Happy 300th post!

It’s end of January 2010….so fast the first month of the year is gone…February month comes, and it is the month of festive for all the Chinese around the world, because Chinese New Year or known as Spring Festival falls on the 14th February this year, same date with the Valentine Day.

 

Coming back to the title of this post…YES! Hooray….this post is meant to celebrate the 300th post in my blog…really excited and can’t expect that I have written 300 posts at this moment, in a period of one year and four months. Great!  Having 300 posts in this blog is not an easy job…I spent countless hours on collecting information, gathering pictures, and sharing my thoughts in this blog!

Another 8 posts will be expected from now till before the Chinese New Year…so that it sums up to 308 posts, a number that seems lucky in Chinese perspective. I have also created a new header for my blog, wishing every Chinese, Gong Xi Fa Cai! Do you notice that the header of my blog changed every month…hope I have time to consider on maintaining this monthly changes on the header, so that every readers of my blog will be seeing new header, and new things in my blog every month!

Tomorrow is the 1st February, in Malaysia, and in my current location, Kuala Lumpur, it is the public holiday for the capital, as it is one of the three Federal Territories (the others; Putrajaya and Labuan) for the annual 1st February public holiday of Federal Territory Day.

Yesterday is 30th January, in Malaysia, we have Thaipusam Day, a day celebrated by Indians, especially at Batu Caves, considered near to KL also. Traffic jams is expected around that area, and those Chinese people going out to buy new year items too…it is another weekend, hence, there will be surely more cars and people out there…then, it would be nice to just stay indoor.

Many holidays are going around in Malaysia at this period…Thaipusam (for Selangor), Federal Territory Day (for Federal Territories), Chinese New Year and Prophet Muhammad’s Birthday…The following Saturday, 6th February will be the full month party of my nephew, at the front of my house…it would be a happening night that time!

Current progress of under-construction famous skyscrapers around the world

Year 2010…many famous skyscrapers are under construction currently, which some of these will make it to the top 10 list of world tallest buildings. With the recent opening of Burj Khalifa as the world tallest building, many people started to have interest on skyscrapers around the world.

Many people have know the famous completed buildings, like Taipei 101, Burj Khalifa (Dubai), Petronas Twin Towers, Empire State Building, Shanghai World Financial Center, etc. However, not many are aware of the skyscrapers that are under construction currently or even skyscrapers that have topped out.

On this post, I will show the progress of these under-construction famous skyscrapers around the world. First picture of each skyscraper showing the final rendering of the building, and the second picture following is the current construction progress:

Shanghai Center/Tower, Shanghai, China – 632m, 128 floors, scheduled for completion in 2014.

One World Trade Center (Freedom Tower), New York, USA – 541m, 108 floors, scheduled for completion in 2013.

The Pentominium, Dubai, UAE – 516m, 120 floors, scheduled for completion in 2013.

Abraj al-bait Towers, Mecca, Saudi Arabia – 595m, 76 floors, scheduled for completion in 2011.

Kingkey Finance Center, Shenzhen, China – 439m, 97 floors, scheduled for completion in 2011.

Dubai Towers, Doha, Qatar – 437m, 88 floors, scheduled for completion in 2011.

Al-Hamra Tower, Kuwait City, Kuwait – 412m, 77 floors, scheduled for completion in 2010.

Busan Lotte Tower, Busan, South Korea – 510m, 107 floors, scheduled for completion in 2013.

China 117 Tower, Tianjin, China – 600m, 117 floors, scheduled for completion in 2012. (very slow progress, completion date expected to be delayed for another year probably)

Federation Tower, Moscow, Russia – 506m to top of spire (on – hold for the spire), both towers’ height (360m, 242m) , height of taller tower reduced, scheduled for completion in 2010.

International Commerce Centre, Hong Kong, China – 490m, 118 floors, scheduled for completion in 2010 (topped out)

Guangzhou West Tower, Guangzhou, China – 440m, 103 floors, scheduled for completion in 2010 (topped out)

Nanjing Greenland Financial Center, Nanjing, China – 450m, 89 floors, scheduled for completion in 2010 (topped out)

Ryugyong Hotel, Pyongyang, North Korea – reconstruction, 330m, 105 floors, scheduled for completion in 2012.

