Now, Malaysia have its own A380

After years of waiting and delay, Malaysia finally had its A380 plane landed today in Kuala Lumpur International Airport from Toulouse, France. A380 is the world’s largest and fuel efficient aircraft in the world. MAS is the eighth carrier in the A380 club, the others being Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Air France, Qantas, Lufthansa, Korean Air and China Southern Airlines. Singapore Airlines is the first in the world to use the aircraft for flight, while Emirates has the highest number of orders; 90 for this aircraft at this moment.

The 73m-long A380 can carry up to 494 passengers and offers one of the best seating arrangements of the industry for its first class cabin. It will take to the skies for commercial flights on July 1 on the lucrative Kuala Lumpur-London-Kuala Lumpur daily route. A second A380 will be added to the system by August, with delivery expected in July. MAS, in 2003, ordered six A380 aircraft and the first delivery was scheduled for 2007. However, there was a five-year delay by the aircraft manufacturer.

It’s good for our country to have the world’s largest aircraft. But wait a minute, isn’t that our Malaysia Airlines currently suffer huge amount of losses every year, and yet still has the money to buy A380 which I believed would be very expensive looking at its massive size and lavish interior? Our government has to put in a lot of money to support our national flight company every year, and if the finance problem continues, those money which would be much more beneficial for other purposes would have to be wasted and be given to Malaysia Airlines. I would rather not to have that A380 which is bought just to show that our country is capable of having that aircraft.

Since it has been bought already and even had landed today in the country, I have no things to say. It’s here to serve for flights beginning July. But still, I wouldn’t have the opportunity to get on board this aircraft any time soon as it would be used for very long flights (for international long haul). It would be used for flights only to London, Amsterdam and Sydney as planned. I’m not the one that keeps getting on plane and I think I wouldn’t be going to that three places any time soon, but I can say that I’m good enough to have at least board a plane twice or more every year for oversea trips. Hmm…I couldn’t imagine how large this aircraft is compared to the others because I have not seen it from my own eyes with other planes. I also wonder how comfortable would it be sitting on this plane. Ticket to this aircraft must be more expensive than the usual rate, I guess….Hope I can take a look at this big baby of KLIA by this coming August when I would be taking a flight to Vietnam for a trip…but too bad, not by this plane.

A380, a journey of epic proportions, the pride of our nation.

 

Weekend gone so quick!

Ahh…it’s now over 12am in the midnight, and it’s Monday by now. Ohh, have to wake up very early in the morning and get to work. Time flies. I have already work as an assistant architect for a week long. Nowadays, after I get back from work and had dinner, I would be very tired and without wasting more time, I would then go to bed. Last week alone, the average time I go to bed is 10pm, much to the surprise of my eldest sister. That is so early. Haha…It is because that previously when I was on my break, I would only sleep when it’s over 1am in the midnight. So it’s at least three hours earlier.

Well, now I have to wake up by 7am everyday, many hours earlier than the previous time I woke up when I had no work to go for. So it’s quite acceptable that I sleep very early this time. At first I thought that working in the office the whole day facing only the computer wouldn’t be very tiring, but in the end, I was wrong. It is quite energy-consuming and boring actually when I had to work on those AutoCad drawings for almost 8 hours a day from Monday to Friday. Furthermore, I’m not expert on using that software. Neck pain is a usual problem I had everyday, thanks to the constant exposure and fixed position over to the computer on my seating place.

Now, I wish I could get to do other works or even go outdoors for some other tasks that I am required to learn as an architect. Now, all I have to do is to wait for opportunity to learn and to adds up to my knowledge in this particular field. After working for a week already, I started to get to adapt to the working environment there. Whenever a week starts, I would wish for weekend to come quick. But then, for the previous weekend, it comes and goes too fast for me. It’s like there is not enough break for me, and I have to get back to work for another five full days beginning only few hours later before the next weekend arrives.

