Monday, December 29, 2008

Ipoh Makan

While on the way to Penang, we scout the following places at Ipoh:
  1. Nam Heong White Coffee, a decent place with Fried Keow Teow, Chicken Hor Fun, Egg Tart and White Coffee. Not bad to sample a few dishes, but my mom doesn't quite like it.
  2. Aun Kheng Lim Salted Chicken, need to phone call them and order before picking up your packet. Pretty alright, another "must buy" to bring back to the city.
  3. Big Tree Foot (大树脚) Roadside Hawker, this place have the cheapest and best fun so far, with fried Yong Tau Foo stuff for RM 0.50 per piece and plain noodle/laksa between RM 1.60++ to 2.60++. 
  4. Ipoh Pomelo, not really great, just another "must buy" item, haha.



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Penang Makan

Something you crack your head trying to think where to go for vacation around Malaysia, which places you haven't been too and what new places could actually attract your attention. At the end, we think we should do a Makan trip instead. To where? Penang of course, and stop by Ipoh on the way.

Although Penang is a food heaven, but not every places or food courts are supposed to be nice, so I do my homework (with my own Malaysia Most Wanted Food) and come out with the following list.
  1. Kek Seng @ Penang Road, my mom wanted to visit Kek Seng as it is her old time favourite 20 years ago (as she miss it during the last trip) with many small stalls by the small alley. Sad to say, this place had lost it previous glory and not what it used to be. The food is not good.
  2. Teo Chew Cendol @ Penang Road, this is the most famous cendol road side stall in Penang, and you get delicious Cendol for just RM 1.60, definitely a very good deal.
  3. Joo Hooi Cafe @ Penang Road, is just beside Teo Chew Cendol which serve good Laksa. The Friend Keow Teow looks good, but I didn't try it. You are not allowed to bring in the Teo Chew Cendol from outside, else they will charge you RM 0.50.
  4. Ah Leng FKT @ Jalan Dato Keramat, within Kafe Khoon Hiang serves delicious Fried Keow Teow with 3 big prawns for RM 4.50.
  5. Him Hiang Biscuit @ Burma Road, a good places to buy goodies of Biscuit (Tau Sah Piah and Heong Peng) for your friends and families.
  6. Nasi Kandar Line Clear @ Penang Road, serves authentic Indian Nasi Kandar in the back Alley, and pretty good Roti Pisang too.
  7. Pasar Air Itam, famous for its good food and very near Kek Lok Si, but my mom said the Laksa in Joo Hooi is better.
  8. Paya Terubong Seafood, the place is crowded and they ran out of crab and sotong when we arrive at 9pm. The seafood is not bad.
Of course, I didn't manage to conver a few promising places for various reasons, such as Anba Coconut, Batu Lancang Foodcourt, Curry Mee Sisters, Edelweiss Swiss Cafe, Kheng Pin Cafe, Teluk Kumbar Seafood and Transfer Road Roti Canai.




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Friday, December 12, 2008

Missing Life

Tonight I am trying my futile attempt to ask myself a simple question: There is something not quite right, and I need to know what is it.

Yes, I am happy at this moment at this time. Of course I have my concerns and worries, but I don’t feel like the sky is falling anytime soon.

But that’s the problem with me, I don’t think just about here and now, as I tend to think about the future. Thinking about the future worries me, while living my life today makes me slightly happier.

Being a logical person and sort of a planner, and given the way I was brought up; I can’t help but to plan for future: to save money and to make sure I earn more by the day. I would feel guilty if I didn’t do anything to secure the future of myself and the one I love. But at the same time, I have this urge to let go and live life as freely as I could. I guess I am balancing in between both needs at this moment in time, thus I felt okay but not quite there yet.

I guess that I am not truly free yet. I think money could buy me freedom, but yet I don’t want to loose my freedom in order to make money.

I know there is more meaning to life, but yet I haven’t learned how to live a life yet.

Simply said, God created us for a purpose on Earth, and I am wired to live that purpose. I guess if I feel sad or dissatisfied, I might have derailed from my purpose here. To realize my purpose here, I really need to let go and see the world with my true eyes and true self.

I believe I am trapped in someway and somehow, and I desperately need to release myself to learn about this world and myself once again.

If only I can take one step back away from the world, I might be able to see it clearly. The monk said we need to let go of all things material in this world, and perhaps then only we can see the livelihood in it.

I know something is missing, something which I might take a lifetime to find.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Popularity Index of Malaysian Websites

I am curious about Malaysia’s most successful websites, and wonder how popular these websites really are in terms of number of visitors. Most of us know that Alexa could point us to the Top 100 websites in Malaysia, but the accuracy is questionable and the skewed towards certain segment; yet we still use it because there isn’t a better alternative. We could try Compete and Quantqast as well, but still isn’t a good enough estimate. Recently I found out about Google AdPlanner, which some useful data on Unique Visitors per Month. If I combined all these data together, I should have a pretty good idea about the popularity index of Malaysian Web.

I filtered out service oriented websites which is used to support their off-line operation such as Maybank2u, AirAsia, Sports Toto, Malaysia Airlines, Public Bank, Maxis, Magnum, CIMB Clicks, TM.

