Last post of the year 2011, what’s my new year’s resolution?

Ohh, finally, it’s already the last day of the year! This December is certainly one of my most favourite months, and also one of the most memorable, as this is the month of so many good things for me; holiday, birthday and also graduation! The month is ending and it’s time to welcome a brand new year of 2012 starting tomorrow. Today is the last day of the year, and I kinda miss everything of the month, and definitely of the whole year too. This is the 789th post of my blog, and also the last post of the year! 7-8-9! Nice number that comes in sequence…looks interesting…

2011 has been a colourful year to me. 2011 is the year I had my last year in bachelor degree study and I finally graduated successfully from the programme that took me four years to complete. 2011 is the year I had most trips; two oversea trips, and several other trips in the country itself. 2011 is the first year I went to the west of the world, to Europe and also the year I am able to take a look at the world tallest man made structure, Burj Khalifa from far. 2011 is the year I lost my laptop and bought a new one. 2011 is the year I had watched the most number of films, and written most number of reviews over my blog here.

So you see, 2011 has been a truly wonderful year of 365 days for me. What about 2012? Let see. Since I would be updating some issues regarding myself in my blog here too, so you would also know roughly how’s my life going on over the days. 2012 is the year I would begin my postgraduate study, somewhere in oversea, at which selection and applying would be done next month. So it will be the first year I’m having my life in oversea for months to complete the study which will take 2 years. 2012 would be a much challenging year to me ahead.

What’s my new year’s resolution? Same old thing, which is very typical with many others. But I should really really determined to exercise more, drink more water, eat proper and have more fruits, and gets more independent next year. I wished for good health, good academic performance, and hoping for good events coming to me, as well as to the world. Sounds too general? Haha…yeah, that are like everyone’s wish. By the way, I wish 2012 would be a year full of joy, excitement, fun, smile, laughter, happiness, and love to me!

It’s New Year’s Eve today! What would you be doing in the last day of the year? What’s your plan tonight in welcoming the new year? Going for countdown celebration with friends or just staying comfortably at home with family? Have fun tonight no matter where you are. Enjoy the very last few moments in 2011, so that 2011 would be much more memorable and happier in our memory!

Soon enough 2011 will be history… All the ups and downs were remarkable, molding up to the person I am today. And so here I am, much better than yesterday,getting ready and geared up for the year 2012 beginning tomorrow! Goodbye December, and Goodbye to 2011! 2012 would be the 5th year I’m running my blog here, and I couldn’t believe my blog had already been online for 40 months. And so everything would goes on….see you in the next post, the first in 2012. The clock is ticking, and 2012 is coming very soon, very very soon…!

Key statistics of my blog for the year 2011! (updated on 1/1/2012)

It’s the second last day of the year, and I think I should provide a record data for my blog looking at its statistics every year. It’s something like report card, but this time its for my blog itself. Some would wonder how my blog is going; is it going well?, is it attracting many visitors daily?, which post is the most commented?, etc. I will reveal everything right below, to show how (successful) this blog is. Haha…a bit too proud here, sorry…

There are various calculated data from my dashboard of the blog which tells me how’s my blog is going every day, every month and every year. And everytime I logged in to my dashboard, the admin site of my blog, I have to clean up so many spam comments, which are annoying. The number of views daily has been very steady except for some days when it sky-rocketing due to posts that hit on the hot issue that period of time. There comes the statistics in general:

Most active month of the year: December 2011 (40 posts produced, the most number of posts written in a single month)

Most active post of the year: New 7 Wonders Foundation’s Seven Wonders of the World (produced in January 25, 2011 and garnered over 52 votes as of current)

My Most favourite post of the year: 9 Days 7 Nights Italy 2011 CNY Trip (produced in February 11, 2011, obtained 7 excellent 5-star votes, but the most important thing is that the post is my most favourite since the trip is my most favourite too)

Most commented post of all years: Chile Earthquake at 8.8M (produced in February 27, 2010 accompanied with 57 comments as of current, it somehow been posted at the time when everyone talks about it, and so my post becomes a place of major discussion over the tragedy)

The day of the year (of all years too) with most hits/views: March 9, 2011 (a record-breaking 5683 hits on a single day)

