Cooling Magma Chamber

One single volcano eruption can affect many lives, one way or another, for humans and animals alike. For eruptions can create new land to bear new lifes but it can take all that away from us too.

There are intense scientific studies conducted all around the world to understand volcanoes and it's behaviours, all that to avoid undesired consequences.....and for a layman like me to write more on this stuff which you may already fully aware of is just going to bore you to vow never visit my blog ever again, so let's cut the crap and go straight to my point.

Can we avoid or at least reduce the chances of a volcano eruption? A layman say yes we can - I am that layman :)

If my theory is crap, go ahead and laugh out loud....at least on this visit I've just created an impression on you...hehehe (^_^).

Ok, I've done some non-scientific research on what REAL scientists have concluded - and that is, magma chambers can be identified and located but scientists are still unable to accurately measure the actual chamber size and it's density.

The basic idea is to use submarine tunneling machines to excavate a tunnel into the magma chamber from the ocean floor, letting ocean water mix with magma MAY just diffuse an eruption once and for all.

Simple idea, but it's definitely a very costly and dangerous tasks. I will let scientists to figure out the mechanism for the submarine tunneling process, I'm just a layman remember?

Cooling the Magma Chamber

Sports Day !

It was "Sports Day" for our son's elementary school last Sunday,
which was held at the nearby school with a proper running track.

It started at 7.30am and ended at 12pm.


The weather was not so good. It was drizzling.

But it did not really affect the activities at the field,
so I guess a slight drizzle was better than
doing some sports under the scorching hot sun ;)

Waiting for their group's turn.

Now stand by at the field.

Oh, oh,... my turn is coming very soon !!

In the action !

Now my turn is over.
I can relax and cheer my team mates up :)

Trophies and medals....

His group was the 3rd.

Since the sports day is over, there won't be any more practice sessions.
So I seriously hope that our son can keep his uniform, socks and shoes clean everyday!

Where Spirits Store Their Memories?

We all store our memories in our grey matter (this is a no brainer, I know) but the real question is where do spirits store their memories? In their dead brain? This is not a crude joke, but a dead serious question ok? (no pun intended)

If you believe in spirits of course. Many of us believe that we are not alone on this planet, some believe there's ghost or spirits, and some believe there's extra-terrestrial beings living amongst us too, but let's leave the ET out for now, we talk about the more earthly beings - ghosts and spirits.

If you believe in ghost or spirits at all, you might believe the spirits of your loved ones will or has come back to visit you after they pass-away bidding their last goodbye, some even have sightings or physical signs to boast too. And not to mention much of those who have sightings of vengeful spirits coming back to haunt those whom have done them wrong or visiting the scene of their demise in despair.

So my question is, if your late-loved ones can come back to bid goodbye to you, where do they store their memories of you? They are suppose to have separated from their body correct? There are even claims of seeing spirits of people whom have died decades ago, like in the case of haunted house and etc. Again, where do these spirits store their memories after their brain cells have long died out?

Apart from our brains, We can store our memories like photos and videos in a remote server thousands of kilometres away and retrieving it within seconds, but we need a server to store that, a working device for that matter. So if our loved ones (hope no hated ones) can visit us and remember us, then they too need something or somewhere to store their memories too. I think you should get the point by now.

Hypothetically, there are really spirits and they can remember us, would you say that they store their memories in the air? Like a cloud floating up in the sky? But why memory has to be separated from the spirit at all? Can the spirit retain memories in them? Some experts suggest spirit has magnetic fields around it and images of these entities can be captured by digital infrared cameras, that means they (spirit) have form, probably beyond the human spectrum. So it is very possible to store data in the air after all?!

So if spirits have magnetic field around it, meaning there are electric pulses, that kinda sound like when our human brains are at work since human generates magnetic fields too. Now, can I suggest that the spirit or entity is actually made up of the memory? The memory in us, the living people. Put it simply, the more we remember them, the longer and stronger they will exist. We are sub-conciously charging the existance of these entities, spirits or ghosts.

Ghost month coming hoh? Then better don't talk too much of it now, but if someone wants to write a script out of this, please let me know.... WWOOoooOOOOOooooo

What I did While my Wife was Away

I have to confess and make this public. While my wife took my son for a week long trip far far away, I had fun with a little girl, an underage girl and enjoyed every moment with her.

