour-day, and the other during the 12-hour-night. During the first twelve hours, only the Day tourbillon will move. It will stop moving after twelve hours and hand over the movement to the Night tourbillon. Selling price - US$300,000.

Just when I thought the first one was complicated, out comes another weird piece.

Manufactured by both Romain Jerome and Cabestan, only six pieces are out in the market. Wondering whether all six have been sold or still being displayed at retail shops.

This watch was made to pay homage to the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Antarctic and Arctic Oceans. The last piece, where tiny weeny parts of the Titanic ship were used, was to commemorate Titanic's shipwreck site i.e. 41° 43’ 55’’ N et 49° 56’ 45’’ W. Such a weird looking timepiece could easily fetch US$173,000.

This watch really makes sense to me now. You see the hour arm at last. François-Paul Journe's La Sonnerie Souveraine but surprisingly this watch has a grand sonnerie, or full strike, which sounds the hours and quarters at each quarter, and a petite sonnerie which sounds only the hour at the hour and the quarters at the quarters. It also has an extremely complicated minute repeater.

Selling price - US$544,000. This is crazy!







So by looking at those prices, I definitely can't afford any of it and can only dream about it. Even if I could have afford it, I may not put US$500,000 on my hand. Why? Because not many people will know what kind of brand are those .......... hehe

My aim is much lower - the Oris Williams F1 Team Chronograph 2008. Nothing unique on this model but it's an automatic winding chronograph that is big in size, 45mm in diameter.

Wondering what's the price in Malaysia?

The joke is that people on the street won't be able to differentiate whether your watch is originally authentic or not. Some friends mentioned that buying a fake one is just as good. The only thing you want to know is ............. simple ............. the time, that was the main purpose.

Reading: Watchmakers pushing the limits - International Herald Tribune
Tags: Watch, Watchmaker, Geneva Watchmaking House, Swiss Made, Swiss Watch, Romain Jerome, Day&Night, Titanic-DNA by Cabestan, Cabestan, François-Paul Journe, La Sonnerie Souveraine, Oris, Oris Williams F1 Team Chronograph 2008