Most favourite blog’s header of the year: Header for the month of September 2011 that marks the 10th anniversary of 911. (The header depicts a beautiful and meaningful photo-montage of World Trade Center (before attack) and comes the brighter visual of Freedom Tower (which is in development), where in the middle between the timeframe is the commemorative visual of two columns of light over New York skyline.) – Click on the header below for larger view

Most favourite month of the year (month with most hits for the year and also all years): November 2011 (59 547 hits)

Comparison of total number of views every year:

2008 (beginning September): 1078

2009 : 174 063

2010 : 311 765

2011 : 489 372

Average view per day each year:

2008 : 11 , 2009 : 477 , 2010 : 854 , 2011 : 1341

Total posts written in the year 2011: 279 out of full total of 789 posts (Percentage of 35.4%)

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I’m certainly not faking or bullshitting the numbers above. All that is true, and that indicates that my blog over here is garnering much more attention this year, with more views, more comments, and of course more posts from myself. Hopes that this pattern would continues in the future for a much more successful blog. If nothing goes wrong, my blog would reach over 1 million hits by next month (January 2012 before Chinese New Year). Then, it would be a great achievement for my blog! But right now, it’s already great for me and my blog anyway! Finally, a word of congratulation to my blog!

(This is my 788th post, so one more post tomorrow to bring the curtain down for 2011)

Movie review: The Darkest Hour (2011)

Wah, this movie is receiving quite a very poor rating from sites like IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes. I knew that much earlier, but I still take the chance to watch it, making it as the last film of the year for me. After leaving the hall not long ago after the movie, I find it really not that disappointing, but to certain extent; even good too!

I’m referring to ‘The Darkest Hour’ which is a science-fiction film on alien invasion over the world but the film took place in Moscow, Russia together with few young adults surviving the invasion after several encounters. The alien invasion in this film is very special, and the idea of having those floating electromagnetic energy wave as the ‘alien’ that steals the power and minerals is very creative and fresh in the genre. There is no ugly creature, no gigantic spaceship or whatsoever which the audiences would be get bored over the same things again. This film is definitely an exception. I like the whole general idea and concept of the film, also to mention its framework. What’s lacking is that there are not much character’s development shown in the film, and that it is very predicted that which characters are going to die. The script is also not well-written enough.

I have to say the worst part of the film would be on the casts themselves. Only several people are needed throughout the whole length of film, and it is very important for them to perform effectively as the whole atmosphere depends on them besides than the visual and sound effects. The performance by the casts which are mainly new and inexperienced is seriously not very good, but still satisfying enough to get the scenes much more exciting to watch. Ahhaa….the visual and sound effects are pretty amazing in the film, and I’m convinced with the quality of computer-generated backdrop of Moscow portrayed in this film as a dead city.

However, there are too many scenes involving that few casts running around the ‘dead’ city with nothing much interesting going on in between. Luckily, there are also quite a number of exciting scenes involving the appearance of the extra-terrestrial floating electromagnetic wave getting closer and posing danger to the survivors. Those scenes are the climax and everyone likes it definitely. There are also emphasis on some emotional moments when someone in the group died, which is not too excessive and just nice. I find this alien-invasion film to be the best of the year instead of the worst that is being reviewed and rated mainly out there. I’m enjoying the film, and so the audiences in the same hall with me too. Definitely worth-watching, interesting and exciting! Out of 10 points, I rate this ‘The Darkest Hour’ 7.4.

(Ahhhaaa…the first movie I watched in the year 2011 is The Green Hornet and the last movie I watched for the year is this one, The Darkest Hour).