Hmm…On last Saturday, I spent my time going online and playing some Facebook games until afternoon. Then, I went to Mid Valley with both of my sisters and that’s the end of the day. Huh…Then on yesterday (Sunday), I went back to my dad’s home (my previous home) as usual and play rummy games with them. Then, at night, it’s dinner time together with my uncle on the very same place. And that’s the end of my Sunday. Ohh..no…Monday came, and there gone my lovely weekend. Have to stay on for five more days for the next weekend to come which is the only time for me to get sufficient rest and joy to my life every week. How I wish the school holiday beginning today for a total of two weeks applies similarly to working people like us as well. Haha…then it would great! Okay…I dream too much already…haha…going to sleep now. Bye!

China won Thomas and Uber Cup 2012…as expected.

I didn’t watch the final match since Malaysia is not involved on it. Malaysia this time even failed to even get to the Finals of this championship for Uber Cup as our women badminton team is extremely poor compared to the others. Luckily, there is still something to see for from this tournament as our men badminton team advanced successfully into the Finals of Thomas Cup held concurrently with the Uber Cup. But that is not long, as Malaysia stopped at quarterfinal after losing to China. So overall, I didn’t watch the whole championship this time.

Both China and South Korea defeated their opponents in semi-final stages and both proceeded to enter into the final for both Thomas and Uber Cup. So its basically the fight between two countries all together. This two countries have performed very well and they both truly deserved to get into final. Uber Cup’s final was on Saturday and China defeated South Korea by 3-0 for a clean sweep and win over the cup for the 12th time. That is an extreme record for China. The country finally win back the cup after their defeat to South Korea in previous edition back in 2010.

Today is the day for Thomas Cup. It’s again the match between China and South Korea. Correct to my prediction as well, China won the cup once again. China won 3-0 over South Korea quite easily and it seems that there isn’t any big challenge ahead of China, the defending champion. The record shows that the country had won the cup for a total of 9 times, with this latest one added for its’ 5th consecutive win over the cup.Another impressive record. China definitely overwhelms on this sport, and it looks like that the country is ready to grab many gold medals in the sport to be contested in the upcoming London 2012 Olympic Games. They are way too strong, and it seems really hard for other countries like South Korea, Malaysia or Indonesia to compete with them. Nevermind, I think our national badminton team would try our best.

China is now again very proud over their achievement, of winning both of the cups for this edition. Many years ago, it was a bright time for Indonesia and Malaysia in the history of this Thomas Cup’s championship. It’s either Indonesia or Malaysia that would win the cup. In recent years, it was all China in the end. All our previous wins became old and forgotten history already. Our national badminton team seriously needs some recent or latest wins to bring up the spirit once again and to prove to the other countries especially China that they are not alone in this sport.

Blog honoured with ‘Illuminating Blogger Award’ today

On February 7th this year, I have received the first ever award presented to my blog, which is known as ‘Versatile Blogger Award’. The award recognized my blog as one of the most all-round and dynamic blogs worldwide. Similar to Versatile Blogger Award, this latest Illuminating Blogger Award presented to me on this day, 27th May 2012, is basically a chain-letter award which the nominated is eventually awarded and get listed on the official website’s blogroll. To follow the rules, the nominated/awarded ones have to create a post like this one with all the required items, and are given responsibility to nominate at least five other blogs for this award.

Illuminating Blogger Award is a fabulous award that anyone can bestow on their fellow bloggers for illuminating, informative blog content. I get to be recognized by it from the comment posted on my blog by ‘Food Stories’, the creator of this award that informed me that I have been listed for this award. It’s also quite satisfying that my blog get listed not by secondary links (like in previous Versatile Blogger Award) but by the creator of the award this time. There would be no prize or a physical award given, but it is the recognition that every blogger wants. This is the badge given for the award’s winners:

‘Illuminating’. Well, according to that term, my blog does provides ‘light’ to many readers. Opps..a bit too proud of that….As usual, there are several instructions I need to follow on this new blog’s post to be qualified fully for the recognition. Here is the instruction:

1. The nominee should visit the award site (http://foodstoriesblog.com/illuminating-blogger-award/) and leave a comment indicating that they have been nominated and by whom. (This step is so important because it’s the only way that we can create a blogroll of award winners).

=== I have visited the award site and left a comment. 
2. The Nominee should thank the person that nominated them by posting & including a link to their blog.

=== I now thanked ‘Food Stories’, the creator of this award who nominated my blog and the website is http://foodstoriesblog.com/. 
3. Share one random thing about yourself in your blog post.