Now, it’s time for remarkable TV towers under construction:

Guangzhou TV Tower, Guangzhou, China – 618m, 37 floors, scheduled for completion in 2010 (topped out), completed to witness the Guangzhou Asian Games 2010 alongside with Guangzhou West Tower.

Tokyo Sky Tree, Tokyo, Japan – 611m, 32 floors, scheduled for completion in 2012.

Too bad, many skyscrapers projects are on-hold currently, especially those famous one like Chicago Spire, Burj al Alam, Moscow Tower, etc.

Chicago Spire, Chicago, USA – 610m, 150 floors, on-hold.

Burj Al Alam, Dubai, UAE – 510m, 108 floors, on-hold.

Moscow Tower, Moscow, Russia – 612m, 120 floors, on-hold.

Nevermind, we will definitely see more and more new projects on skyscrapers released to the media, began construction, topping out, completed, and finally open in near future…

And finally, in honouring the current world tallest building, and world tallest man made structure: This skyscraper is going to be the world tallest for at least a decade.

Burj Khalifa, Dubai, UAE – 828m, 168 floors.

Do you enjoy this post? Please comment…not all skyscrapers which are under-construction, on-hold, or proposed are mentioned here…these examples above are just the few famous ones…now you will know that there is actually a lot of constructions going out there…

But where is my country, Malaysia? seeing nothing on future development after completion of current world tallest twin buildings, Petronas Twin Towers back in 1998…haiz…anyway, I heard from news that there are three places chosen in Kuala Lumpur for iconic landmarks to be built on it (proposal in progress), and two of these are over 100 storeys skyscrapers. Wondering whether this is going to be built or not??>..

‘Malaysia in Malaysia’ Proton Open 2010

The BWF World Super Series Malaysia Proton Open 2010 badminton championship had just ended few minutes ago, after the end of all matches of the day of the final. The tournament is held at the Stadium Putra, Bukit Jalil, a large indoor stadium in the National Sports Complex.

 

I have watched the semi final yesterday, and it’s really cool to watch badminton especially when I’m free….relaxing, enjoying the intense matches…eventhough some games are kinda boring sometimes…hooray…Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei went into the final of men single after beating Nguyen Tien Minh whom is a very talented player from Vietnam…however, Malaysia’s Chin Eee Hui and Wong Pei Tty lost in women doubles to China excellent team. Another delight came again, as Malaysia’s Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong went to final of men doubles beating Chinese pairs.

Today is the final…I will be surely in front of TV again, since I like to watch all these finals of badminton tournaments. It’s fun, enjoying, exciting and intense at some moments. Great, two matches involving Malaysia gave the winning championship to home soil. Lee Chong Wei beats Boonsak Ponsana from Thailand in 21 – 13, 21 – 7. In first half of the first game, the result is so close, that Boonsak took lead few times, but finally, Chong Wei attacked strongly and winning continous 20 rallies (counting the next second game). Second game is definitely easy for Chong Wei whom control the whole game perfectly.

Another match is the men doubles. Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong up against Guo Zhendong and Xu Chen, talented new players from China. Both pairs are great. Malaysian pair is good in attacking using different strategies, while China pair is good in strength. Finally, it is the time for Malaysian pair to win, 21 – 15, 17 – 21, 21 – 16. At the first game, it is the China pair that leads first, but then Malaysian pair gave a good fight and won continously, but not on second game, when their strategy changed inapropriately and lose out. Finally, on the third and deciding game, the result is very close, and till the last part, then only Malaysian pair prevailed.

Ahh…both matches are exciting…the crowds are cheering, shouting, clapping, waving national flags to support Malaysian team…great performances….other matches too, check out the results obtained from tournament software site:

Women doubles : Du Jing, Yu Yang (China) beats Ma Jin, Wang Xiaoli (China) 21 – 16, 21 – 12.

Women single : Wang Xin (China) beats Bae Youn Joe (Korea) 19 – 21, 21 – 17, 14 – 6 (retired). Bae Youn Joe suffered from ankle injury and she stayed on the match for few rallies before quitting. What the….she is not treated for any medical examination, where is all the people responsible for this? Sleeping?…giving such a bad image to Korea. Sorry, Bae Youn Joo…hopes she will get recover soon, she is a great player…

Mixed doubles: Tao Jiaming, Zhang Yawen (China) beats Thomas Laybourn,Kamilla Rytter Juhl (Denmark) 19 – 21, 21 – 18, 21 – 15. This is a real exciting match…eventhough Malaysia is not involved in this match, but everyone is excited by the intense match.Great performance by both pairs! Finally, China won three matches, while Malaysia won two…China, the dominant country in badminton, should feel the presence of Malaysia by now!