 

Re-cap: Year 2011 to me individually…

Ahhaaa….let me recall back what important events I have been through for this one whole year which is coming to an end by end of this week. For my study, 2011 is the final year for me in my bachelor degree in architecture science study, hence tougher works are predicted (and also completed!). It is also the year I reached 20 years of age (just not long ago in December 4th which is my birthday). Without wasting any more time, let’s check out below on what’s interesting that occurred to me throughout the year of 2011:

February 2011

It’s the month of Chinese New Year, and it’s certainly the time for my annual oversea trip. In February 2011, we went to Italy for over a week, covering city of Rome, Milan, Florence, Pisa, Verona and Venice. We also had a short tour along a waterfront and timepieces outlets at a town in Switzerland bordering Italy. For the Italy trip, we had a flight transfer stop at Dubai International Airport, hence giving me a chance to catch a glimpse of the world tallest building, Burj Khalifa from far. I even bought some merchandises from the airport itself. It is such a wonderful memory having been to Italy, and able to visit great places like the famous churches and squares, St. Peter’s Basilica, Leaning Tower of Pisa, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, as well as Colosseum, one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

I also had a short family trip to Singapore for a merely few hours in the month. I had the chance to visit Marina Bay Sands when it’s still midnight, having a calm view over Singapore beautiful skyline in the dark. In the morning, I also had a chance to visit Sentosa Island, going up the observation tower, and also had a stop at Resorts World Sentosa, eventhough not having the time to enter Universal Studios. Too bad…

March 2011

It is the month my eldest sister gave birth to his second son, my second nephew. The newborn baby is given nickname of Jordan. From then on, I have two babies to play with. As time flies and it’s the end of the year, my second nephew is already nine-months old and is very adorable and cute. He loves to smile a lot! My eldest nephew is also going to turn 2 years old next month.

March to June 2011 (First semester of study)

It’s the first semester for my last year of study for my bachelor degree as mentioned earlier. We in the whole class had a class trip to Penang for design assignment which the site is at Miami Beach, Penang. We get the chance to visit Georgetown and Batu Ferringhi also, famous for the night market and pubs along the beach. I went to Penang again with my friends later on to have a better understanding of the site for our design assignment, which we also had the chance to drop by at Ipoh for a day to visit St. Michael’s Institution for our culture group assignment. Ahhaa, and only somewhere in May, we had a visit to KL for the Open House event where some heritage buildings are being introduced to tourists and students.

July 2011

It’s the month of holiday between the end of my first semester and the beginning of my second (final) semester of study. I had a short family trip to Ipoh, and it’s time to check on Perak’s famous cave temples. I have visited three cave temples in a row, and later on, went to another one before leaving Ipoh and return to Kuala Lumpur. The cave temples are beautiful and magnificent. However, in the last temple’s tour, I got my laptop stolen! Oh my God! Then, days later, I have to buy a new one.

August to November 2011 (Second semester of study)

As already repeated many times, it’s my last semester of study. It’s going to be really tough and I had gone through it quite successfully with the best result I ever had, with three high distinctions obtained out of five subjects (but the other two I didn’t do really well). There is no class trip, but only with a site visit to Petaling Jaya Old Town for design assignment and also another site visit to IBS Center in KL for Building Technology module to learn on precast construction.

December 2011

My final semester ended and I’m truly happy for it after four years of struggle (having many nights of insufficient sleep or rest) dealing with architecture study. It’s the month of my birthday and I get myself for the exhibition help of our works. Finally, the most important day for me of the year had finally arrived: MY GRADUATION! on 17th December (not long ago). I’m finally graduated with Bachelor in Applied Science in Architectural Science.

That’s all of the year for me, mostly! It’s a year not to be forgotten! It’s the year I had my first trip to the West, to Europe! It’s the year I had the most trips (either family or class)! And it’s the year I had my graduation at degree level, my first ever graduation in university! So, in summary, 2011 is a year of good and bad moments for me, but to make my life happier, I would just keep on remembering the good times only….

Re-cap: 2011 to the world

It’s almost the end of the year, and I started seeing newspaper publishing flashback on some worldwide events or tragedies that occurred throughout the year. Hence, I would not miss that part in my blog here also. 2011 is designated by United Nations to be the International Year of Forests and International Year of Chemistry. More emphasis is given onto these two aspects, but I hardly see that. Maybe there is, but no obvious or wide-scale effort is observed.

