Swordie Bloggie

If you look around Kota Kinabalu lately, there seems to be loads of construction going on… hotels and residences. And that don’t include those completed recently. Right now, there are more than 105 hotels, hotel residents, resorts and resort condos in KK alone.

The 105 are not including budget hotels which don’t have hotel star ratings. Boutique Hotels are everywhere too… it seems that boutique hotels are gaining popularity in KK the last couple of years. When I see all these hotels popping up everywhere, I’m wondering if they have enough guests to survive the stiff competition among them. But looking at the on-going mega hotel constructions, the demand must be more than the supply at the moment… which is good for our economy.

Constructions for residence such as condominiums and housing estates are quite a number too. 1Sulaman which they called self-contained neighborhood which has more than 2000 of condominium units is one example which is going to be completed soon.

Another example is the Aeropod Tanjung Aru which was launched recently. Construction have not started, but this one is going to be mega too… and it is right next to the Kota Kinabalu International Airport. Aeropod will span approximately 60 acres with mixtures of retail, offices, F&B, serviced apartment, SOHO, Corporate Office, boutique hotel and 5-star hotel… and I like this. Probably this is where I should buy an apartment.

But with world economy condition which is not favorable at the moment, will there be properties bubble burst soon?… will there be foreclosures effects… like foreclosures chicagoland? If burst going to happen, then it is not the right time to buy properties… but if economy going to turn great, then collecting properties is the way… real estate business will be good… 😀

Shopping complexes in the city are all in festive mood… Christmas songs are pumped through the speakers at every corner. Christmas trees are fully decorated… the whole complexes are decorated…

Santa Claus is everywhere… cheering kids, taking photo with kids… including adults… and giving away gifts…

That was how it looks like at 1Borneo last Saturday when I went there to see the PIKOM PC Fair and went to play the archery. The center court was full with Christmas decorations… guests staying at the three hotels at 1Borneo must be feeling like staying in new york hotels with the atmosphere like that 😀

Life was hectic after I came back from KL on the 22 November 2009. There were so many works to be done in a short period and they keep coming… 😛

So today went to 1Borneo to let go some steam… shooting with bow and arrows… yea there is a new game at the 3rd floor of 1Borneo… the game is quite dangerous coz it involve arrow… a weapon which can hurt and kill!

The place is quite secure but more safety precautions should be put in place… especially when the workers go inside to collect the arrows. Who knows if someone accidentally let go an arrow and hit any of the worker… accident will not allow disability appeal… if the arrow hit the eye, that’s it… blind is the name!!! No turning back… you can’t appeal… 😛

Anyway, the game is only RM9…

On Wednesday, immediately after the MCSE class, 5 of us rush to 1Borneo to catch the Where Got Ghost? movie…

The movie has been on show for sometimes… we have been planning to watch this movie since a couple of weeks ago… but timing always not right.

So this time, we make sure we go coz we worried it will be removed from the show soon.

When the others were talking about it before, I thought it was an English movie… I did not bother to check it on the web… So, I was shocked when it started with Chinese character… But the movie is not bad at all… instead of getting scared, I was laughing all the way with all the stupid funny ghost story they have… there are actually 3 different ghost stories in the movie.

After the movie, I went into the 1Borneo toilet… washroom. I think everyone know this 1Borneo has a bad quality in workmanship. The ceilings are leaking… the tiles are popping out and falling down… since the first day it was open.

The toilet has a great gadget… for guys, while leaking into the bowl they can watch some TV or video shows on the LCD screen on each of the pee bowl.

But they are all broken now… some covered with card board… probably the LCDs has been cracked… punched or smashed by some hooligan…

The only sparkling there is the floor… during the night, when there is no more people, only us going out from the cinema, the floor is sparkling like a glass tile… maybe it is marble tiles, but not sure if it marble or just a cheap floor tiles…

And talking about one leak… 1Borneo nick name is 1Bocor or 1Leak coz it leak and broken everywhere… 😛

Today I have to attend a networking course for 3 days at Mercure Hotel located at 1Bornoe’s Tower A, at level 17 of the hotel to be precise.

IPv6 is the next generation of the internet protocol… the de-facto protocol to communicate through the internet. Currently we are all using the IPv4 but it is running out of public IPs.

