Dear Visitors and Friends,
In this Lunar Year of the Golden Ox (1-1-4007) that falls on the 26 Jan 2009 in the Gregorian Calender, may you have
Success
Love
Health
Happiness
Wealth
Wellness
Prosperity
Longevity and
all Wishes fulfilled throughout the year
and not forgetting the traditional greetings of
Gong Xi Fa Cai - 恭 喜 发 财 - Wishing you Prosperity
Wan Shi Ru Yi - 万 事 如 意 -May all work out as you wished
Xin Nian Kuai Le - 新 年 快 樂 - Happy New Year
Click the "play" below to enjoy the Parade of the Golden Ox.
Cheers!
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Friday, January 23, 2009
Are our Public Toilets clean?
The following two photos say all. Sparkling clean toilet/urinals found in a shopping complex (Victoria Garden) in Melbourne. It does not charge even a cent for using them and also providing toilet papers too.
Over here, public toilets in Malaysia including some cities/towns that i visited were Bangkok, Hat-Jai, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, Phnom Penh, Lahore, Shantou, Manila, Cebu, etc are notoriously filthy. Is this part of the Asian culture?
Even toilets in our modern offices in downtown KL aren't that clean too. Sometimes you find dirty shoe prints on the toilet seats. I think it all boils down to our attitude and selfishness. If only we treat the public toilets like our own at home! Perhaps our upbringing and the way we are educated in schools do matter. Let's go West to learn their toilet culture!!
Over here, public toilets in Malaysia including some cities/towns that i visited were Bangkok, Hat-Jai, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, Phnom Penh, Lahore, Shantou, Manila, Cebu, etc are notoriously filthy. Is this part of the Asian culture?
Even toilets in our modern offices in downtown KL aren't that clean too. Sometimes you find dirty shoe prints on the toilet seats. I think it all boils down to our attitude and selfishness. If only we treat the public toilets like our own at home! Perhaps our upbringing and the way we are educated in schools do matter. Let's go West to learn their toilet culture!!
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Sydney Snapshots
The following snapshots would be the last for the trip to Australia but were taken by my relatives who left a week earlier.
View of the Sydney Opera House from a cruise
View of the Opera House from a friend's office located at Grosvenor Place, George Street
Night scene of the Opera House taken from the Luna Park
Harbour Bridge shot from a friend's office (Grosvenor Place)
View of the Luna Park from the cruise. This is one of Sydney's favourite icons.
Entry to Luna Park is free. Enjoy the rides (Ferris Wheel, Big Top, etc) and games. The ride is not free though!
Centre Point, a common meeting place for locals as well as tourists.
The famed Three Sisters at Blue Mountains
View of the Sydney Opera House from a cruise
View of the Opera House from a friend's office located at Grosvenor Place, George Street
Night scene of the Opera House taken from the Luna Park
Harbour Bridge shot from a friend's office (Grosvenor Place)
View of the Luna Park from the cruise. This is one of Sydney's favourite icons.
Entry to Luna Park is free. Enjoy the rides (Ferris Wheel, Big Top, etc) and games. The ride is not free though!
Centre Point, a common meeting place for locals as well as tourists.
The famed Three Sisters at Blue Mountains
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Melbourne Suburbs
Melbourne has some beautiful suburbs and surrounding area which are worth visiting. The following are snapshots taken for your pleasure.
Cherry plantation at Lyndale. Quite a number of locals were there to pluck the fruits for on-the-spot consumption as well as for take-away. The plucked fruits would be charged A$12 per kilo. Entrance fees is A$3 per visitor. Most like me prefer eating them on the spot!! Big, Sweet and Juicy. Mamma Mia!
Lavender farm at Warratina, in full-bloom.
Pluck lavender flowers being dried in a dark room.
Grape plants at Chandon Winery
Just released new wines
Maroondah Park. Walking towards the reservoir.
Up there is the reservoir. There used to be excess water flowing down the wall but when we were there there was none.
Leaving for home on a long and winding road at Blackspur. Both sides of the road are lined by huge and tall trees providing not only shade but a cool environment especially in summer.
The famed Beach Huts at Brighton Beach. Nearby down the south is the St.Kilda beach.
Close-up of the beach huts.
The rest of the pictures in slide-show.
Cherry plantation at Lyndale. Quite a number of locals were there to pluck the fruits for on-the-spot consumption as well as for take-away. The plucked fruits would be charged A$12 per kilo. Entrance fees is A$3 per visitor. Most like me prefer eating them on the spot!! Big, Sweet and Juicy. Mamma Mia!
Lavender farm at Warratina, in full-bloom.
Pluck lavender flowers being dried in a dark room.
Grape plants at Chandon Winery
Just released new wines
Maroondah Park. Walking towards the reservoir.
Up there is the reservoir. There used to be excess water flowing down the wall but when we were there there was none.
Leaving for home on a long and winding road at Blackspur. Both sides of the road are lined by huge and tall trees providing not only shade but a cool environment especially in summer.
The famed Beach Huts at Brighton Beach. Nearby down the south is the St.Kilda beach.
Close-up of the beach huts.
The rest of the pictures in slide-show.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Melbourne Downtown's Scenes
Some of the scenes in downtown:
Major cities in the world seems to have one! The Chinatown area here is smaller than those in Sydney as well as in Brisbane.
No Msg! Seems to be the trend in Chinese restaurants. Perhaps there were many complaints among "white" customers who felt the many side effects like depression and flushing of the skin. There is no direct evidence though.
The pavement next to Swanston Street is sufficiently wide to accommodate seats for tired shoppers, street vendors, etc.
Smart bank providing multilingual staff to cater to customers. Back home even multilingual road signboard in tourist areas cause some controversy. When do we ever learn. Sigh!
The advertisement at its window says all but 1 bowl for me is enough!
There are two other Direct Factory Outlets elsewhere, near to the International Airport and the other at Smith Street.
A common meeting place in Melbourne Central.
Pavement artist in action, near to Crown Casino.
Christmas lighting at Crown Casino. Around the corner is the gaming hall. Quite a substantial players are Asians. Sigh!
Following is the slide-shows:
Major cities in the world seems to have one! The Chinatown area here is smaller than those in Sydney as well as in Brisbane.
No Msg! Seems to be the trend in Chinese restaurants. Perhaps there were many complaints among "white" customers who felt the many side effects like depression and flushing of the skin. There is no direct evidence though.
The pavement next to Swanston Street is sufficiently wide to accommodate seats for tired shoppers, street vendors, etc.
Smart bank providing multilingual staff to cater to customers. Back home even multilingual road signboard in tourist areas cause some controversy. When do we ever learn. Sigh!
The advertisement at its window says all but 1 bowl for me is enough!
There are two other Direct Factory Outlets elsewhere, near to the International Airport and the other at Smith Street.
A common meeting place in Melbourne Central.
Pavement artist in action, near to Crown Casino.
Christmas lighting at Crown Casino. Around the corner is the gaming hall. Quite a substantial players are Asians. Sigh!
Following is the slide-shows:
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