Back to 2011, there are quite a number of events happened; some are good while some are bad. The world could never escape from natural disasters every year, and it appears that every year, there must be one or two major earthquakes happened. 2011 is not a year for international sporting events, and hence you wouldn’t see any of it in the re-cap section. Only next year would be, as the 2012 Summer Olympic Games is coming, in London. Here below is the list of major events that occurred throughout the year in sequence:

January 11, 2011

Serious flooding and mudslides killed over 900 people in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is reported as the second worst weather-related natural disaster of the city in history. The tragedy flattened homes and damaged infrastructures all along the affected areas. This is also the year when Rio de Janeiro started to get famous and being introduced around the world after being elected to host 2016 Summer Olympic Games last year.

March 11, 2011

One of the world largest earthquake ever recorded in history hit east of Japan at 9.1 magnitude scale. The earthquake lead to subsequent aftershocks which some are over 7.0 M and also gigantic tsunami that reached up to 30 to 40 metres high waves. Officially known as Great Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami, it lead to death of almost 20 000 people and emergencies declaration at four nuclear power plants that are affected and having radiation leak. It is known as Japan’s greatest crisis after the World War II.

April 29, 2011

An estimated two billion people watched the wedding of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge with Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey in London.It is the royal wedding of the eldest grandson of Queen Elizabeth II, and that puts Prince William as the second in line to the procession of the throne. It is famously known as the wedding of the century due to the magnificent scale and worldwide attention given to the ceremony.

May 1, 2011

United States President, Barack Obama officially announced the death of Osama bin Laden, the founder and leader of militant group Al-Qaeda which is responsible for 911 terrorist attack over USA. The death of the most-wanted man of United States is certainly going to bring the world to a better and much peaceful place to live. The whole nation celebrated the news with parade around the city, with people waving national flags everywhere.

September 11,2011

It’s the 10th anniversary of the 911 terrorist attacks over United States, claiming almost 3000 lives and destroying the iconic World Trade Center twin tower, flattening it to Ground Zero. The memorial park at the Ground Zero is officially opened, witnessed by the President Barack Obama as well as Former President, George W. Bush. A decade from the tragic event, and the pain and sorrow could still be felt. Development is going well for construction of New World Trade Center, especially the tallest building in the plan, One World Trade Center.

October 2011 (whole month and subsequent months later)

The worst flood in history hit northern part of South East Asia, affecting Thailand and Cambodia very badly. In Thailand itself, over 600 people is killed, with 58 out of 77 provinces affected including the capital city, Bangkok that halted the major economy of the nation. In Cambodia, over 200 people is killed too due to the flood.

October 31, 2011

It is the date selected by United Nations (UN) as the symbolic date when global population reaches seven billion. Of course that is not really accurate as it is impossible to have the precise figure of number of people alive in the world on the day itself. Anyway, I think they would have a good calculation of estimation, also looking at population records of every countries in the world.

December 2011 (whole month)

Serious flooding in Philippines caused by a tropical storm killed over 1000 people. (Picture of Philippines in the time of flood below)

In my country alone: Malaysia, major flood started to occur in various part of the country, most notably in the capital itself, Kuala Lumpur where many roads are submerged in water including basement of buildings.

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Looking at the major events that happened throughout the year 2011, I find there are quite a number of flooding occurred, especially in South East Asia alone, where my country is part of it. The major earthquake and tsunami in east Japan shocked the world and caused loss in billions of dollar, affecting the Japan economy and market. Ahh, one more thing…in October 5, 2011, we heard the news of the death of Steve Jobs, the man behind Apple Inc. and all of the products like iPod, iPhone and iPad. We have lost a great man in electronic technology this year. Of course, there is still something nice to observe for the year, which is the royal wedding of Prince William, which almost everyone gets to watch or known about it.

New 7 Wonders of Nature

The ‘New7Wonder’ Foundation had organized their first campaign to list out the new seven manmade wonders of the world back in 2007 as there are too many different versions of the Seven Wonders of the World. The campaign is closed and the list is revealed. Their next campaign which just started not long ago, is now concentrating on the New 7 Wonders of Nature. Voting has began earlier, and I personally did vote for this campaign, but I forgot which place I have voted. (I voted for it many months ago).

