Potential Landslide in Medan Damansara?

With the recent Bukit Antarabangsa landslide fresh in the minds of all Malaysians and as I have guessed, those staying in Medan Damansara would be fearing for their lifes as well. The Damansara 21 hillslope project undertaken by SDB Properties Sdn Bhd is just lingering above the few rows of houses at Medan Damansara. SDB Properties Sdn Bhd has requested the authorities to give them six months to facilitate them to strengthen the hillslope in which they are investing RM30 million to stabilise the hill.

If it requires as much as RM30 million just to do that ............. what does it tell you?

The residents, under the Medan Damansara Residents Association, has objected to the hillslope project. I wonder what the association had done that has given an avenue for SDB Properties Sdn Bhd to sue the association's current and past presidents and two other office bearers.

Not only they lived in fear but have to think about the law suit as well.

The residents have a blog for their cause too - Save The Hills, Please.
Tags: Bukit Antarabangsa Landslide, Damansara 21, SDB Properties Sdn Bhd, Medan Damansara, Medan Damansara Residents Association, Save The Hills, Please

Sudanese Friend's Wedding

We were supposed to go for a dinner on Thursday night at a hotel, invited by a Sudanese. We thought it was one of those Hari Raya Haji celebration dinner again. Off we went. Upon arrival, the security at the hotel entrance told us that the hotel was closed for a wedding. Huh????? We tried calling that guy but he wasn't answering his phone.

We made another call to his friend and this fella told us that it was Abdullah's (the person who so-called invited us to a dinner but didn't say it was his big day) wedding at the hotel that we weren't allowed to enter. Goodness, what a trick he played on us.

Eventually we told the security that we are also the guests and we parked within the hotel compound as we were early (around 9pm plus).

In Sudan, all weddings that I have attend thus far or seen are held at open field and surrounded with gigantic cloth being put round the whole function area. The entrance to the wedding was decorated with colourful lightings.

When we entered, some of the guests were already dancing to the tune of the music that was played by a live band that comprise of a trumpet, trombones, drum, rymthmic guitar, bass guitar, keyboard and violins. This is considered a high class wedding in Sudan context.

The arrival of the king and queen for the day.

Food was served and each guest will be given a plate only. It's not a eight course dinner that comes in eight different big dishes but all-in-one plate here.

I was fortunate to have gotten a drumstick, a piece of mutton, a piece of bread, two rolls of small croissant style bread, two pieces of dates, a small chunk of white cheese, a piece of sweetened biscuit and soggy crackers.

The classic was ........ you are given a bottle of Pepsi. Yes, it was in a bottle. You won't get to see it in Kuala Lumpur nowadays.














We were seated waaaaaaaaaay behind the main stage.

Good thing they have put up LCD TVs around the place so we could witness what was going on waaaaaaaaaay in front.

Then, from 10pm onwards, the king / queen for the day came near to the live band and danced till 11pm. As everyone was leaving, we only went up to greet / congrats the king. He was definitely happy to have three foreigners attending his wedding.

As I'm the only chinese fella around, people will tend to stare ....... giving the curiosity look and asking "Who's this fella?".
Tags: Sudanese Wedding, Sudanese Custom, Sudanese Tradition, Pepsi

Only Consolation in Sudan

As I like to watch football a lot ............... I get to watch it in abundance and it's also the only consolation for being in Sudan. Just look at my English Premier League TV schedule for Saturday and Sunday. We get to watch all of the matches live broadcasted by Showtime Maximum TV channels. This weekend's (not a weekend in Sudan though) matches will start with Middlesborough vs. Arsenal at 3.30pm (Sudan time). I don't need to stay up late for any of the matches. We get to switch to whichever match we want to see at any given time but would normally stick to the best match.

Match of the week would definitely be the match between Tottenham vs. Man Utd, which will start at 8.30pm here. No doubt that Spurs is on form at the moment.

If you are into EPL, there is a poll ready for you to vote upon (on left column).
Tags: English Premier League, Middlesborough, Arsenal, Tottenham, Spurs, Man Utd, Showtime Maximum TV, Football, Soccer

RM1,000,000 Public Toilet Found in ......

China is facing the same problem as we in Malaysia. Some of their government servants do things way beyond human expectation ..... not the good part but the ridiculous part.

Can you the senior management in the Sanitation Department of Wuhan Urban Management Bureau has built a public toilet to the value of 2,000,000 Yuan. Moreover, this toilet is found underground of the Hankou Liberation Park.

Generally, if the news spread out, lots of people will flock to the area to have a look at the expensive toilet to see for themselves. The officials will then do a headcount and justify that the toilet usage has super exceeded what was estimated in the first place.

The officials were proud to say that this toilet is the largest, best and most civilised class of public toilet found in the whole of Wuhan Municipality.

If you were take a look inside the toilet, the design looks ordinary. Maybe expensive materials were used to construct the toilet, for example the basin and toilet cubicles were sourced from overseas suppliers.

Justified?

Reading: Wuhan Builds 2 Million RMB Luxury Public Toilet - China Smack
Tags: China, Wuhan, Luxury Public Toilet, Hankou Liberation Park, Sanitation Department, Wuhan Urban Management Bureau, Wuhan Municipality

More Death Leads To More Business

This specialised company, Nirvana Memorial Park (M) Sdn Bhd, dealing in the bereavment sector is really going all out to get business. You book an urn compartment now and your future cremation is FREE!

Malaysians are known for queueing up for free stuff ...... I wonder what was the response like.I remembered my mom's friend wanted to sell her a burial plot at this memorial park but my mom didn't take up the offer. Mom said she's not in a hurry ..... hehe

This is definitely not a sponsored post.
Tags: Nirvana Memorial Park, Urn Compartment, Urn, Cremation, Burial Plot

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