Am I ashamed for savouring such fun with a little girl while my wife is away? Absolutely not! Listen, I can justify this if you hear me out. I have been travelling for the past 6 months on project, always alone seeing only trees and strangers every single day without having my wife or kids with me. Can you imagine the magnitude of that loneliness? I have my needs too you know? I was deprived of all that due to my work. I worked hard for my family and I am righfully deserving this fun, right now! What good timing while my wife and son are away? For one whole week. This is the ONLY chance I have to enjoy her company 24 hours a day for one whole week, I grab it. And I say any right-minded person would too.

I will let you in some synopsis of what we did together for the past week but will spare you those dirty little details. Read on...

Was it all fun with her? Not really, you see, she is underage, you know little girls gets fussy easily. This girl has no manners, she fart, belch and dig her nostril in public, she even yells at any instance of discomfort. I will teach her who is boss, who is daddy....MUAaaHHaaha. So lots of patience is needed, but once you manage to soothe her mood, you will enjoy more out if it, and I am very good at that.

We play with each other most of the time, well we play just about anything you can think of. We play all over the house too, on the sofa, in the kitchen, bathroom and of course we play in bed too, lots of body contact if you know what I mean. Well, little girls gets tired, sleepy and hungry very often so we spent most of our time in bed together, yes we slept together alright. Hey, it's consensual ok!? I did not forced her into anything, ok except when we are in the bathroom and in bed. That's the trouble you get for playing too much with little girls because they had so much fun they just don't know when you are serious, but that doesn't matter, I like to wash and changing her to fresh clothes at least 3 times a day, that is to ensure her skin stays dry and smooth, yes I like that.

We went shopping the other day, and I get lots of stares which I proudly take those as envious stares. Even the aunty at my favourite Bak Kut Teh joint asks if I can really handle this chick all by myself or not, of course I can. In fact we have been together for over 9 months now, I know what makes her tick.

You know girls will be girls, they seem to be attracted to almost everything they see, from everything to...everything, like clothes, shoes, accessories, strings, tissue box, floor mats, dust bins and ....yes like I said, EVERYTHING. Not like I'm ready to spend so much on her on one outing, duhhh!!

Another down side of going out with little girls is that you have to carry every damn thing for her, and lots of her stuff too e.g. bags, spare clothes, several handkerchiefs, powder, water bottle and lots more.

Meal time is quite predictable, 4-5 meals a day also at predictable intervals...and man, she can really drink at this tender age. Even for a heavy drinker you can most probably gulp down 3-4oz of straight liquor e.g. Scotch or Vodka neat, at one go max and you get the high already. She can bottoms-up 6-9 oz of her drink at one go, and sometimes still showing signs of urge to drink more, I have to distract her or else I will go broke on her drinking....anyway, once she has her dosage she will fall asleep very soon, darn and I won't get to play with her after that. Oh no, we must play in bed first before she get to sleep. Fair!! she gets her high, I get mine!

Maybe it's time you get some of the dirty little details now, ready? The other day, she poo in her diaper (as usual) and because she likes to roll and wiggle a lot in bed before she sleeps, the poo was squeezed out of her diaper and....EeeeWWww luckily the poo didn't got on the bed, my purpose-tuned nose picked up the stench and quickly sweep her off the bed and dashed straight into the bathroom just in time before more POO is squeezed out. Man!! that was dreadful!! I can't put her on the changing mat, so I have to place her on the bathroom floor, undressing her faster than an F1 pit crew changing a single tyre, and wash her butt with my BARE HANDS on running water....EEEWWW! If that's not dirty enough, I don't know what is.

Well, my wife and son will be back by tomorrow, and I have to get back to work next week onwards, there will not be another 24 hours a day quality time with my daughter any time soon. The fun time with my 9-months old little princess will not stop here, but I guess it will be even more fun to play foursome :)

Project Ending

The company project I am involved in is coming to an end by the end of this month. I have been travelling for the past 6 months, the time being at home and office is less than 30 days in total during this period.

I did enjoyed the opportunity to see new places, meet new people and learn new things from them, however I really missed my family. I want to see my kids grow, It's time to go home....yippie!

