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

Airlines' Weird Ways

Ryanair, the Irish low cost carrier, is on with their game to surprise more air travellers. Recently, I had blogged about Ryanair having proposed to charge air travellers for the usage of air plane's toilets.

In time to come, their air stewardess may not need to explain to you on the air safety procedures but if you still want to find out, you would be required to pay £2.50 to read their safety card.

The safety card will show you how to put on the oxygen mask. At the same time, the safety card will teach you where to insert the money in order for the oxygen mask to drop down for your usage. The usage of the oxygen mask will cost you £1.00.

Please bear mind that after reading this blogpost, you are requested to carry small change when you board a flight with Ryanair. Just in case ...... just in case.

One last thing, Ryanair will need to charge you during emergency exit. You see, you would have to use their rubber chute to slide down or a rubber dinghy if it lands on water (provided the plane doesn't break into pieces of course).

Pay £25 and the crew member will allow you to exit through the emergency exit door. What's £25 compare to the value of your life at stake.

Over the PA system, you may get to hear this announcement - "Thank you for travelling with Ryanair and we hope that you'll bring enough cash for your next travel with us".

Ain't this great. Before you leave this blogpost angrily, you have to read this piece of news - Ryanair's prize for weirdest money-making idea.

Not all airlines are looking forward to squeeze your hard earned out from your pockets.

One US airline, Southwest Airlines, put up some money to re-decorate one of the planes with a bikini-clad model. Some passengers called it soft porn.

Southwest Airlines is going all out to lure air passengers to use their airlines. By the way, when you are inside the plane, how are you going to view that bikini-clad lady which is painted on the outside.

Maybe you can view it while waiting at the boarding gate while the plane is having a re-fueling time??!?!?!!?
Tags: Air Travellers, Air Passengers, Ryanair, Safety Card, Oxygen Mask, Southwest Airlines, Soft Porn

Weird Stuff in Airports

The last trip back to KL, I was hunting for some food as it was past midnight and the stomach was growling.

Saw this cafe by the name of Paul and right across it ...... was Starbucks.

Starbucks or Paul?

Took a picture of the 'little forest that was located in between Starbucks and Paul while thinking what to eat.

Ended up at Paul's as I can frequent Starbucks in KL. I asked the waiter at Paul's on which food is good and his response was ????

"All is nice, Sir". Can't they be a bit more precise. I guessed I'm the first customer to have ask that question. So I re-phrased my question, "To you personally, which is a better choice".

As we were standing in front of a stretch of food, his hand just waved across that stretch ...... "all this is nice, Sir". A bit of wasting my saliva.

Looks like I'm the one who has to be more specific ..... "Is this one nice?". He answered "Yes Sir". Hmmmmm bingo. And I pointed to another food item in which I asked the same question "Is this one nice?". His answered ..... "Yes, it's nice Sir". There you are. Back to square one.

Last question this time. "Is this apple at the top?" to which he answered "Yes, Sir". Great, I'll have that apple stuff on top of the some sort of pie. I don't really like the taste in the end as personally, I found that the apple was not fresh. This pie with a Vanilla milkshake cost me around RM36.




While on the way to Khartoum this time, I hopped in the business lounge at KLIA and saw this wonderfully decorated food item. It was chick pea in pink sauce. Taste weird.

Then tried the Japanese soft cheesecake with three slices of strawberries. Too soft actually and the cheese wasn't really there ........

Then I saw grapes and this is without seeds. My favourite indeed. Lazy to find those tiny weeny seeds when you want to chew and swallow fast. Red grapes too? Those were tomatoes actually.



When I arrived in Dubai for transit, they put me into a room which was considered big that came with two single beds.

The small little building in front of my hotel ..... the one with lots of reflective glasses all around and an advertising signboard on top of it .... that's actually an air-conditioned bus stop.

Too hot to wait for a bus stop in an open air environment so the government takes care of that and provides comfort to bus passengers.

The gigantic lift system in Dubai airport. Always admire the engineering capability of this lift system.

That's how big is one lift carriage itself, with two doors.