The course is not very tough but the ‘sleepy’ make it very tough especially after food. Foods are more than enough… for the next 3 days, sure will gain weight and tummy will get bigger 😀

Talking about tummy… there is a type of cancer called mesothelioma which develops in the mesothelial cells. Mesothelial are tissue which produce lubricating fluid to protect and allows organs like lungs, heart, and stomach to move smoothly.

OK, back to the IPv6 course… there are 11 participants and the first day is mostly looking at the white board. And the white board is not big enough until the lecturer has to use the glass wall in the room to write.

Hopefully tomorrow will be more ‘awakening’ since we will do labs.

I had a meeting at 1Borneo on Tuesday, 24 March 2009. It was at the Ballroom, Level 3 and it starts at 8.30 am.

I leave home at 7.03 am and have to join the traffic jams at Lintas Road, Damai Road, Likas Bay Road and last but not least the Kingfisher Roundabout.

I usually take the first entrance to 1Borneo to go to the underground parking. I reached the 1Borneo underground parking at 7.58 am… damm… almost 1 hour on the road!!!

I really have no idea where the Ballroom is. When I enter 1Borneo, it was still empty. I walk to two counters on the ground floor but no one manning the counter. I went to the centre court and see someone looks like wearing uniform. I approached him thinking he is one of the workers and ask him where the Ballroom is.

He seems to be a bit lost but still answer me by pointing somewhere and saying it is near the lift. I reacted with ‘blur blur’ face… probably he sensed that and he said he will show me.

While walking with him, he told me he also not sure where the Ballroom is. He is just a driver and his boss also went to the Ballroom. My mind said… O shoot…

Anyway, he took me all the way to the Level 3 using the escalator. I saw my colleague already inside and join them.

They asked me whether I’m from downstairs… I said of course lah… you wan me to fly, the parking is downstairs what!!! Then they pointed outside… when I turned… OH NO… I SEE CARS… I SEE PARKING… right at the Level 3 of 1Borneo’s… the very next to the Ballroom… damm…

After lunch at the meeting, I went downstairs to my car. I stopped at Watson Pharmacy at Ground Floor to buy some weight loss pills… 😆 No lah… to buy some supplements. I bought Vitamin C and CoQ10. I have not taken those stuffs for quite sometimes… and luckily I have not encounter any flu, runny nose or sneezing since the last time I took them, especially the Vitamin C coz every time I stopped taking Vitamin C, I will sneeze a lot in the morning.

It’s so horrible to receive the news… the bad news. Yea, I went for the Canon sensor cleaning session at 1Borneo during lunch time today.

The registration counter is next to the Canon booth which is a bit dark… in my opinion the location is not very suitable since there is not enough light although it is right next to the stage. I registered my 40D and it seems that I’m number 7 or something like that.

I asked the guy who is doing the registration how long will it take? He said about 30 minutes… oh, ok, that is not too long. Later I found out he is Mr. Steven from Canon KL, the one who is doing the cleaning.

While waiting for my camera, I went to meet Flenagen at his 999 Portraits Project booth. He also submitted his camera for cleaning. I ‘volunteered’ myself for the 999 Portraits Project… so I did keep my promise to do it 😆 I asked my colleague to participate, but ‘malu malu kucing’ also…

Then I went to check the Canon booth. Nothing special… they selling the EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM for RM4,750.00. I asked if that is a special price… the man from Canon KK said not very special… so I said, I buy it next time… actually I can’t afford it 😆 Then found out the booth is run by Investline… the shop I bought my 40D early this year…

I was about to leave to McDonald when Mr. Steven called me. Cool… finish already. Then he slaps me with the BAD NEWS!!! He said my sensor is dirty… haiyooo… not one year yet dirty already… Then he shows me here and there with his special magnifying tools… he even draw a diagram so that I can see where the dirt is. I don’t see any dirt… maybe I don’t want to see it… I asked if it can be clean, he said can but has to do it in KL… haiya… KL again… How long? How much?… 2 to 4 weeks… if can clean about RM200 – RM300, if cannot still need to pay RM85… Haiyoo… if like this I have to take camera’s insurance… something like the Colorado auto insurance.

But since the dirt doesn’t appear on the photos I took with the camera, he said it is up to me if I want to send it or not. He said I can send it anytime for cleaning or servicing. Since it is almost New Year, maybe I’ll do it next year.