===One random thing? Hmm…I like to travel around the world to explore and experience the different places, cultures, backgrounds from historical to modern sites that I believe would adds a certain useful knowledge to me in the end. My next destination would be Vietnam on this upcoming August. This is my one random thing about myself that I can think of at this moment. 
4. Select at least five other bloggers that you enjoy reading their illuminating, informative posts and nominate them for the award.

===The list of five other bloggers that I enjoy reading sometimes:

(a)  Sarcasm? Puh-leeze! (http://leonhart90.blogspot.com/)

(b)  Architecture Moves Us. (http://www.yangsquare.com/)

(c) ArchDaily. (http://www.archdaily.com/)

(d) Dezeen Magazine. (http://www.dezeen.com/)

(e) A Daily Dose of Architecture. (http://archidose.blogspot.com/)

That’s it. Thank you once again for nominating and awarding my blog with this ‘Illuminating Blogger Award’. It’s my blog’s second award and third honour overall with the first being listed by WordPress as one of the top growing blogs back few years ago. Hoping more to come soon!

Went to Mid Valley today to check out the Mickey Mouse exhibit and PC Fair

Today I accompanied my eldest sister and her two sons to Mid Valley Megamall to check out the Mickey Mouse exhibit and the PC Fair.My second sister suggested this and came along to fetch us. It’s super serious traffic congestion on road leading to the mall. Many planned to go to the mall today. Yesterday onwards, I started seeing people sharing images showing some Mickey Mouse exhibits displayed in the centre court of Mid Valley Megamall. It’s now the beginning of mid-year break of two weeks for kids, and the mall took this opportunity to have this Mickey Mouse collections on display to attract more visitors especially for kids enjoying their holiday. So the kids love that, and the adults love that too.

It’s also a very good idea of bringing back the icon of Mickey Mouse to this day when other cartoon characters like Angry Birds are more popular nowadays. No matter how long it is, Mickey Mouse still stays on a place in everyone’s heart. And yes, the collections’ display is very successful on attracting large number of spectators, even on this day alone when I visit the mall. Most of the people were assembled all around the centre court to view each and every display, ranging from small-sized ones placed in boxes to huge version of Mickey in the center that rotates on its own.  Many were seen taking pictures, and I’m one of them. It’s just very hard not to take out my phone to take a picture or two…and I took more than ten in the crowd. But I would just post five pictures here. Check out all these yourself when you are free.

Some displays really look very interesting, while some are not that good. Well, there are a lot of different type of appearance given to Mickey, thanks to creative design applied to this familiar icon from costumes, colours, make-up, etc. We couldn’t stand longer in that area as the crowd was really huge. Everyone is busy viewing the display, and getting ready for pictures. I think I would suffocate if I don’t leave after taking some quick photographs. It’s really a lot of people. There are also kiosks nearby selling Mickey-featured items which are suitable for kids, and so my eldest sister bought some at a very low price for her sons, my two cute nephews.

Then we had dinner in Nando’s Restaurant in which I have not been to for a very long time already. What’s disappointing is that the chicken served was too small, and we were seriously not satisfied with the amount served,…and yet the price is that expensive. Before we leave, we proceed to the PC Fair on the highest floor. Another area with huge number of people. And this time, there are a lot of promoters surrounding you and keep promoting their stuff until I find it very annoying sometimes. I know that they just do their job but I couldn’t stand being disturbed all the way…and I have to say that I had no interest to stop the interruption despite having intention to check out about it.

All the things are sold in much cheaper and affordable prices. It’s very happening there, until to the point that I can say it’s like a war zone. We went in for a round just for a while as we hate this kind of crowded situation. In the end, me and my second sister bought one USB flash drive of 8GB respectively in a very low price. And it’s waterproof. I like the design of pen drives nowadays; it looks slim, cool and fabulous. I can still remember that last time in many years ago when pen drives are not a usual stuff and is newly introduced, the cost of buying one with only 2GB is already very expensive. Now, it’s so cheap. Well, the highlight of the PC expo is the kiosk located at the main entrance selling Nokia Lumia, the latest gadget by Nokia. But people nowadays would still prefer Apple items more like Iphone or Ipad.

