Random trip to Tebrau, Johor

Just to let you know, we only spent 2 hours in Tebrau, walking around the mall window shopping and head back for dinner and my aunt's place after that. So don't expect much. Tebrau (Johor) is surprisingly quite developed compared to the other Johor areas I have been.

A beautiful sunset

Two main reasons for this post: (1) I am sick from all the traveling, bored & restless at home and I have too much time in my pocket to dispense (2) I got quite a few good pictures and I wish to share them, and also to share an interesting "observation".

The Jusco Mega Mall

From the outside, the Jusco Mall in Tebrau is huge! It is almost as big as 1-Utama in Damansara. It's really new, nice and big! I will just let the following pictures speak for themselves instead of rambling unnecessarily.

Amanda & myself at the only corner which was decorated with Christmassy items

Look into the BALL.

The walkway of the Mega Mall. Pretty and spacious isn't it?

Now here's the interesting "observation" that I mentioned earlier on. The guys here carry hand-bags! OMG! Look, no offense, I do not have anything against handbags, it's just that I am pretty comfortable with girls holding them. But guys??????

It's not exactly a "handbag" but it is more of a "document bag" kind of thing which are meant for guys. Don't jump to any blind conclusion that I am a sexist, but isn't it a little... gheyyy? Remember the episode when Joey Tribianni donned a handbag? That's the point that I am trying to get to you!

A group of teens. Look closely and you can observe that 3 out of 5 of them are actually carrying man-handbags.

A guy in one of the shops, carrying his backpack and also a handbag. Note: His GF was already holding one of hers, so that pretty white bag MUST be HIS.

Lastly, maybe this is the current "fashion statement" in the teyes of guys here. I respect that. But seriously..... come-on...... I mean.... What's wrong with you guys?????

Eye On Malaysia

The view of the Ferris-wheel from the Melaka Raya Bridge

Malacca - the historical city; commonly associated with very old buildings from the colonial times, chicken rice balls, Jonker Wall, A' Famosa and Baba Nyonya, there is now a new landmark which we Malaccans are proud to present.

The night view of the walk in front of the Eye

A bird's eye view of the walk leading to the Eye

The Eye on Malaysia, a 60 meters Ferris wheel which was previously installed at Titiwangsa Lake, Kuala Lumpur has made it's way to Malacca. As you guys know, the Eye on Malaysia was probably inspired by the London Eye & the Singapore Flyer.

This is the gondola which I got on

In the gondola 60 meters above the ground. An eagle's eye view of Malacca City

The wheel has 42 gondolas (which my Aunt counted while we were waiting at the foot of the wheel). To my knowledge, it was unveiled in conjuction with the Visit Malaysia Year 2007. However, it has made it's way to Malacca, which is a pretty good thing for us.

Malacca is now less boring and we now have more stuffs for tourists to do, other than eating and snapping pictures of old buildings. It also provides Malaccans another nice place to take a stroll, as it is pretty scenic and windy both during the day and night.

The 60 meters Ferris-wheel now decorates the sky of Malacca

The shot that I got right under the whole structure

The Admission fee is RM 10 for adults and RM 5 for chidren. However, the stated prices are double for non-Malaysians. We had a 24 minutes ride in the air-conditioned gondola (around 4 complete rotations).

The sight was awesome as we saw how bright Malacca city was at night. However, I believe that the view during day time would be better as one could see both land and sea at the same time.

The Eye on Malaysia - heaps of people were there

Amanda & myself

Please note however, as the Eye is still "new", the 4 hectre piece of land around it is still under construction. Drivers do take extra care as the parking lot is quite messy with loose stones on the road.

To travellers who are interested, take note. Do arrange your visit to the Eye in a group, or else you would be crammed with 4 other random people, which may be quite awkard to see each other in a small gondola. Also, try going in groups of 5 (6 maximum). I have heard of complains where they crammed up to 8 passengers in one tiny gondola.

Finally, if you do have motion sickness and a fear for heights, good news and bad news. The good news: a good and fun way to overcome your fear. The bad news: if you move a little in the gondola, it "rocks"!

A rainy day - A good day to test my new baby!

The long awaited pictures! Well, don't expect much from me as I still new to my DSLR. It is so much different from a normal digital camera. These were the ones I took during and after the rain earlier this evening. And to keep this blog alive during the holidays (before it dies again next year)

A reflection

I tried capturing the droplet of water when it was about to fall off, but I am still new to DSLRs

The extremely heavy rain

Heavy downpour. I think this 40 minutes rainfall pours more water than a year's rainfall in Canberra.