In November 11th (a month ago), the provisional result of the New 7 Wonders of Nature has been released after the counting of votes finalized. However, there are still verification processes going on to confirm on the total votes calculation. However, nothing would goes wrong there, and hence the list published earlier back in 11/11/11 would still be the final and official New 7 Wonders of Nature. Here below is the list in alphabetical order on the latest New 7 Wonders of Nature:

1. Amazon  (Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, Venezuela)

The Amazon Rainforest, also known as Amazonia, the Amazon jungle or the Amazon Basin, encompasses seven million square kilometers (1.7 billion acres), though the forest itself occupies some 5.5 million square kilometers (1.4 billion acres), located within nine nations. The Amazon represents over half of the planet’s remaining rainforests and comprises the largest and most species-rich tract of tropical rainforest in the world. The Amazon River is the largest river in the world by volume, with a total flow greater than the top ten rivers worldwide combined. It accounts for approximately one-fifth of the total world river flow and has the biggest drainage basin on the planet. Not a single bridge crosses the Amazon.

2. Halong Bay (Vietnam)

Halong Bay is located in Quáng Ninh province, Vietnam. The bay features thousands of limestone karsts and isles in various sizes and shapes. The bay has a 120 kilometre long coastline and is approximately 1,553 square kilometres in size with 1969 islets. Several of the islands are hollow, with enormous caves, other support floating villages of fishermen, who ply the shallow waters for 200 species of fish and 450 different kinds of mollusks. Another specific feature of Halong Bay is the abundance of lakes inside the limestone islands, for example, Dau Be island has six enclosed lakes. All these island lakes occupy drowned dolines within fengcong karst.

3. Iguazu Falls (Argentina, Brazil)

Iguazu Falls, in Iguazu River, are one of the world’s largest waterfalls. They extend over 2,700 m (nearly 2 miles)  in a semi-circular shape.  Of the 275 falls that collectively make up Iguassu Falls, “Devil’s Throat” is the tallest at 80 m in height. Iguazu Falls are on the border between the Brazilian state of Paraná and the Argentine province of Misiones, and are surrounded by two National Parks (BR/ARG). Both are subtropical rainforests that are host to hundreds of rare and endangered species of flora and fauna.

4. Jeju Island (South Korea)

Jejudo is a volcanic island, 130 km from the southern coast of Korea. The largest island and smallest province in Korea, the island has a surface area of 1,846 sqkm. A central feature of Jeju is Hallasan, the tallest mountain in South Korea and a dormant volcano, which rises 1,950 m above sea level. 360 satellite volcanoes are around the main volcano.

5. Komodo (Indonesia)

Indonesia’s Komodo National Park includes the three larger islands Komodo, Rinca and Padar, as well as numerous smaller ones, for a total area of 1,817 square kilometers (603 square kilometers of it land). The national park was founded in 1980 to protect the Komodo dragon. Later, it was also dedicated to protecting other species, including marine animals. The islands of the national park are of volcanic origin.

6. Puerto Princesa Underground River (Philippines)

The Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park is located about 50 km north of the city of Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Philippines. It features a limestone karst mountain landscape with an 8.2 km. navigable underground river. A distinguishing feature of the river is that it winds through a cave before flowing directly into the South China Sea. It includes major formations of stalactites and stalagmites, and several large chambers. The lower portion of the river is subject to tidal influences. The underground river is reputed to be the world’s longest. At the mouth of the cave, a clear lagoon is framed by ancient trees growing right to the water’s edge. Monkeys, large monitor lizards, and squirrels find their niche on the beach near the cave.

7. Table Mountain (South Africa)

Table Mountain is a South African icon and the only natural site on the planet to have a constellation of stars named after it – Mensa, meaning “the table.” The flat-topped mountain has withstood six million years of erosion and hosts the richest, yet smallest floral kingdom on earth with over 1,470 floral species. Table Mountain boasts numerous rare and endangered species. It is the most recognized site in Cape Town, the gateway to Africa, owing to its unique flat-topped peaks which reach 1,086 m above sea level.

(The information above are shared from the official website of the New7Wonders campaign itself.)

Congratulation to the 7 places for successfully being recognized as the new seven wonders of nature, winning the most number of votes from people around the world. However, I find this list (as typical with all other 7 Wonders lists) to be very subjective and it’s hard to say that this place is more beautiful than that one. I am also quite shocked with the released result which is going to be official by early next year.