3D public street art is so trendy nowadays…but why I can’t see even one in Malaysia?

Well, there are some beautifully drawn graffiti over some walls in Kuala Lumpur, but those are not really ‘seen’ by the passerby. Well, most of these works in KL are on walls along streets that are quiet and hence these existing art does not attract much attention. The other reason is that most of this work are from the act of vandalism and it’s not nice to be seen especially by foreign visitors. Well, the city needs some addition of creative art to further activate the built environment and to engage people with the public streets. And this 3D public art is a good example.

Well, this form of art has been very trendy lately, but most are produced in oversea countries. There are many images of different 3D public street art circulated around Facebook and those things got my attention. Too bad, I can only view the images, and not being able to be on spot to look and experience the amazing 3D public art. So, for that opportunity, I recommend KL, my home city to have such things also which would turn typical streets into something interesting and fun.

Normal art drawn is in two-dimension. 3D art adds depth to a certain drawing which in turn creates illusion to people looking at it as though the visual created from the art is real. This 3D art would then gains attention and provokes some sort of interest or thinking which can be fun or scary depending on the art created. Scary? Yes…some examples below show how a 3D art could provokes fear by drawing some sort of high cliff or a shark jumping out of an area of water as though it is really there on the street. There are many other examples you can see by searching through internet. Interesting, isn’t it? It tends to activate the particular space very well.

Graffiti and some other existing public arts displayed which are very little in numbers in KL are not enough. 3D public street art would be much more successful and would turns streets to be much lively and vibrant. It’s time for Kuala Lumpur to have something like that in order to be a much more dynamic city that enhances the city’s living experience to a creative and artistic level. Or maybe someone need to start it first over here. Me? Ahh…no…I’m not good on drawing this kind of 3D art (I think I don’t even have the knowledge to produce that 3D effect), and I don’t like to be seen by the whole public while doing serious thing like this which would made me not concentrating on the work and ended up producing a bad art. Some brilliant artists are needed to take this step in Malaysia and many would follows. A start is needed for public art like this. Simply amazing!

 

It’s time for Malaysia to stay focus for the upcoming London 2012 Olympic Games in badminton after losing in Thomas Cup quarterfinal

The result is expected. Going against China in the quarterfinal of the Thomas Cup means reaching the end of the tournament before arriving at the semi final stage which is the goal of our Malaysian badminton team. The absence of Lee Chong Wei further worsen the situation after having a serious ankle injury few days ago in match against Denmark. Hope he would recovers very soon and get back on court in top form for this upcoming London 2012 Olympic Games and try to secure the country’s first ever Olympic gold medal. Anyway, don’t get pressurized much.

After losing Lee Chong Wei in the Thomas Cup, the national badminton team knew their hope to get at least into semi-final would seems impossible as the team on their way in quarterfinal is the country of defending champion, the mighty China. As expected, China defeated Malaysia easily by 3 – 0, without the need of last two matches. It is no way for Malaysia to get at least a point this time. On the other hand, Japan unbelievably defeated Indonesia to get into the semi-final and will face China next. That means Japan would stop at semi-final stage. Correct to my prediction, China would gets into the final alongside with South Korea, and in the end, I think China would wins again. That’s usual for badminton championships nowadays. China is too strong on this sport.

Well, Malaysia now has to depend on only one player, and he is Lee Chong Wei. That gave him a lot of pressure which is not good. That would affects his performance and mentality. Hope he would gets rid of all the pressure and enjoy his upcoming games. Let’s don’t be too dependent on Chong Wei for winning a gold for Malaysia. There are other players, and they should be recognized as well eventhough Chong Wei had a much bigger chance for getting the gold medal. Credit is given to Liew Daren, our national junior player who gave a good performance in the Thomas Cup. He managed to win point for Malaysia against the much experienced Jan O Jorgensen from Denmark and he gave a good fight against the superb Lin Dan in quarterfinal. Eventhough he lost to Lin Dan in rubber game which is nothing to worry or surprised of, he delivers. Lin Dan even praised him for having good talent in the sport and wishes he can accelerates on his performance. On the other hand, Daren said that he would just enjoy the game and doesn’t mind losing it since he is up against a top player. That is a right attitude. Sometimes, just enjoying the game without stress would contributes to a better performance, and his match against Lin Dan proves it. By the way, eventhough Daren lost, but I still couldn’t believe he could win a game from him.