I think it is time for me to learn how to properly take care my gears…

If you own Canon DSLR camera, today is your only chance to have a free cleaning service for your Canon camera… Canon is providing a free cleaning service at 1Borneo today. I got this info from Flanagen blog.

I plan to go there at lunch time today… because my 40D got some dot at the view finder… I’m sure it is not on the sensor because the dot doesn’t appear in the picture but only visible in the view finder… unless my eyes can’t see the dot on the photos, which I hope not.

And my 17-85mm lens also has some dust inside it… I have no idea how the heck it entered there. Maybe the way I’m storing my gears… I’m a lazy bump bah… just dump my gear inside the bag… never take care properly one… same goes with my golf gears…

I hope the dusts can be removed without any trouble… in a short period… because I don’t want to wait there the whole day and I need to finish my scrapbook… yea, I’m learning scrapbooking… you know the new kid of photo album. We don’t use plain photo album anymore… today people are making ‘magazine’ photo album. There are many ways and tools to do scrapbook if you are interested.

But I think if the turnout for the Canon DSLR Cleaning session is good, probably I have to queue up to service my DSLR…

And don’t forget to participate in the 999 Portrait Project just next to the Canon booth. They are trying to snap 999 portraits in a week… and turn it into scrapbook I guess…

After the fireworks photo session in the previous night, I went back to 1Borneo for the Big Boyz Toys – Beauty & The Beast the next afternoon for car show. The cars are displayed at the LG and G floors.

At the LG floor, they put all the not so cool cars… MPV, mini, sedan etc.

At the G floor, they put all the so called Big Boyz Toys… Z4, Lotus, Lexus, Ferrari etc… Although they called it big boyz toys, I don’t think those cool cars have any PS3 on it like what the Pimp My Ride usually installs. They are all the standard kind of boyz toys… none with ICE.

There wasn’t much car on display too, but good enough for the big boyz toys model photo sessions 😀

They also have photography competition but I’m sure the organizer did not do a proper event plan for the photography competition… nobody knows what to do or how to enter the competition. I approach the MC and ask about it, but he also doesn’t know what’s going on… he asked me to talk to the ‘event manager’… I went to meet the ‘event manager’… he admitted everything are last minute… at the end I did not enter the competition because I only carried my Sony T200 with me although I manage to get some shots at the models 😀

I called my friends and told about it because there will be another session next day, Sunday… And they did go for the event… but I did not coz I was so tired.

I almost cancelled my plan to join the others for the fireworks events at 1Borneo last night. It all because me and my boss went to meet the Director at 5pm. We only came out around 6.15pm! Furthermore, after that I have to send someone to Hungab and another at Kolopis!

I reach home around 7pm and immediately change my office cloths, grab my sling bag and back on the road again… destination 1Borneo, that is about 20km away! And no dinner! In my bag are my big gun, a video cam and the T200. Everything is in tip top condition… fully charged and full of storage. The video cam even has 8GB of memory stick under its hood 😀

Less then 5km from Alam Mesra… our new meeting place which is opposite to 1Borneo… CRAPP!!! Traffic Jam!!!… Clock shows 7.40pm

Lucky the jam was not that long… I manage to meet them at the kedai kopi around 8pm. Ordered my drink and food… fried rice only 😛 Eat quickly then 2 of my friends hop into my car and we went further away so that we can get better view… about 1km – 1.5km away from 1Borneo. We set our gear on the road island… there was not much people there. Only the 3 of us using tripod 😀 Wonder where the other photographers…

The show did not start at 8.30pm… we got ‘insider info’ that it’s going to be delayed to 9pm and it’s going to be shoot from the top of the hotels at 1Borneo… Novotel or Mercure. Exactly at 9.02pm the show started… and I was still posing for photo 😛

The weather was so good… so clear… our position is great… using my 17-85mm lens at its widest setting, I can capture everything… BUT the only unfortunate was ‘what I requested did not come!’… NO WIND!!! It turns out like a nuclear bomb being released at 1Borneo. The show only lasted for 5 minutes… and can’t do much becoz of the smoke! And… please comment how to take fireworks… this is my first time using M on DSLR, and I did learned few things last night. Normally I just use P. I set my shutter speed to 2.5 seconds… I should have set it to 4 or 5 seconds 🙁