Great…great…great….Lee Chong Wei is now the most successful player in the history of badminton super series, went into 18 finals of tournaments and winning 11 (including this one), defeating Lin Dan from China, the current Olympic champion. The first two tournaments of the year 2010 participated by Chong Wei also lead to him winning both titles…hope this goes on….wishing him all the best, and to other Malaysian players too, especially Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong whom can be great in future after certain improvements, since now, they are world number one too.

Resorts World Sentosa opening this few weeks…

Many people especially Asians are eyeing on the opening of Asia’s new tourist destination, Resorts World Sentosa, located at Sentosa Island, Singapore.

Construction of the hotels, theme park, streets, have been completed, and currently, final touches are in progress on the entertainment complex. The opening of the whole complex will be done in few parts, sometimes within these few weeks, some of the hotels will be opened, then, casino will be opened, and another time, the theme park will be opened, …and finally, the whole complex is opened…in year 2010…

Everything (main complex area) should be opened by Chinese New Year in the mid of February 2010. Can’t wait to go there, since I have not even been to Singapore before, eventhough it is so near to my country, Malaysia. Resorts World Sentosa is also built by Malaysian company, Resorts World Genting at Genting Highlands, which is over 40 years, owned by Malaysian tycoon, Lim Kok Thay, inherited from his founder father, Lim Goh Tong.

Let’s get back to the topic! I have checked out the official website of the complex; For more info and even reservations, go to:

www.rwsentosa.com

I have seen pictures on the construction and the completion of the complex, and it seems to attract me more, to go there one whole day and enjoy myself, or even more than one day…it will be a lot of fun there! I like the Universal Studio Theme Park, first in the region, with thrilling rides, and adventurous journeys ahead. There is a casino in the complex too, only for people above 21 years old, which is not suitable for me, whom is now only 19 (haven’t even reach 19).

There are total of six hotels, Crockfords Tower, Michael Hotel, Festive Hotel, Hard Rock Hotel, Equarius Hotel, Spa Villas. All the hotels are five star, unlike in Genting, where some hotels are even in three stars. Besides than the Universal Studio Theme Park, there is also Marine Life Park (largest in the world), Maritime Xperiental Museum, Festive Walk, etc.

Wondering what is the development of the kids-only LegoLand at Nusajaya, Johor?…Malaysia planned a giant development of the region with addition of FEW theme parks…to compete with Singapore….Now, everything turning into reality in Singapore, and in Malaysia, nothing heard!

Salute to James Cameron!

Do you know who is James Cameron? People who watch movies will definitely know who he is…He is a very famous director of popular movies of all time. Do you know that the top two films of highest grossing worldwide are directed, written and produced by him?

             

The two movies are Titanic (1997) and Avatar (2009).

Everyone knows Titanic, the movie more than the history. The impact is so deep and great after watching ‘Titanic’. Eventhough it has been released over 13 years ago, nowadays people still want to watch it, for several times, without knowing the word ‘boring’. It is definitely a great film based on history in history. Hope you know what I mean! The romance in the movie is so touching, and the themes portrayed in the film are well-elaborated.

      

The next film is Avatar, only began production in 2005, and released in 2009, last year only. The movie which is released in normal screening and in 3D few weeks later receives much attention due to the storyline, background, the visual and sound effects, the performances, etc… This is basically a great film….a great film does not need to be done in a quick period of time, it is the quality that matters…

  

Both films are definitely great…Titanic is the current highest grossing film worldwide with gross of  over 1,800,000,000 USD, while Avatar is the second highest with gross of over 1,600,000,000 USD.

UPDATED — February 1st, 2010

Avatar movie is now the current highest grossing film worldwide, with gross of over 1,920,000,000 USD, defeating the previous title holder, Titanic. I am wondering if Titanic movie is released to the public again through cinemas screening and in 3D, then it is highly probable that Titanic can snatch the title back, since a lot of people wish to watch it back again, especially in the cinema, and it would be a new and fresh experience in 3D…why not?!