Not the same quality is delivered by the other players in our national badminton team. Koo Kien Keat always lost nowadays, no matter who he get paired with in doubles matches. His pairing with Tan Boon Heong is supposed to be good but their performance went bad. A series of intensive training should be carried out on them so they can perform something similar to what they have done before in Doha 2006 Asian Games when they win the gold medal in men doubles. Hafiz is a serious disappointment. He is there just to give an easy point to the opponent. His performance went down to almost at the bottom level. He seems to possess very low ‘energy’ or spirit while playing. It’s time to find another capable player to replace him. But wait, it seems now that Malaysia seriously lacks new talented players or any experienced ones. They will find solution for that. But now, coming back to Malaysia after expected defeat in Thomas Cup held in Wuhan, China this year, it’s time for them to stay focus and concentrate on the upcoming London 2012 Summer Olympic Games.

Movie review: Seefood (2012)

‘Seefood’ is a Malaysian production. It is Malaysia’s first animated film and shall not be missed by the locals for some feedbacks. I have watched this last week and I am quite amazed by the quality of the film which is given the title of ‘Sea Level’ in United States. Yes, this film is released months earlier in over 90 countries and that marks the success of the film going international and widely acceptable. I am proud that finally Malaysia made an impact, eventhough a small one, but a good start on the international film industry rather than just concentrating on typical Malay films. It’s the time to go international for local productions.

The language spoken on this film is in English, and I’m happy of that. It rises the standard of this local production and internationalizing it. The setting of the film is something similar to ‘Finding Nemo’ which is quite a successful animated Hollywood film many years ago. However, there is something extra for ‘Seefood’ as beautiful tropical features are added to give a local and unique feel and backdrop to the film, like the villages by the beach, wide area of farming, wau (Malaysian kite), etc. The underwater imagery is not very appealing. More works needed to be done to improve on that.

For the story which is about Pup, a small fish that discovers human poachers are stealing eggs from his reef. As he leaves the sea to rescue the eggs he’ll enter the dangerous world of humans. He is accompanied by some of his friends as well as facing some resistance from the humans on the land and a group of evil underwater creatures. Well, the story sounds interesting, but it is too typical indeed. There is no new things or any twists or surprises to the story. Instead, the story went into a weird direction with involvement of machine to help the shark to walk on land to save Pup. That is a bit ridiculous. Extra creativity is needed. So, overall, the story isn’t very good. I thought there would be a massive attack by the underwater creatures as planned on early part of the film, but ended up, nothing exciting happens and that clash part went off so quick. Huh…

The first half of the film is quite plain and boring. All the characters have been shown, and after such a long time, there is still no action yet. Ahh…wasting time. The only funny thing I can find is the group of chickens as supporting characters in the film. Then, as soon as climax begins when the shark went on to the land on his mission to save Pup, I thought it would be exciting, but turns out to be the other way round. The climax is made to be ‘too-intended’ for us to get interested. For the animation quality, I can say it is very good already eventhough to be honest, it is still not up to the level of standard Hollywood animated pictures. At first I didn’t believe that a Malaysia production could create animation of this quality which is already very much acceptable. Overall, it is still a worth-watching film that provides a bit of fun and entertainment. It is a very good start and move in animated feature by Malaysia production. I rate ‘Seefood’ a total of 6.5.

Chong Wei out of Thomas Cup, which means no more hope for Malaysia in the tournament.

What a bad news to all Malaysians. Lee Chong Wei, the world number one badminton men single player, was out of Thomas Cup Finals today after having a serious injury on court against Denmark’s Peter Gade. He is the one that would secure a winning point to Malaysia team easily, but everything looks bad starting from this day onwards for Malaysia on this tournament held once every two years which is one of the highly anticipated of all badminton championships.