Crawling baby

Our baby girl has just passed 8-months-old milestone
a few weeks ago.

Now she has started crawling around the floor.

She drags (pulls) her body using her arms and legs
to move forward and it's a kind of military personnel
crawling in camouflage....

And thanks to her new found skill, our floor is cleaner
by the day ＼(^o^)／

Here is the short video of her crawling.

The Tree Top Walk - Sungai Sedim

There are quite a few forest reserves here in Kedah, however this one is the most popular as it has the world's longest canopy walk. The total length of the canopy walk is 925 metres, and the highest point of the canopy walk is at 26 metres.

This is quite an experience for a city dweller like me, walking past the gigantic rainforest trees up at the top of it's canopy. Mind you, most of the trees here are over 30 metres tall. Ya, you climb and see lah :p

The Canopy Walk

Most locals come here to swim and play at the the wide stream, others come here for white water rafting, and jungle trekking too.

Stream under the canopy walk

Unkown tree bearing fruits

I was really hoping to see some wildlife underneath the capopy walk or bird's nesting on these trees, but only manage to see this really weird-looking insect below.

E.T. insect :p

The Liana crawling up a tree

Since Kedah people work Sundays (off on Fridays), so I don't see that many people around. So it's really nice to enjoy this place without the crowd, all you hear is animals and water rushing down the stream.....peace.

Please vist their website for direction and details here.

Why Ants Won't Get Fat?

It's a question, so if you think I have the answer than sorry lah (o_^)

Ants eat what we eat too you know, like they will swamp your sweets, cakes, cookies and the likes right? Yet they don't seem to get spare tyre (-_-), why?

Someone need to R&D and find out which gene in ants keeps them slim, and then pump it into humans, WHoAlaaa! No more worries of getting fat....nice.

Crazy you say? Well, I was told that food producers are already pumping certain salmon genes into tomatoes, for salmon can withstand extreme cold yet don't get bruised from it. Since Malaysia do not ban GMO (Genetically Modified Organism) foodstuff, we could have very likely consumed some without even knowing. By the way, EU ban most GMOs, but the WTO says the ban is illegal....who is sitting in WTO?

But hey, on the other hand imagine you chow on a tomatoe with salmon genes in it, you are eating vegetable AND fish at the same time, sounds healthy eh? Uhh....but I really don't quite like that idea. This is really different from Cham Peng (mixture of coffee and tea) you know.

Remember the X-Men movies? The evolution of the human body could probably be our own doing, instead of natural. Since we do not eat our natural diet anymore. Mixing genes, chemicals, and donno what other stuffs to make it cook faster, taste better, looks more palatable, stores longer and even faking protein count. But in long term what these foods could possibly do to our body? No one really knows for sure of the long term side-effects or until a consumer has a horn growing out of his butt. Scary eh?

You know, food producers will tell you their concoction is safe to consume, but....they don't tell you that you should not eat more than an X serving portion over an X period of time. Who's telling?

But the idea of eat-what-you-want and not getting fat is too tempting for certain quarters of our human race. All this boils down to a saying "oii leng em moi meng" (want beauty don't want life - beauty takes precedent over ones life/health).

How do you become an ant again? You can walk up the wall too you know....poooower.

Don't "RELEASE" the Birds - have mercy

The Kuan Yim Teng (Hokkien for "Temple of the Goddess of Mercy") on Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling in Penang. The house we used to stay in (almost 20 years ago) is just a stone's throw away from the temple.

Kuan Yim Teng Temple

Most believers come here to pray for health, safety and even fertility. Some people come here to "release birds" to get rid of bad luck, because of your kindness to release the birds from captivity, and upon release the birds are supposedly to bring your bad luck away with them, so you will be filled with good luck.

One day while walking back home, I saw one of these "released" bird struggling in the drain, wet and shivering. Without much thought I picked it up from the drain, and by doing so the bird bit my finger on it's natural instinct of self-defense. It must have fallen into the drain due to hunger after being in captivity and probably long enough to loose it's energy/capability to fly.