There are 28 finalists, and none of amazing places with superb beauty of nature from China is included in the nomination. That is very weird and ridiculous. China is such a big country, and is being known for home to hundreds of places that the nature overwhelms and being known as the places of heaven. And then, none of those places is in the nomination. Huh..so I can say that this campaign is very inaccurate and only depends on the strength of the people’s support towards the nominated place that belongs to their country. I guess no China people are voting or supporting this campaign which is based in Switzerland.

Out of the 7 places listed, three are from South East Asia region. That is a lot, and those places are actually quite ordinary compared to the beauty of some other places that I expected to win and get into the list of the New 7 Wonders of Nature. What a great shock that Great Barrier Reef and Grand Canyon did not win! That is very ridiculous. Both are like the best of the best in nature and yet did not excel to be listed from this campaign. What a joke!

I have been to one of the Seven Wonders of Nature from this list, which is the Jeju Island in South Korea. I have to say it’s a beautiful island, but really not that beautiful enough to be even qualified into this top 7 list. So, actually, I’m quite displeased over this campaign that went off track and goes only to the direction where people are voting, without really think by themselves on which places are better and more deserving to be included into the list. There is no point having the list that comes out from the support of the people over their own country and not judging it correctly based on their own individual perception.

Taiwan to start new year 2012 with bigger bang from its landmark: Taipei 101!

Taiwan is one of the few places around the world where I can watch the live broadcast of the countdown and fireworks display in welcoming new year annually from TV. I usually switched to the channel showing the broadcast of the countdown concert at Taipei first, before going for another. But then, I could only watch one at a time, hence skipping the live broadcast of fireworks display from Hong Kong, and also particularly my country itself, from KLCC which is just around ten kilometres away from my home. But I could still hear quite clearly on the fireworks display from KLCC where the iconic Petronas Twin Tower is located. Nothing nice and interesting from my city’s new year fireworks.

Attention is on again to Taiwan, where the fireworks is set to display from the former world tallest building itself again; Taipei 101. I have visited the building before, even up at the observatory before, and I personally like the building. Fireworks shooting out from the building are very awesome, and have been observed for so many occasions of the new year countdown celebration already. However, this year, as promised by the officials from Taipei 101, the fireworks display is set to be greater and developed with much more improvement. Here below is the articles published all over the internet regarding the news of the planned fireworks display over Taipei 101, the current world third tallest building.

(Picture above from http://www.flickr.com/photos/prince470701/6007991007/)

Taipei 101, formerly the tallest building in the world, will be staging an even more elaborate New Year’s fireworks display than last year to celebrate the arrival of 2012, which coincides with the 101st year of the Republic of China, according to Taipei 101 officials. To celebrate “Double 101,” the scale and duration of the fireworks display on the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve will be similar to Taiwan’s centennial celebrations, if not even more intensive, Taipei 101 spokesperson Michael Liu (劉家豪) said.

Last year, 30,000 fireworks were let off over 288 seconds, while this year, 30,000 fireworks will be let off over just 202 seconds, Liu said. According to organizers, new breakthroughs have been made in firework technology and display techniques to deliver an even more exuberant show this year. Diverse fireworks will be fired from different angles that have never been attempted in the past.

Firework lovers are also going to get the chance to see the display up close from the Taipei 101 Observatory, as tickets are being made available to the public. People with 101 in their national ID number are also in luck, as they will be allowed free entry to the Taipei 101 Observatory on New Year’s Eve to watch the display, which normally costs from NT$350 to NT$400 per person.

(News article above extracted from: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2011/12/24/2003521525)

A video on news reporting the planned fireworks performance of Taiwan’s landmark, Taipei 101 for this upcoming 2012 new year countdown celebration found from YouTube below:

So now, let’s wait and see what I am going to see this coming Saturday’s night on welcoming the Sunday, the new year 2012, from Taipei 101, one of my favourite buildings around the world. The fireworks display from Taipei 101 every new year never disappoints me, and this upcoming one would not be too, as predicted. KL? Forget about it…typical fireworks not even visible from far as those fireworks are shoot right from the ground, not from the twin towers itself.

