Just received an email from the ANZCA people… I won the logo design competition!! This is awesome!! I get a 300AUD cash prize too!! apart from having the logo featured on all print and web media used for the ANZCA conference… this rocks.

Oh yea and I’m also officially on a one week holiday now too… unfortunately I don’t think I will be travelling around too much. Will be working on some of the days… so we’ll see…

p.s. I’m still waiting for my cameras’s damage report… dont know how much it will cost to repair yet… I miss it…

This year’s conference’s theme is communication, creativity and global citizenship.

On weekends, I usually find extra time to prepare pancakes on one of the mornings. Just so I can break away from the standard cereal/muesli bar/toast breakfast.

So I was preparing pancakes as usual at 9am in the morning….
NOW BEHOLD THE MICRO-PANCAKE!!!

Now dont just sit there staring in awe and admiration at my pancake preparation skills….

With hard work, determination and non-stop training, I have faith that you too will someday be able to achieve the same greatness as I have achieved.

Meanwhile I am selling autographed pictures of my micro-pancake for RM15 or 5AUD a piece.

The small size of the micro-pancake increases its surface area to volume ratio… which increases its flavour and crunchiness… believe me when I say its tasty, as long as you don’t swallow it by accident.

Here’s a picture of my micro-pancake… a stack of normal pancakes… on top of a failed gigantonourmous pancake I was trying out at the bottom…

As a bonus, here’s a micro-pancake wallpaper you can put on your computer.

Malaysia’s ‘worst in the world’ taxis tarnish national image
The ads promoting “Malaysia: Truly Asia” aim to welcome visitors with a warm smile to a prosperous and modern nation, so the taxi fleet branded “the worst in the world” can come as a bit of a shock.

Even the locals are not spared the shabby service of unkempt and hostile drivers behind the wheels of decrepit vehicles who refuse to use the meter, overcharge and pick-and-choose which destinations they will travel to.

At the popular KLCC mall under Kuala Lumpur’s iconic Petronas Twin Towers is a typical scene, as a gang of cabbies negotiate with a young Norwegian couple just metres from a signboard warning against “taxi touts”.

“Flat rate, flat rate, no metre,” one driver insists as the tourists try to find a cab to take them to their hotel, less than two kilometres (1.2 miles) away.

Anxious to escape the baking heat, they agree to pay 25 ringgit (7.22 dollars) for a trip that would have cost less than three ringgit on the meter.

“Is it expensive? We don’t know, we thought it is normal here,” said the woman as they piled in with their shopping bags.

More frequent visitors, however, are vocal in their criticism and say that aggressive and unprofessional drivers are tarnishing the nation’s image as a squeaky clean and hospitable destination.

“I first visited Malaysia in 2006 and I was impressed by everything I saw except for the worst taxi service I have endured,” said Kabir Dali, an Indian tourist waiting in vain for a metered taxi at another mall.

“I paid a whopping 260 ringgit (74 dollars) from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport to town and was later told that was twice the proper amount.”

Complaints about taxis are common in many countries, but in Malaysia it has escalated to an outpouring of frustration, on blog sites and in letters to newspapers.

In a survey by the local magazine The Expat, some 200 foreigners from 30 countries rated Malaysia the worst among 23 countries in terms of taxi quality, courtesy, availability and expertise.

The respondents lashed the fleet as “a source of national shame” and “a serious threat to tourists — rude bullies and extortionists”.

Salvation is in sight though, as a number of smaller, up-scale operators enter the market to provide a more expensive but quality taxi service for frustrated visitors and locals.

The uniformed drivers, behind the wheels of smart new multi-purpose vehicles and sedans, switch on the meter as a matter of course and do not refuse destinations — surprising and delighting commuters in the capital.

Abdul Razak, operations manager for Dubai-based Citicab which launched here in January, said that even in poorer nations such as Thailand and Indonesia, taxis are smarter and the drivers far more courteous.

“I would say it is the worst in this region, undoubtedly. I have travelled to all countries in this region and our company operates taxis in many parts of the world. The situation here is the worst I have seen,” he told AFP.