Fresh droplets on a green leaf

Moments before falling off the leaf

A heavy rain which subsided into a drizzle

I like this picture. Droplets on the windscreen

Publish Post

Falling droplets from the roof-top

What Uncle A said to Uncle B

The following scene was what I have witnessed between two old men in a restaurant yesterday night. I found it pretty humorous, from the way they were talking. Before I begin, let me draw a little diagram to explain our positions:

Red Dot - Uncle A
Blue Dot - Uncle B
X - Me

The fact that annoyed me was that they were seating so far away! It was quite irritating at first that they were treating the place like their own coffee-shop. Like all uncles in Malaysia, they talked rather loudly.

But as I listened to their conversation, it became funnier by the minute. You can have a look for yourself in the following video clip.

Uncle A was doing most of the talking. He was so energetic! I can't stop smiling looking at his hand movements and actions.

On the contrary, Uncle B was like, "Owh, really arh?" and from his facial expressions, it was like "wah lao, I want to relax and eat properly also cannot! Cha si lang!"

The conversation between them? I think it went something like this (from the moment when I started to ke-poh):

Uncle A: The other day I went jogging at Bukit China. Very healthy la these few days

Uncle B: Good for you! But I boh-lat la. Run a bit I chuan already!

Uncle A: Cannot like that. Must do work out sometimes. When you old already, you don't do work out not good for health. You fall sick easier.

Uncle B: Sure or not? Later work out too hard fall sick how? Knee pain la, ankle pain la. Macam-macam later also kena

Uncle A: Aiya, won't one. We so old already nothing to do ai-tong tampok la!

Uncle B: (Nods head, maybe he was tired of talking to Uncle A already)

Uncle A: The other time I took bus to Penang join some marathon. The bus ah, take 6 hours to reach there. bla bla bla bla bla.... (this was where I got sick of listening to him)

Uncle B: Hey my food is here already! Wa chiak seng arh! Paiseh paiseh (In fact, he was relieved that he can at least have a moment of peace)

Uncle A: Ok ok...

On the side note:

Come to think of it, I pity these two old gentlemen a little. They do not have anyone to accompany them. I do see how old men like him gets lonely. Perhaps his wife had passed away. Perhaps his children are living a life on their own now. Where else can he go to?

To me, the reason why he was being so talkative was that he wants to share his experience, to express his feelings. I mean, who else can he tell these things to? His children? If I were him, I will certainly want to talk to people around me more, to make myself feel that I am somehow still connected to this world, that I can still relate to people well. And it is much better than being quiet at home.

As for myself, as far as I can remember, I always had people around me at all times; friends and family and my dear. It really makes me appreciate the people and company that I have. And it is really, really good to know that I am not lonely.

Why God allows the feeling of pain?

Life is like droplets of water sometimes.

A man went to a barbershop to have his hair cut and his beard trimmed.
As the barber began to work, they began to have a good conversation.
They talked about so many things and various subjects.
When they eventually touched on the subject of God, the barber said:
'I don't believe God exists.'

'Why do you say that?' asked the customer.
'Well, you just have to go out in the street to realize that God doesn't exist. Tell me, if God exists, would there be so many sick people? Would there be abandoned children? If God existed, there would be neither suffering nor pain. I can't imagine a loving God who would allow all of these things.'

The customer thought for a moment, but didn't respond because he didn't want to start an argument. The barber finished his job and the customer left the shop.
Just after he left the barbershop, he saw a man in the street with long, stringy, dirty hair and an untrimmed beard. He looked dirty and unkempt.

The customer turned back and entered the barber shop again and he said to the barber:
'You know what? Barbers don't exist!'
'How can you say that?' asked the surprised barber.
'I am here, and I am a barber. I just worked on you!'
'NO!' the customer exclaimed.
'Barbers don't exist because if they did, there would be no people with dirty long hair and untrimmed beards, like that man outside.'

'Ah, but barbers DO exist! That's what happens when people do not come to me.'

'Exactly!' affirmed the customer. 'That's the point! God, too, DOES exist! That's what happens when people do not go to Him and don't look to Him for help. That's why there's so much pain and sufferings in the world.'