Crazy numbers! Do not forget that the movie Avatar is still in cinema with now in 3D as well, meaning people will get into the cinema to watch it again and again! Hence, the number will be increasing in fast rate. By then, Avatar will be expected to defeat Titanic, which had held the title for 12 years ++.

James Cameron really has the ability to direct movies that could stunt us, amaze us, impact us in a way that no other films can do that. That is why the title of this post is already saluting him, considering him as the best director, writer and producer in history. Yes…he just won the Best Director Award in the recent 2010 Golden Globe Awards for the movie Avatar, and the movie won the Best Picture Award.

 

He is even inducted as the 2396th star on the famous Hollywood Walk Of Fame. He is predicted to win the same two awards in the upcoming Oscar.

                 

He had also directed other famous films, like Terminator sequels, Aliens sequels, etc. Described by a biographer as part-scientist and part-artist, Cameron has also contributed to underwater filming and remote vehicle technologies.

To check on the latest list of world highest grossing films of all time, go to:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-grossing_films

Eventhough this is a wikipedia site, but all the information is true and referenced, and updated whenever a data changed with proper sources credited.

Chong Wei takes Korean Open 2010 title…

Today is the final of the first super series of year 2010, the Victor Korea Super Series 2010 Open Badminton Championship. There is only one match involving Malaysian, whom is the world number one player, Lee Chong Wei, in the men single. I must watch to support Malaysia, since I’m Malaysian too.

     

Men single is the last draw in the whole final show, hence it is gonna to start in the late afternoon. Then, felt very free during the whole afternoon, so I did watched some of the other matches too, and one that I found interesting is the men doubles with Lee Yong Dae, Jung Jae Sung (Korea) against Cai Yun, Fu Haifeng (China). Four of them are great players especially Cai Yun and Lee Yong Dae. Korea win this match by 21 – 11, 14 – 21, 21 – 18. It is an exciting match.

The other results are: Women single (Wang Shixian from China beats Sung Ji Hyun from Korea, 21 – 10, 25 – 23)….Women doubles (Cheng Shu, Zhao Yunlei from China beats Fujii Mizuki, Kakiiwa Reika from Japan, 21 – 16, 21 – 15)….Mixed doubles (He Hanbin, Yu Yang from China beats Tao Jiaming, Zhang Yawen from China too, 21 – 15, 21 – 16).

Finally, comes the final match, of men single, between Lee Chong Wei from Malaysia and Peter Gade from Denmark. Peter Gade is the champion of the men single title in Korea Open last year (2009). Unfortunately, he was unable to defend his title. Greatfully, this is the first Korea Open title won by Chong Wei eventhough he had won many tournaments around the world these few years. He beats Gade, 21 – 12, 21 – 11, in two straight games. Great performance by Chong Wei, and by Gade for sometimes too. I’m wondering why Lin Dan from China, the Olympic gold medallist did not compete in this tournament while others do…he will give a good and always-winning fight with Chong Wei. Many supporters were yelling, cheering, supporting Chong Wei, waving the Malaysian flags….I guessed they are the Malaysians studying abroad in Korea. Malaysia’s other best, world number one in men doubles, Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong did not participate. China won three, Korea won one, and Malaysia won one.

I like this website, www.tournamentsoftware.com, it is updated quickly everytime a result is released on those competitions of sports. Eventhough I did not watch the whole final matches, but I can simply knew the full results very fast from that website. The results shown here are obtained from there too as the most reliable source with is in very detail.

Lee Chong Wei started off the year with the first win, in the first super series tournament out of twelve in the whole year. This coming week is the time for Malaysia Open 2010…hopes he can do at his best at that time too! Continue your winning path!

Jungle trekking today…

Usually every Sunday, I will be accompanying my dad for a walk or a jog at Taman Tasik Permaisuri, a large park with a lake in the middle. Usually, I will just jog for a short distance, and then walk for a remaining round, then another whole round again, WALKING…again!! Lol….just watching the scenery and people…and feel the morning breeze…

Today we did not go there, instead, we go for jungle trekking on a hill near my house. The hill is called Monte Bayu, which is now changed to Bukit Bayu. It is not a high hill, but enough for us as the seldom jungle trekkers, which have not much energy and ability to climb further. Going there with my cousin and her friend….went into the jungle, and climbing steep area….exciting at the beginning but tiring at the end…