I went home and told my mother about it and got scolded because she said the birds are suppose to take people's bad luck away and now the bad luck is on me. But I rescued the bird, so why would the bird unleash the bad luck on me? Or would it? Now I wouldn't call myself bad luck in every instance in my life but I just don't seem to have the type of luck I desperately needed - for career and finance. I do not wish to elaborate/argue why one needed luck for career and finance. You won't understand what I've been through and my circumstance anyway, and it's not the point of this post.

Since I'm there today, I thought maybe if I buy and release a pair of birds from the seller (on the left side of the above picture), the birds could help take my bad lucks away, brilliant eh? Then when I saw the birds having to cramp in the small cage, waiting to be released, it just struck me not to do it. Paying these guys to release the birds will only encourage them to recapture the birds and put them back in the cage again and again and again....for as long as people believe in it, these "bird sellers" will continue to capture the birds for sale - "to be released".

By paying for the release you are condoning the capture, taking the birds away from their family and it's natural habitat, stuffing them into small cages, feeding the birds just to ensure they stay alive for the next release is not what I have in mind for being generous, kind or humane. The irony is, people are doing this in the Temple of the Goddess of Mercy, for crying out loud....where's the mercy in them!!??

I try not to think of the rescue incident for my "bad lucks", but sometimes when you couldn't figure out what to do or how to avert your current fate, it's only left with luck to ponder about. You may say I'm in astray, but again you wouldn't understand my circumstance.

Whatever it is, I couldn't do it, I walked away without releasing anything today and wishing the birds good luck.

This Used to be my Playground.

This month's assignment brings me to my hometown's neighbouring state of Kedah. I have the weekend free, so I decided to take a drive to Penang Island. With plenty of time in hand, I went back to my old school, the first school I went to when my family moved back to Malaysia back in 1981. Started attending Standard 5 in this school.

The Shih Chung Primary School

It is located in Love Lane, off Chulia Street. I remember dreading to go to school because at that time I don't understand Bahasa Malaysia, and my mandarin is only at beginner level. Having to pick up 2 major languages at Standard 5 to sit for a major exam at the end of the year - I can't remember what the exam was called but it's suppose to determine which Secondary School you will go to, better results gets you in to a better school, that is. You can already imagine how I fared. Bad timing I called that.

I remember there's a stall outside of the school selling junk food, and I loved the satay (it's actually sweatened dried meat on skewer - different from the normal satays you eat at the eateries), and the tikam-tikam (it's like kid's lottery) where you pick and open a little folded envelope to see what prize is printed on it, and that's what you get - stuffs like snack packs, hero stickers, plastic watch and etc. We played one-leg in the compound - everyday during recess.

Now that George Town is listed as one of the World Heritage Cities, they get this sign boards to provide more details of the history of these streets.

Love Lane History Signboard


The Love Lane (street)

I still visit this place because there are some yummy food in the vicinity :)

Felda Residence - Hot Spring and Spa

This month's assignments are within the state of Perak. Because the customer's sites I have to visit are scattered around up north and south of the state, I have to stay in 4 different hotels/resorts within the space of 2 1/2 weeks.

I have posted about the Leaning Tower earlier, and this post is about a plantation resort that's worth mentioning - The Felda Residence - Hot Spring and Spa.

Apparently Felda (Federal Land Developement Authority) has ventured full swing into the hospitality industry, specifically in the niche market of eco-tourism and agro-tourism. Back in year 2000 setting up the hospitality arm - Plantation Resorts Sdn Bhd to manage this business.

The Felda Residence - Hot Spring (GPS: N3 59.710 E101 23.634 - copy and paste in Google Earth) is located about 11KM from the Sungai Exit of the North-South Highway. Exit the Sungkai toll, take a left turn at the traffic light and just follow the signboard, please don't confuse with Felda Residence - Trolak, they are 2 different resorts.

The Hot Spring and Spa is of contemporary resort atmosphere surrounded by oil palm plantations and of course with a hot spring within it's compound.

The Main Entrance

From the Lobby Looking in



The Lawn Yard

The Spa

The rooms are tastefully designed and generously spacious. I have to mention the bed, it's so comfy.

The Bed

All bathrooms are equiped with bathtubs and.....adjustable shower head (3 types of spray patterns)...I like.

I work long hours you know even after-hours in my room, so the spacious room with a proper writing desk is a big plus-point for me. You only get this type of bedding quality in 5-star resorts. Although this is not a 5-star resort but you do get the same feel and comfort in the room. By the way, hotels and resorts get their ratings based on quality and type of facilities.