The astonishing part - the Fujitec could fit in 120 persons that weighs up to a total of 9,000 kg. Beat that!
Tags: Paul, Starbucks, Dubai, Dubai Airport, Gigantic Lift

Michael Jackson's Really Dead

Slept between 12midnight and 1am yesterday while watching Wolverine. I was tired but I thought I could make it through. But that movie is a total let down. Can you imagine that you could differentiate whether it was a real movie shot or a super imposed graphic in it.

Woke up by a phone call from KL office around 7am (Malaysian time was 12noon) and need to amend some documents urgently.

After that I browsed through my blogspot account and saw that I have lots of comments yet to be validated. That's really weird, I thought, as I don't get so many comments especially during those hours. Logged in and saw that 98% of the comments were meant for one particular blog post that I posted way back in 24 Oct 2007. Title of that post - Michael Jackson's Dead?

Curiosity made me to read through the comments as to why this post captured so many attention. One by one ....... still not believing what I have read, I turned to yahoo website and true enough, Michael Jackson is really dead this time.

This guy is really a phenomenal. He got my attention something like 25 years ago (waaaaaaa you're that old????). From that day, I followed his songs and admired his dance movements. I will look forward to his new albums and will always like to view his music videos on TV whenever it was shown because it was produced with first class production.

Teenagers nowadays may not know him but those aged 25 years old and above may recognise him anytime.

Yeah, you may have heard of many scandals that tangled up with him but I have no doubt that he was one of the best entertainer that I have ever come across in my life. I remembered when he came to Malaysia for his concert and I saw people climbing up the hillslope opposite of Concorde Hotel, trying to catch just a glimpse of him at the window.

It caused a major traffic jam for that few days he was there. A friend of mine who worked with the hotel management told me that security was so tight and that the hype was so great that even staff can't concentrate on their works but hoping just to see him walk pass by.

That's how influential of Michael Jackson.

You may asked how do you know that he was so influential.

Well, all I can say is that when I checked through my Nuffnang statistics, just that 24 Oct 2007 posting itself had garnered 50,000 visits in less than 8 hours.

The chart showed me only 14 visits at 4am. By 5am, 6,947 visits came to that particular blog post.

By 6am, when news have spread round the world, that particular blog post had 29,538 visits.

His name will be remembered for the wonderful songs and dance movements, especially the moonwalk.

Two of his wonderful songs that I liked, Smooth Criminal (for its musical beat, rhythm and dance routine) and Heal The World.

Reading: Michael Jackson Dies - TMZ
Tags: Michael Jackson, Michael Jackson Is Dead, Smooth Criminal, Heal The World

Yamaha Wearable Motorcycle

I have placed an order for the following Yamaha future concept motorcycle.

Designed by Jake Loniak, a student from the Art Center Pasadena. The future concept motorcycle that incorporates technology seen used by a villain in Spiderman 3's movie and I believe that movie really inspired him to produce this monster known as Yamaha Deus Ex Machina.

Just look at those ultra-capacitors, doped nano-phoshpate batteries, pneumatic muscles, linear actuators, artificial vertebrae and the pneumatic helmet, whatever you call it.

Speed wise? Acceleration from 0 to 60m in a short 3 seconds. Even the Lamborghini or Ferrari loses out on this.

The designer believes that with this design and the technology involved, a top speed of 75 mph is achievable.

Only thing is that you have to recharge your battery after one hour of usage. Otherwise, I'll be roaming across the country. Although it will take only 15 minutes to recharge, I wonder what sort of recharging accessories are required. Can we recharge anywhere?







Yamaha Deus Ex Machina is just like a hybrid car, clean and it runs on electric. Sadly it's for one passenger.

One thing, it's easily stolen.












If you want more speed with better stability, just lower down your body a bit and feel its speed.
Tags: Yamaha, Yamaha Deus Ex Machina, Ultra-Capacitors, Nano-Phoshpate Batteries, Pneumatic Muscles, Linear Actuators, Artificial Vertebrae, Pneumatic Helmet, Art Center Pasadena, Wearable Motorcycle

How Frugal Are You Lately?

