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February 12

New Year Countdown at Explanade Penang (Fort Cornwallis)

The New Year Countdown at the Penang Explanade was packed with people. The jam to get there took about 30mins. So if you are interested in joining the next year even, do go early :) Don't park close to the explanade though. For one, it is going to take you even longer to get out of the jam after the event. Also you probably have to pay the illegal parking attendee outrages fees.
Anyway, it was pretty entertaining. Most people are there to be entertained by bands and join in for the New Year countdown.
The chief minister was there for the countdown, together with Ella a local sensation.
The 10 minutes or so fireworks after that wrap the event up pretty nicely.

7:39 AM | Add a comment | Read comments (3) | Permalink | Blog it

Roundest and Biggest moon in 52 years

Feb 9 2009 was the 15th of Chinese New Year Lunar calendar. Which is also known as the last day of Chinese New Year.

As usual, on the 15th there was the full moon. But what is unusual is that the moon that night was supposed to be the roundest and biggest in 52 years.

Experts at the Beijing Planetarium said that the distance between the moon and the earth is estimated to be 365,000 kilometers, or 19,000 shorter than the average distance. So it will appear bigger tonight.

For those who missed it, here's a shot of how it looks like :)

6:57 AM | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it

KLM Valentine sales! KL to Europe for RM777 only?!

It happened again. A friend of mine bought tickets to Europe and was paying 35% more. With two person traveling the extra $ paid comes to around RM 3K.

At that time, though KLM ticket price has increased compare to the time I wrote about it, but the gap with Singapore airline is still about 35%.

I guess for a once in a while trip and without being hold hostage by Krisflyer, KLM is a pretty good option.

KLM is doing a promotion on this Valentine's day and the ticket price (prior to tax) is only RM777. Pretty attractive I'd say.

here's the link: http://www.klm.com/travel/my_en/special_offers/14_feb.htm

6:32 AM | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it | Travel

November 28

Good morning Vietnam

Indeed Vietnam is awakening. In a lot of areas.

Stayed in Ho Chi Minh City for a week and experienced the warm of the weather and its people. Really an experience to remember.

Lodging in the city is relatively cheap and so is the food. Many variety of Vietnamese food can be found easily around the city. If you know where to go, you can find them cheap. We had a good meal that feed 8 of us for only about 40 ringgit. Good value for money but not your typical kind of restaurant. Smile

Pho (rice noodles) is generally the easiest to find. Look around the road side or small alley, there might be a Pho stall right there. There is a shop called Pho 2000 by the Ben Thanh Market which Mr Bill Clinton patronize before. It's pretty good and suitable for a short break before going back to the Market for more bargains.

Ban Xiao (Vietnamese pancake) is good too and so is the Vietnamese spring rolls. And of course, all these have to go with the fish sauce.

To cope with the warm weather, a good way is quench the thirst with fresh coconut water. But the best is the ice-blended fresh fruit juice. You can select from almost any fruit that is produced locally. They are heavenly. Usually I'll have one in the shop and one on the go!

Vietnam Photos : http://cwkoay.spaces.live.com/photos/cns!BF475CD24615325B!2394/

Group of uni students during the tea talk

A day out with the children at the pool side

Begin the Mekong Delta day with breakfast at a road side stall.

Vietnamese love story unfolds before us in songs

This dish is simply heavenly. Chicken cook with fish sauce.

Ban Xiao - the famous Vietnamese pancake that make me speechless... literally :)

9:57 PM | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it | Travel

July 31

Cool Lake Como (Largo de Como)

Because of this song by Gwen Stefani I fell in love with the beauty of Lake Como and purposely made a day trip there when I was in Milan.

The place is full of character. Picturesque Italian town by the lake with the Alps as its backdrop.

In early spring, you can see the snow capped Alps peaking out of the back of lush green hills, blanket under a clear blue sky.

The perfect place for dreams and love stories.

July 23

Kawaguchico Kogetsu Onsen (河口湖湖月温泉)

This is by all means the best onsen experience I have had in the Fuji Kawaguchico (富士山河口湖) area.

Since there are many interested in onsen, I feel like sharing it here.

The reason of why it's one of the best can be clearly seen from the following pictures taken by the onsen hotel themselves.

Basically you bask in the majestic and mesmerizing view of the Mount Fuji, a crazy feast of heavily experience for your body and mind.

More pictures of fuji - kawaguchico area in photo album.

map to Kogetsu Onsen (河口湖湖月).

http://cid-bf475cd24615325b.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/MAPS/Kogetu.jpg

8:49 AM | Add a comment | Read comments (2) | Permalink | Blog it

July 21

A hybrid car is such a cool breed - Toyota Prius

Toyota Prius (pronounce "Pre-Us") is the hotter than Brangelina in the states.

They just couldn't make enough of them to satisfy the demands there.

After checking out the availability and rental price, I decided to go for it and use this car for my one week trip in the East Coast.

With the soaring oil price, at the end of the trip, I had to give myself a pat on the back because it turned out to be a good decision. It saved us a lot of money on the petrol cost, as my friends and I was driving thousand over miles around East Coast cities.

It is especially obvious when I compare it with the petrol I spent on a day trip to Boston driving a Cobalt (Chevelet).

The entire journey using Prius from Beacon (NY) -> Niagara Falls (NY) -> Washington D.C -> Philadelphia -> Beacon total up to around US$190.

Whereas my day trip from Beacon -> Rhode Island -> Boston -> Beacon total up to US$150. Price of gas per gallon at that time is US$3 - US$3.3.

Apart from an amazingly gas efficient engine, the car is a gem to look at and move like a breeze. I really love the driving experience.