“The vehicles are in shabby condition, the driver will take you if he likes your face — that is, if he agrees with where you want to go for the price he insists on.”

The government has called on taxi firms to lift their standards, but various campaigns have achieved little, and many blame the lack of enforcement on rampant corruption in the police and bureaucracy.

“It is difficult for the roads and traffic department to take stern action,” said a security officer at one city mall as he watched the touts swoop.

“Taxi operators and the company which hold the licences are all linked to some politician or another,” he said. “Drivers here are ruthless because they are unchecked by authorities who are almost non-existent.”

John Koldowski, from the Pacific Asia Travel Association, said that “less than desirable” taxi drivers have an outsize impact on a nation’s image.

“The first contact a tourist gets with locals is often during airport transits to hotels and it creates a very, very strong first impression, either be good or bad,” he said.

“Authorities certainly need to do their jobs and act upon any complaints strongly, quickly and visibly.”

Source

It fell form my pouch onto the floor two weeks ago… It’s still working, but the system clock is resetted to 1st of January 2006… permanently…

I need to send it for service but I am currently very broke and can’t do anything about my camera because I’m still waiting for ASTRO to pay me my living fees for the 2nd semester, which started 2 months ago…

Until I get my camera fixed, I’ve decided to avoid using it that much anymore. The last thing I want is for dust and grime to enter the camera and contaminate the circuit boards causing the camera to explode in front of my face while trying to take a picture giving me third degree burns and permanent blindness on my right eye.

So yea… no pictures from my camera… I’m praying it wont cost much. Otherwise, I might as well go get a new camera right?? Nah.. It shouldn’t… It looks like the cover could just be snapped back or something…I Hope…

Hmm.. the nikon D90 has video recording… how awesome is that?? Especially with all the lenses and everything!! Its like a miniature professional video camera.

Photos are awesome but videos are definitely a big thing for me too especially when you can use all the dSLR lenses I already have…
This will definitely pull a bunch of prospective buyers away from the D300, I know it definitely made me think twice…

Pfftt… anyways, I’ll be gone for the weekend. More camping and climbing… unfortunately.. not pictures… maybe from my camera phone

Don’t ask me why but the australians decided it would be a good idea to go to the beach in winter. Apparently, according to them, the water was supposed to be warm despite the cool temperature we’re experiencing above sea level.

So fine. I could use a trip to the beach, and being climbers, we didnt only go there for the beach, there was also of course bouldering to be done.

Noosa is along the Sunshine Coast, approximately 2 hours drive north of Brisbane. From what I’ve heard, the beaches on the Sunshine Coast are better than the Gold Coast too… so I was really looking forward to this.

There was a little of a walk in along the rocky coast to get the the bouldering spot. With a little bit of scrambling over rocks and ledges involved.

It took approximately 15 minutes and it was a pretty relaxing walk with the chilly sea breeze blowing while the sun was keeping us warm.

Eventually though we finally arrived at the bouldering spot. A wall of oddly shaped cliff faces with all kinds of weird problems.

And so we bouldered…

It didn’t take too long for people to give in to the sparkling water and sand. Some of us slowly gave up on rocks and ran to the beach which was only about 5 minutes away.
When the last few of us was done with bouldering. We went to the beach to join them…

Seeing how the others were happily swimming in the water… I immediately dashed into the warm aussie w… *FARK!!*

THE. WATER. WAS. FUCKING. COLD.

I stared at the whole bunch of them. Puzzled at how they could be standing there so happily smiling at each other like nothing was wrong. While I was standing waist height in cold sea water hugging myself shaking trying to keep myself as warm as possible. Flinching everytime a wave passed by…

It was terrible…

Eventually everyone got out of the water… me being one of the first of course. Grabbed a group picture before we headed into Main Street for some food…

I had some darn good Pizza….

and also Ice-Cream…. (I know, Swimming in the sea and Ice-Cream in winter… I’m awesome)

As the sun began to set… we went to the beach again (the main beach this time) to treasure what was left of the day.

Some of us played some touch football on the sand while the others just lazed around on the beach.

And by the time the sun was inching towards the horizon… we started on our journey back to Brisbane.