Jesus set a great example for frugality. Even though He had performed a miracle and fed a crowd of 5,000 men and an undisclosed number of women and children with only five loaves and two small fishes, He instructed His disciples to gather up the leftovers. When it was all said and done, they had gathered 12 basketfuls. Now, Jesus, you may wonder, was that necessary? You could have thrown that extra bread away. All you had to do was perform another miracle and make more bread when You needed it. Through His actions, Jesus was showing the importance of not squandering what God has provided-even when it appears that you do not need the excess.

I talked to a couple recently who had lived a rather lavish lifestyle, but through a series of misfortunes lost everything. They are starting to rebuild their lives and are working at jobs that pay much less than they were used to making. I queried them about the role they had played in their financial decline, and they confessed that they were partly responsible. I concluded from a casual observation of their current behavior that a lot of their old wasteful habits were still alive and well. They called it "generosity" when they gave a 95 percent tip to the restaurant's parking attendant. By no means am I opposed to such bigheartedness, but when you are trying to stabilize your finances, you need to understand that frugality is a significant part of spirituality and God is not pleased when we engage in extravagance.

In one of His parables, Jesus talked about a son who convinced his father to give him his inheritance before the appointed time. "A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and took a trip to a land, and there he wasted all his money on wild living"(Luke 15:13 NLT). When the economy turned sour, he could only find work feeding a farmer's swine. He almost starved to death. At one point, he became so hungry he had to eat the pods that the farmer fed to the swine. I can imagine him sitting there by the trough dividing the food between himself and the pigs: "swine," "mine," "swine," "mine." He then realized that his father's servants were living better than this. He humbled himself and headed home. His merciful father was glad to receive him and gave him a big welcome back party. Of course, by having the party, the father was by no means condoning his son's wastefulness, but rather celebrating his coming to his senses.

Are you wasteful in any area of your life, or do you actively seek ways to practice frugality? For instance, do you allow your children to open a can of soda, take a few sips, and then trash it? Did you know that there are special lids available at the supermarket that will allow you to seal the can and preserve the fizz? Are you too embarrassed to ask for a doggie bag when you eat out? Do you bring home leftovers from your restaurant dining and then allow them to spoil in the refrigerator before you can consume them? Do you consider reusing plastic lunch bags, especially when you only use them for dry goods such as chips and cookies? They can be recycled at least once after a quick swipe with a damp towel. Do you always turn the lights off when you leave the room? Do you use both sides of the paper when printing drafts of reports-at home and at work?

I have practiced frugality as far back as I can remember. In fact, Darnell teases that I squeeze each dollar so tightly it's a wonder I don't rub George Washington's face right off the front of it. Yes, I turn the bottle upside down and get the last drop out of everything. I pick up every penny I find when I'm out walking. As Benjamin Franklin said, "A penny saved is a penny earned." I use vinegar and water instead of the fancy cleaners to clean glass and shiny surfaces. I do everything I can to save money-not to hoard it, but so that I can share it. I can't think of a single thing I have ever purchased that has brought more joy than writing a check to someone who desperately needs it. We are never more like Christ than when we are giving.

I want to be careful to balance our discussion by warning that we should not allow our desire to be frugal to keep us from fully enjoying the things that are within the bounds of what God allows. I thoroughly enjoy the breathtaking view of the city from my home. My husband and I have made great sacrifices in putting the needs of God's house before our own desires. Therefore, we refuse to allow Satan to make us feel guilty about what God has provided.

Frugality is not a call to poverty, and it certainly should not take the fun out of our lives. It is important that we enjoy the abundant life that Christ came to give us. It is equally important to understand that abundance is not to be equated with extravagance. God blesses His children with abundance so that they can bless others with their overflow. If we are all poverty-stricken, how will we have an overflow?

Frugality is simply avoiding waste. Wastefulness will keep your finances in a tailspin. Frugality is evidence that God can trust you with increased resources because you have learned how to manage what He already supplied.

Read the above in 30 Days to Taming Your Finances: What To Do (and Not Do) to Make Your Money Go Further by Deborah Smith Pegues

Reading: Extreme cheapskates: Tightwads revel in frugality - Newsvine
Tags: Frugal, Frugality