Seventh Anniversary of the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami

That was the first major tsunami in the history that caught the most attention from people all around the world. That was the first major tsunami I have witnessed (I’m not in the affected areas) from media/news, and that was the largest earthquake ever reported in my generation.

All that above is referring to the Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami that occured in December 26th, 2004, a day after the Christmas which is also known as Boxing Day. The earthquake and subsequent tsunami waves killed almost 300 000 people, becoming one of the deadliest earthquake ever recorded. However, it is the tsunami that took most of the innocent lives, which the waves reach up to as high as 30 metres.

That was exactly what’s happened seven years ago. Today, some memorial services are still conducted to commemorate the seventh anniversary of the tragedy. Eventhough the pain is already seven years ago, but we all (even including those not affected) could still feel the sorrow from the tragic disaster. Life goes on for us, and the areas affected by the 2004 earthquake and tsunami  have observed undergoing development, especially in Indonesia that was the country with the hardest hit.

Ahh…there is a small tsunami that struck Thailand (which is also affected by the 2004 earthquake and tsunami) yesterday, that seriously reminds them of the 2004’s tragedy which is so terrifying that would never gets off everyone’s mind. Eventhough I was not in the tragedy zone back in 2004, but the pictures or the videos of the damage and the tsunami hitting the shore I have watched back then are still fresh in my mind.

As seen from the picture above obtained from TheStarOnline, girls are seen planting paper flowers with messages written by the Indonesian and Japanese society during a ceremony to commemorate the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in Lhoknga, Aceh province in December 26, 2011. Disasters are inevitable in this fragile world, but still we would really feel sad for everytime a disaster occurred. Rest in peace to those who have lost their lives due to the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami.

Last week of the year…

One more week to go before year 2011 ends! How do you spend the last few days of the year?

For me, I would be as usual, enjoying my holiday, staying in my home, facing my laptop and keep online! Time flies; a year just went through from a blink of an eye. That is like so quick, and the whole year would be coming to an end very very soon. I still couldn’t believe it, because the moment I wrote in my blog last year regarding 2011 when I would have my final year of study and this must be a much struggling year for me was still fresh in my mind even after a year has passed.

Now, everything for my final year of study in bachelor degree is over, and the whole year is almost over too! Ahhaa…and I could still remember well on my trip to Italy way back 10 months ago. I thought the trip was over just a month or two ago only. You see, sometimes time flies so fast, until people even couldn’t get aware of it. So, time is very precious, and we should appreciate every moment of it, even to this last few days of the year. (ohh, so now I have even spent around fifteen minutes on this post already!)

As usual, at the last week of the year (like last year), I would be writing some posts in flashbacks/recaps on some important or memorable events that occurred over the whole year. That would remind us to some of the most unforgettable incidents or events of the year, involving places all around the world. I would even allocate a post for a flashback of my individual life over the year. You might want to read it if you are interested. Haha…So, let me have a few more posts by this week to end the year of 2011, before starting to welcome the new year of 2012!

Hohoho…Merry Christmas! Santa Claus is coming to town…!

Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle all the way….

Hohoho….Merry Christmas to everyone, even for those who are not celebrating it, as everyone now sees Christmas as a festival for people of all walks of life!

How do you spend your Christmas eve last night? Going out with friends for party? Or staying home comfortably with your family? Yesterday must be a very chaotic and happening night at places like Bukit Bintang, Genting Highlands, etc. For some others, what is warmer than having the night with the most beloved family at home. Ahha…do you decorate your house for Christmas? I did not celebrate this festival, and so I don’t, but I guess many Malaysians, especially those of Christian faith did not put some effort to decorate for the festival. The main reason  would be probably: waste of money!…which I have to agree…

I like to hear some of those classic Christmas songs, and my most favourite at the moment is ‘Santa Claus is Coming to Town’. No matter how the song is being presented in any new renditions (which is quite a lot), but I do still like it. It’s Christmas Day today? What is your plan then? Plan to send Christmas gift to your friends and family? Haha…hope you enjoy your day, and celebrate Christmas to the fullest it can be! Celebrate with full spirit and energy, since tomorrow is the replacement holiday for today as well!

Hohoho, once again and last but not least, I’m here sincerely wishing everyone Merry Christmas for the year 2011 which is coming to an end soon!