Unfortunely I have so much to do that I don't get to enjoy all it's facilities here, especially the hot spring. Upon check-in I took a quick tour of the surrounding and snapped some shots to share here. You can zoom into the site map of the resort to see what's in store here.

The Site Map

I went on to look around and found the hottest point where you can actually boil an egg here. I didn't try it....not hungry mah.

Egg Boiling Place...Ouch!

There's a big splash pool in there but I didn't have the time to go in, just walked around the hot spring pools.

One of my complains here is that the internet connection is so unstable (my work relies heavily on internet connection), you get good connection for a while and pop....disconnected woh, nia seng eh!! I have to save after uploading every single file to the server. Although my company provides me with a portable broadband modem, but at this far-flung place it's almost useless.

The food, well let's just say they don't use fresh ingredients. I hated that, the taste was fine but the prawns and fish are so.....old. They seriously have to look into that, no wonder not many guests eats there, except for those with vouchers (included in the room rates). I am a simple man, I do not expect fancy menu, but I do expect steaming hot food cooked with fresh ingredients. No matter how cheap they charge for it, this food was a spoiler lah.

However, I would recommend this place to city folks, this is where nature and comfort combines for real relaxation. Your kids will love the splashing time but man you have to watch out your eggs (pun intended) ;)

Please visit them at www.plantationresorts.com.my for rates and details.

How to Cook Hainanese Chicken Rice

THE SECRET IS OUT!! **Siren blaring.....wEeeEEeeEEee**

Well at least it WAS a secret to me before. I have been wondering and trying out ways to cook this dish for some time now, and each time was a failure, actually my previous results wasn’t baaaad...edible lah, just not close enough to what I’ve fallen in love with - the famous Hainan style chicken rice, If you have had a good one you will know what I mean. A good Hainanese style steamed chicken is succulent yet not bloody on the inside nearing the bones and joints. The blood from those not fully cooked chicken can make you very ill you know, and being mindful of the bird flu.

So how do you fully cook a chicken and yet retaining all the juice in it? Read on...

Oh, one thing you need to know about Hainanese style steam chicken is that....it is not steamed after all, it’s BOILED. TaADAAAH......surprise leh....huh. I wonder if I can start a class-action against all the chicken rice sellers out there for knowingly mislabelling and misrepresentation or not hoh....hehehee.

Thanks to my sis, she revealed the secret technique to me after she got the tip from a Hainanese colleague at work. I tried it out, and it really works. Perfect! Well, almost because I still can’t get the chilly sauce right....geez.

Ok ok, what’s your rush people....I know you too want to know the secret technique. Now follow these steps:

1. Take out a large soup pot, as long as it’s larger than the chicken lah.
2. Put your palms together.
3. Close your eyes, then inhale and exhale naturally for about 36 times.....

Chey....that’s meditation lah....chey chey. Paisey ah....we start again ah...

1. Take out a large soup pot that’s larger than the chicken. Yes, cleaned and gutted whole chicken.
2. Put the chicken in the pot then fill it with water (or chicken stock or you can add garlic/ginger/herbs for extra flavour) until it covers the chicken completely with about 3cm to spare.
3. Take out the chicken from the pot, put the lid onto the pot and boil it.
4. Once the water is boiled, put the chicken back into the pot, and cover the lid (this time with the chicken inside, yes, don’t get confused ok).
5. After putting back the lid, allow the water to boil again.
6. Once the water is boiled again, turn off the fire. DO NOT OPEN THE LID.
7. Leave it as it is for 45 to 55 minutes. ***Don’t itchy hand go open the lid ah, the chicken scold you I don’t know ah***
8. Time up, take out the chicken and place it aside. For food safety reasons you should immediately immerse the cooked chicken in ice water. This can avoid bacteria growth as well as arresting further cooking.
9. Use the water/stock from the pot to cook your rice. Add crushed ginger (if you haven’t put any in the stock) about the size of an egg. That’s good for about 4 servings of rice.
10. Once the rice is cooked, you can start to cut up the chicken for serving or you can eat it the barbarian style, finger sucking good...yEeeeEAAH....