Beauty of nature…shadow of trees and leaves casted onto the ground…

At first, I thought climbing up would be harder….but then reached until halfway, very exhausted already and gave up…rest a while before climbing down back…there seems to be quite a lot of people jungle-trekking at there. Some are even friendly to inform you not to sit down after feeling exhausted, warn us of danger, and even greet us good morning…and I even saw foreigners there too…

When climbing up…

First time climbing this hill…fun too.,..but becomes food for the mosquitoes…haha….the whole journey took around one and a half hour…now I know the most dangerous and difficult part is when climbing down, when we need to return to the car park area. Looking down at steep angle of the hill really scares people…with the sandy jungle floor that can make you slip easily….there are even ropes at some locations for better safety.

When climbing down…

Tiring…time to rest both of my legs…and online now….this is what comfortable is! Will NOT be planning the next jungle trekking in a near distance of time…

My blog had reached over 200 000 hits!!!

Two congratulations…

First to my eldest sister, whom had given birth to an adorable baby boy, which has not been given name yet…my sister and brother-in-law have to suggest few names for someone professional to calculate, and pick or even change the names suggested…congratulation once again to the couple for being the parents for the first time…and me being uncle!!! old already…lol

Second, is to my blog, as mentioned in the title of this post clearly…after one year and four months of creation of this blog, finally, it reached over 200 000 hits…means that this blog has been viewed over 200 000 times during this short period of time…happy for the achievement…happy to have more readers reading and enjoying my blog…thanks for all the support….congratz to myself, as the creator of this blog, and great thanks again for all the readers of my blog around the world!

      

More pictures of my newly-born nephew…

These few days going to hospital several times to visit my sister who had just given a birth to a lovely baby boy, having the same birthday with herself, as mentioned in my previous post. Looking into the baby room, with two babies, one of them whom is my nephew.

Yesterday night, able to watch the nurse cleaning the baby and giving milk bottle to feed the baby. I am wondering why they can’t let the baby out like other hospital…maybe because this is a private hospital and they have own rules…Enjoying the time when my nephew opens his eyes frequently, looking at surrounding, and staring at us. He seems to be curious on what we are doing out there, all looking at him happily.

He seems to be quite active, moving here, moving there. His head can turn over 100 degree, even at this age, of one day! Incredible…he seems to be kinda strong, especially when he is crying, his whole body is moving…very active…the other baby seems to be sleepy, not much active, and didn’t cry much like my nephew…hardly to guess whether my nephew looks similar to my sister or her husband. My sister now seems to be recovering fast from her pain…

What a little body of baby boy…wanting to hold him, and give him a kiss…at this age, he can even stare at me while I’m taking picture of him…concentrating on what I’m doing…how lovely and cute…going to be smart in the future…check out the pictures below…the nurse bring him up near to the window for us to see clearer and take pictures!

Yesterday night:

         

         

Today afternoon:

         

How adorable…wishing him best of health, grow well…and all the best! Long way in life ahead! Haha…now only 1 day of age…

My lovely nephew finally born…

Finally, my nephew came to this world…how lovely….two days ago, my pregnant sister which is nearing the due date of birth started to complain on stomach pain. After days of medical examination in the hospital, finally, just now, the baby is born after the surgical operation. It’s a cute lovely baby boy, which name has not been given yet.

As soon as I reached the hospital, the operation just ended and the baby and my sister just brought out from the operation room five minutes earlier. Wow…go take a look at the baby, my nephew first…whom is inside the baby room, shined by light. Quite huge in size, especially the mouth….weighing 3.5kg…that’s quite heavy, compared to another baby boy beside, whom is only 2.8kg (so little).

My baby nephew started crying so loud, seems wanting to drink milk already….his mouth opened so many times until so big…haha, lovely….yelling for milk…then I asked nurse, four hours later only can give milk for him to drink…ooh,,,pity…crying for another few more hours only can have milk…it seems to look similarly to my sister too, big head…lol…my sister still in pain lying on bed, but conscious already…time to rest…

Lovely…lovely…lovely…capture this photo of him…tonight will be going there again, and by that time, the baby will be put nearer to window…then will be capturing better photos tonight…great boy…having the same birthday with my sister also….both can celebrate on the same day next time…kinda pity for my sister this year to celebrate her birthday in such a condition….anyway, it’s worthy….such a lovely baby…

                    

Check out more photos soon…