Flight to Sydney

Well, our trip down south (27 June - 6 July) and Singapore (6 July - 8 July) went by faster than anticipated. It was eventful from the moment we left the house on the way to KK International Airport to fly to Singapore at 0930 on 27 June. Our travel agent called us to convey the news that the flight had been rescheduled from the original 1155 to 1700. This was only confirmed when we arrived at the airport. We had to go home and waited until 1515 to start all over again.

The plane finally flew off at 1815. In the flight, we were wondering whether we could make it to our connecting flight to Sydney at 2035. Half an hour before the plane landed, we were invited to move to the 1^st Class seats just next to the main exit. We thought, it would have been nicer if we had been asked earlier say before dinner was served! The air-hostess told us to rush as fast as we could to catch the connecting flight the moment the door was opened.

We literally ran all the way to the check-in lounge the minute the door was opened. Because of this, we missed out the chance of seeing Terminal 3 which we originally expected to spend a fair amount of time. As it turned out, the flight was delayed as well to 2100 and it finally flew off at 2130.

Well, the unfortunate experience was finally compensated by our first experience inside the much talked about Airbus A380.

When we finally landed at Sydney Airport and got out of the Terminal, it was well passed 0830 and we were in the safe hand of Paul and his friend.

A Praying Dog

Peking Olympic 2008 : Engineering Marvels

National Stadium.

National Aquatic Centre or "Water Cube".

Beijing University of Aeronautics & Astronautics Gymnasium.

Shenyang Olympic Stadium.

Tianjin Olympic Centre Stadium.

Yingdong Natatorium of National Olympic Sports Centre.

Beijing University Gymnasium.

Beijing University Gymnasium.

Beijing Science & Technology University Gymnasium.

Olympic Sports Centre Stadium.

Laoshan Velodrome

National Indoor Stadium.

China Agricultural University Gymnasium.

Beijing Workers Gymnasium.

Beijing Olympic Green tennis Court.

Beijing Shooting Range Hall.

Beijing University of Technology Gymnasium.

Skyline

I remember Perth's unique skyline in that there is not a tinny-winy bit of cloud to add character to its sky. This phenomenon is probably because of the timing of my visit when it was not rainy season then.

In fact, I wonder whether one can tell the location merely by looking at the skyline ?

The following skylines were shot at six locations: KK, Perth, Newcastle, Sydney, Melbourne and Singapore. Can you tell which is which ?

A New Time Machine ?

I found the taking of this family photo rather amusing when a "gap" was left and the missing person to be added later on.

Kind of scary with this technology when you can be found present at a particular moment when in actual fact you are not....... :)

The Patriarch's 80th Birthday

The 80th birthday celebration for my father-in-law turned out to be a reunion for the 4 generations of the Lim's and their extended family. Practically all were present except those from Australia and Taiwan.

This time, beside the usual sai ke-mei nee (handsome boys-beautiful girls) who have grown more dignified and mature" over the years, we also have this new breed of sai ke-mei nee who are more dashing and fashionable. The scene of them exchanging business cards was particularly satisfying which was felt with sense of achievement!

Mad Rush for Petrol Before Price Hike

Last night just before 7.00pm, a friend sms'ed me to let me know that petrol price in Malaysia would be increased to RM2.70 per litre from RM 1.92 by midnight, a 41% increase.

I didn't think much of it until I was caught in massive traffic jam on the way back. There were long queues at every petrol station in town, in fact throughout Malaysia.

I did a calculation that if you have a 50-litre tank capacity and the tank was 50% full when you queue up for refilling, there will be a saving of RM19.50. RM29.25 if the tank is 25% full. With the time and the petrol wasted in the queuing, one wonders whether it was worth the while to deliberately get into the queue and the jam.

I wonder this is a phenomenon typical in Malaysia or in some other countries as well. Is this a kiasu culture as well ?

You Only Live Once

Spare a Moment and Pray

On 12th May 2008, a magnitude of 8.0 earthquake struck the south-central region of China. Hardest hit is the Sichuan province, China. 70,000 people died.