Alexa Ranking

Google AdPlanner Visitor

Compete Visitor

Quantcast Visitor

Thestar.com.my

1950

1.3 M

98,258

83.6K

Malaysiakini.com

2456

1.2 M

8,122

23.9K

Mudah.com.my

4885

1.1 M

6,824

3.9K

Cari.com.my

4262

690K

2,000

-

Utusan.com.my

3491

1.1 M

6,895

-

Lowyat.net

4316

690 K

25,077

40.6K

Bharian.com.my

5479

990 K

1,502

-

Hmetro.com.my

7159

840 K

1,069

-

Lelong.com.my

8297

470 K

4,336

3.1K

m2day.org

6422

430 K

7,102

-

Chinapress.com.my

8074

350 K

2,799

2.5K

Harakahdaily.net

10,259

510 K

3,685

-

Jobstreet.com.my

23,541

360 K

3,098

-

Ebay.com.my

7604

350 K

111,807

111.9K

Kosmo.com.my

15,630

420 K

594

-

www.jbtalks.cc

16,877

220 K

348

-

Iproperty.com.my

37,150

150 K

2,481

-

Mycen.com.my

55,789

200 K

2,622

-

Kennysia.com

25,971

110 K

5,607

20.5K

Petalingstreet.org

201,876

17 K

1,209

-

Liewcf.com

24,586

52 K

70,711

43.1K

Anwaribrahim.com

333,255

12 K

-

-

Limkitsiang.com

38,525

100 K

2,081

-

Cedet.com

7,897,804

-

-

-

Jeffooi.com

63,098

83 K

5,931


Most of the famous websites in Malaysia is either an online newspaper or blog, with few useful web application such as Lelong, Jobstreet and Mycen.

To get noticed (or to be considered popular in Malaysia), we would need around 100K visitors per month (based on Google AdPlanner) with Alexa Ranking of below 50,000. Check out DNFame for a basic summary of your websites popularity.

PS: MalaysiaMostWanted.com is not too bad after all, just a few more step to stardom!

Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Annapurna Circuit Day 2: Besi Sahar to Bahundanda

This is the first day of actual trekking. Originally we were supposed to take a jeep to Khudi, which should save half a day of walking. But somehow our guide decided that it’s best for us to walk, and we also blur blur follow him only. I pick up a long sleeve T-shirt for RS 300++, which prove to be very useful for the journey.



Our guide ask us to wear short as the weather is hot, but I think it is a bad choice as the back of the leg will get burnt. The army hat from Jalan Pasar is very useful as it could cover the face and neck. We meet a lot of school children in the town as they walk to school around 10:00am, so lucky of them. Along the way, we get to see big river, a lot of mountains, donkeys and buffalos, and children and of cause, adults. It’s very hot and extremely sunny on the first day, so we need lots of water and thin clothing. We probably finished 6 bottles of mineral water plus 3 liters of our own water, where we decide it’s perhaps more economical to drink the river water with water purification pill.



Mei Ru lost her RM 400++ Ray Ban Sun glasses on the first day itself, ouch. We are very excited about the whole journey and keep taking photograph along the way, until the guide also got fed up with us and hurry us to move faster. We pass by villages such as Khudi, Bhulbule and move upwards to Ngadi. There are a lot of lodges and small restaurants along the way and in the middle of paddy fields, where we lunch near a waterfall.


The food preparation took more than an hour until we fall asleep; I guess that started the whole preparation process only when there is customer. I guess it would be wiser to eat at places with at least a few customers, so that the fire is already started and the water is boiling before you arrive. The national food is Dhal Bhat, which is rice with refillable potato, vegetable and lentils. They have Momo which is actually Chinese dumpling. The food menu is almost standard along the way with small variety, with food such as bread, noodle, pasta, pizza, fried rice and etc.


After a long day, we finally reach Bahundanda around 6 p.m.; our hotel is at the hill top with many people. The room is made of wooden plank, small and simple, but clean. It is surrounded by green mountains, and the food there is on of the best along the journey (the made good pizza). No matter how simple the accommodation is, there is always some charm attached to it that I don’t complaint about.


There is nothing breath-taking along the way yet, but the amount of walking is still reasonable, and plenty of mountains, rivers and waterfall to look at. Nepal is still a nice and friendly place to be. Travellers made up of mostly westerners (more Europeans), but we saw some Chinese and Taiwanese.

Photo Link: 27.09.2008 - 17.10.2008 - Annapurna Circuit Day 02

The Last Dance

I probably went for my 1st dance class in March 2005, and it had gone through many happy moments. This week, I am not longer attending my dance class and might be giving it up for good. Though I still like it, but some circumstances had changed.

It all started when Tang introduced me to dancing 3 years ago, and I was hooked ever since. Following those small little steps does have its addiction, and dancing requirement you to make adjustment to accommodate your partners which is a very good life lesson. Everyone should try it once in a lifetime. I quit my job after a year thus making the dance studio very far away from my place, but I still have a lot of my friend there. After that I have Mei Ru, and it’s good that we get to dance together and meet up in the middle of the week.

It’s inevitable that people will quit eventually for various reasons and Tang stay tight though she is the first one among us to join. It’s good that she still have the time, passion and convenience to do it. Mei Ru had been busy with company’s overseas project for the past months and has to give up on dancing, and we don’t foresee she would have the time for dancing in the near future. I have one less reason and motivation to stay on.

I never wanted to excel in dancing like a professional; I just wanted to be able to dance. Bronze, Silver and Gold level is pretty fun and enjoyable, and it’s the most common that most people will learn and remember. Gold Cross or Gold Bar is complex and difficult, and not many people make it to this level or remember how to dance these steps for life. Though it’s inevitable that there is no place to go except up, but I did venture into other dances besides Latin, such as Paso, Rock and Roll and Ballroom lately. Ballroom is difficult to master and to look good, but it does have its charm.

It kind of saddens me that today is Wednesday, and I am no longer going for my dance class, and yet I am not quite sure how to move on from here. I know that I have to quit someday, and the day finally came. I just wish that I still know how to dance later in my life. Perhaps I should pick up something new, perhaps swimming or music instrument, some place near my house. By quiting, I had lost contact with some friend as well :|

Goodbye Cha Cha, Rumba, Jive, Samba, Rock and Roll, Paso, Waltz, Quick Step, Tango, wherever you are.