After only a few minutes play with Peter Gade in which Lee Chong Wei would have a very high chance of winning, he retired due to serious injury to his ankle, which a doctor confirmed he suffered from a tear on the tendon in his right ankle. Only four minutes of the game and he had to stop. Chong Wei screamed in pain after landing awkwardly while retrieving a shot at the baseline. The Malaysian clutched his right ankle and grimaced in pain. That is not good. So sad to see him on this condition. (Image below from The Star Online)

A serious blow to Malaysia. So now, it seems that he needs three to four weeks to recover and that would seriously affects his training for the London Olympic Games to be held in July and August. Well, for now, the chance for Malaysia to even get into semi-final in Thomas Cup Finals  is almost zero (or I should total zero) as our team lost to Denmark today and would have to face the super tough defending champion, the China team next. Our hope is all in vain now. No more chance to show some good performance in Thomas Cup. Luckily, we didn’t lose terribly to Denmark today, having two wins while Denmark had three. Extra credit is to Liew Daren, a young Malaysian player who win a point today against Jane O Jorgensen, an experienced Denmark’s player. Too bad, Hafiz didn’t win on the last men single match that affects the final result.

So now, let’s pray for the best to Lee Chong Wei, and hopes he would recovers fast and at his best and top form again for giving Malaysia first ever gold medal in Olympics. Also good luck to our remaining Malaysia team in Thomas Cup. Well, I knew it would ends very bad soon, but do your best and show to them what we have besides than counting only on Lee Chong Wei. Well, our remaining Malaysia team is now much weaker than before, but let’s be a bit more positive to them. Don’t give up and be confident. Hmm…Lee Chong Wei seems to be facing a lot injuries this year, which is a bad sign for him especially when Olympics is coming very soon. A bit of luck also as the coach told the media that it is not a very serious or critical injury.

21st May 2012: My first day of work as an architect!

Today is my first day of work in KASDA Consultancy as a Part I Architect. Previously, I have decided to continue straight to Master study before starting to concentrate on work. However, after several thoughts and considerations, I have decided to go for work to gain some experience in the field first before furthering my study to the level of Master which would grant me a Part 2 recognization. Besides that, I do not want to burden my dad heavily to support my cost for the study which is estimated to be of at least 300k. I am not from wealthy family, and so finance is one my biggest problems too in the end. Eventhough working at this stage as a Part I architect with no experience would not gives me good payout, but it is the experience that I am targeting for that would be crucial in later years.

Before that, all my relatives and some of my friends got the news that I would be going oversea to take my Master study. Now, the plan has changed. I did apply for Master study at University of Sydney but the inefficiency and unprofessionalism  from the staff had caused delay amounting to almost 3 months and unworthy treatment to my application and portfolio. Giving me no response after three months proved that they are truly bad in doing works despite application processing is quite a simple task to handle. That gave me no more mood to continue for study at this point of time. Few passing months had been wasted just to wait a response. Now, I don’t care of that anymore. I think I would still continue on Master, but probably few years later after I have gained some working experience which would be beneficial.

I started going for several interviews and finally I am hired by an architecture firm in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur. Today is my first day working in that company, named KASDA Consultancy Sdn. Bhd. I attended a very interesting interview last week with the director of this company who himself is an architect, and he shared a lot of great ideas to me over my previous low-income housing proposition in my final semester’s design project. The company has no website, but I can see the company is receiving stable and substantial amount of projects over time that doesn’t require them to create a promotional website anymore. It is not a big company, but that is not my point. My main aim is to step into the industry world and gets to work as an architect which I have dream of when I was still in early secondary schooling. Well, now I’m still an assistant architect, not a fully-recognized architect. There are many stages to go…and I have to stay strong to be on the track to reach the final aim I wished for.

Of course it is very difficult to digest all the stuff needed to be in our mind as soon as I took this job, this position. On this first day itself, I had to familiarize with the surrounding working environment and my colleagues. Then, I spent most of my time looking and trying to understand those complicated working drawings which are definitely much more detailed than the ones I saw and did back in my degree study. That is the worst part, dealing with working drawings, and to be honest, I hate that. But I have to cope with that once I decided to choose this field. Before the day ends, I managed to modify some changes needed to be done over a bungalow’s plan. Then, as soon as I finished, the computer was not responding. Stupid! Luckily, I did save a lot of times in between. Forget about it, will continue tomorrow with this one and more and more challenging works to come! I seriously have to sharpen and excel my AutoCad skill. All the best to myself!