I miss doing shit loads of photography just for the sake of photography, what happened to me??

I arrived in Brisbane in the beginning of the year, to find out that there is not a single Krispy Kreme outlet here.

But not to fret, a little googling revealed that Krispy Kreme was coming soon… they didn’t mention when… just soon.

Finally, people started noticing the construction of a Krispy Kreme outlet on Queen Street Mall, and by the beginning of April, it was announced that the 25th of April (if im not mistaken) would be the opening of the first Krispy Kreme outlet in Brisbane.

Unfortunately, the 24th was when I was flying back to Malaysia for the whole Europe trip and the Peaktime tournament. So I missed the whole big thingy when a whole bunch of people was camping in front of the store throughout the night for the grand opening the next day.

Anyways, when I finally got back in Australia… I made it a point to give Krispy Kreme a try… after all the awesomeness I’ve heard about it… i had to at least try.

So there I was with Brian, lining up outside the Krispy Kreme store waiting to get inside to give them donuts a try…

Apparently, the queue used to be a 30 minute line up but after all the initial hype it only took 10 minutes when we went to queue.

Between the two of us, we got ourselves a dozen donuts to sample.

And the verdict? J.Co is definitely better hands down… the variety, taste and freshness of J.Co donut is unparalled… I think even Big Apple donuts are better than Krispy Kreme. Can’t say for sure though because I haven’t had that much of Big Apple donuts yet.

So fellow Malaysians back home… do not fret and do not feel lost because the best donuts are back home… J.Co is definitely the best donuts I’ve had so far….

The place is pretty new and its called Gabba Central. Its so new that there are still unoccupied retail units at the ground floor. Its a wonderfully convenient place… I’ve got a main bus stop right across the road, 24 hour McDonalds 10mins walk up the road, rock climbing a 10 min cycle to Kangaroo Point, and the university and the city a 15 min cycle along the river.

Whats more, theres a Coles supermarket just downstairs and also an Indian/Malaysian curry restaurant. Buying daily groceries has never been easier, I just need to walk downstairs to get something everytime i find out we’re out of anything.

We’ve rented a 4 bedroom unit for the 5 of us.

Apart from our rooms, our tight student budget hasn’t allowed us to properly fully furnish the entire unit yet. So far we’re still living with 4 rolling office chairs that we use for everything.

Pictured above, is a shoerack I built from stolen milk crates and steel wires. Doesn’t look too bad eh? Like something you would get from Ikea.

We’ve got our TV though… that was too important to leave missing for too long…

Might just get a couple of bean bags to throw around the living room instead of a proper couch in the end, but we’ll see… living with 4 rolly office chairs is still very bearable.

Dont ask me why these guys use the dining room as their study, I have no clue myself… think it kinda messes up the dining, but then again, I’m slightly more of a neat freak compared to these guys staying here. You should have a look at their rooms… but then I’m not going to put pics of their room up. Instead, you can enjoy the wonderfulness of MY room!!

Its not as humongously gigantic like my previous room. In which I had half of my gigantic closet empty.  But its more than enough for myself.

The best part, with all the conveniences that comes with the place, the rent is still cheaper than my previous room. On drawback though, I can’t install an ADSL2+ internet connection here in the new place, so we’re surviving on just basic ADSL… which isnt that bad… its just faster would definitely be better…

Right, I should have lunch now… its a little late…

Yes, the have spaghetti in cans… with MEATBALLS too!!!

To be honest the taste wasnt revolting and all… after all they have to get people to buy it no? But it was god-damned sweet… the meatballs weren’t bad. But the pasta was soft and squishy instead of firm. Seemed to feel more like cendol and meatballs in sweetened tomato paste… … … … that glows orange.

It wasn’t too easy but i had two cans for lunch.

Should’ve paid more attention to the tagline on the can…

Guess I can’t really blame them… they did deliver on their claims. I have to admit it doesnt look bad with the orange glow and all… but looks aren’t everything ya know? I wouldnt eat pink colored shit with rainbow sparkles on top, would you?

On another note, internet is back on… updates on my new place coming up soon.

P.S. Don’t worry mom, my meals here don’t always consist of stuff from cans…