It wasn’t that hard after all eh? Just need to know the right technique. And that’s all to it.

As for the chilly sauce, I’m still experimenting....I’ll let you when (provided I’m not travelling lah) I get it right.

Good luck and bon appetit. Remember, PAPA can cook so can you...I hope Mr Yan didn’t copyright that :)

Malaysian Leaning Tower - Teluk Intan, Perak

I love this job, it takes me to many places I've never have gone to if it's not for the nature of my assignments. From famous smalls towns to site-seeing locales and deep plantations bordering vast forest reserves.

This month's assignment brings me to Teluk Intan, in the state of Perak. Here is famous for the leaning tower that is shaped like a pagoda. Built in 1885 by a Chinese contractor originally meant for storing water.

As far as I know there are only 2 leaning towers in the world, one is the leaning tower of Pisa in Italy and the other one is in none other than our beloved country - Malaysia. It's located in the town of Teluk Intan, Perak (GPS: N4 01.498 E101 01.187). Approximately 45KM from the Bidor toll plaza if you are using the North-South Highway.

Is it magnificant? No, but it is certainly unique. However I am very proud that we have one of the 2 unique landmarks in the world, and I waz eerr :)

I do hope the local council will make the surrounding compound into a park, with benches for tourists to rest and take beautiful shots of the tower, maybe allow only a few stalls selling only local produce. Now it is surrounded by tent-stalls selling all kinds of stuffs from toys to cosmetics to bags, including imitation goods, sigh. I can't find any souvenirs with the tower printed on it, so darling, not that I don't want to get you anything from my trip (^_^)

Now the only place you can take full-length picture of the tower is.....see my shot. That's it. If you stand at another angle the base of the tower will be blocked by those tents. You just couldn't get a clear shot of it.

Well, you just got to see it for yourselves, at least once, it's a historical building sitting right in our own country. It's a unique historical site alright.

Fit For Family Food Review - Bak Kut Teh

Name: Restoran Ming Siang Bak Kut Teh
Location: Subang SS14/2
Famous for: Bak Kut Teh and Assam Fish Head
Baby Chair: Yes - not the best looking ones but works nicely
Anything for Kids?: Yes - they have vege dishes....muahahaha
What's so good?: Fresh ingredients
Rating: 9/10

You have to give it to them, this small family business has been around for many years, run like a family for families. Now, if you have been craving for home cooking....I mean real home cooking dishes, you must not miss this place.

What really amaze me is that their menu is so small, look at the picture of their menu, only 7 items and yet people just don't get bored of it.

Why, you asked? That's because they use only fresh ingredients, fresh pork for the bak kut teh; and fresh fish for the Assam Fish Head. That effort and strict principle is hard to come by these days.

My father don't like to eat out because he always complains food outlets don't use fresh ingredients and they uses a lot of MSG. But when I first took him here, he gave it a thumbs up.

I guess the aunty (head chef) should be in her late 60s, and yet she is actively doing most of the cooking, day and night. Hats off for that.

What my family and I loves most is the Bak Kut Teh, seriously they don't give you chewy and dry pork, you always get fresh pork. Sorry I dug into it too soon before realising I forgot to take a shot of it first 8>

You'll know it is fresh when you eat it. And the fish for the Assam Fish is like a fresh catch everytime we eat there. You don't get the same type of fish everytime, because they only buy what's fresh from the distributor.

Here's my all time favourite, the Assam Fish:

We've been going back there since my boy was a little infant, wow....it's been that long woh :0
We will be dining there for many more years to come. Yes it's really that good.

The (Standard) Chartered Bank Coin Box

My folks got us a coin box each from THE CHARTERED BANK, now known as The Standard Chartered Bank (after the merging of The Chartered Bank of India and The Standard Bank of British South Africa back in 1969). A piece of history there.

We still have 2 of this at home, at a dilapidating state though.



The printed logo has long gone but the only prove it's from the said bank is the raised embossed words "THE CHARTERED BANK".

Obvious enough it's a marketing effort in collaboration with Walt-Disney....donald duck mah.

I wonder if this coin box can fetch much from ebay or not.....eh, economy no good lah! Have to find ways to make extra income leh. Or probably I'll just keep it for my kids, pass it down to the 3rd generation.