Swordie Bloggie

It has been 31 months since my last post on 12th April 2013… minus a few days. Yes, that is a very very long lapse… I don’t even sure if anyone is reading this blog. And worse, I’ve forgotten how to FTP to this site.

Since I’ve forgotten how to FTP, I use another way to upload photos to this site. I’m still figuring out how to do the right way.

Anyway, I won’t write a long entry for now… I just want to share some photos I took during my unofficial visit to Kuala Lumpur on 1 – 4 November.

Onboard AirAsia AK5109 (1st November 2015), approaching KLIA

View from MidValley… sunny and less haze.

Touring alone at KLCC and toying around with Sony Alpha 7 II camera.

Inside KLCC.

KLCC train station.

KL-Central train station.

View from Mid Valley, heavy rain at far away. The rain barely reach Mid Valley, only a few drops hit my hotel window.

KLIA2

Somewhere above South China Sea on board of AirAsia AK5118 (04.50pm) which was delayed coz we have to wait 8 aircrafts in front of us to take off.

Inside AirAsia AK5118 (4th November 2015) before touchdown at KKIA.

I guess everyone is in high gear for the coming election… yeap, the coming Malaysia’s 13th General Election. But that’s not what I’m going to talk about… I rather talk about something I like… such as photography or travelling.

Actually I’m still tired… fatigue with all the travelling. Last month, 20th to 24th March, about 18 of us went to Vietnam. Then on, 2nd to 4th April, I went to KL for a meeting. I like travelling very much, but there is one thing I hate after coming back from travelling or outstation… the office will wait with load of works to complete… :p

The trip to Vietnam was cool… rowed a boat,  fired 5 rounds of M16, crawled into Viet Cong tunnel, foods, streets, bikes and many more…

So travelling was cool… so does snapping photos along the journey… and this time I only brought a non-DSLR camera, the Canon G1X. Last year I brought my Canon 7D together with borrowed 18-200mm lens to Korea. So how was Canon G1X compared with 7D as travelling camera?… Well, 7D is sure heavy and bulky with great speed and quality… G1X is easier and lighter to carry around, but unfortunately it’s a bit slow when there is not enough lighting and you need some patience with it… but still a good camera to take along for trips. And now I’m thinking about the new Canon 100D for my next trip… it’s not here yet, not even in the market yet but soon… and hopefully it is small and light enough with great features.

So came back with few hundreds of photos… now how to pick and sort them out?… well, I haven’t… even the Korea trip photos I still haven’t sort out… 😛 Yea, I’m that lazy… 😀 I actually wonder how other photographer manages their photos… For me the most difficult part is to look at the computer screen looking through all the photos and editing them… it makes my eyes blurry… My eyes are getting tired… so I better stop a while and write something else after that….

OK, there seems to be a trend… well not really new… seen it a few years back… during an event like annual dinner, there are photo booth at the corner… just like this dallas photo booth service… they have a small booth with small stage and with the event theme as it background. It’s actually very cool, the guests like to take photos with their friends… it’s an annual event, so good to have something to remember it later. The photographer or his/her assistant will print the photo and charge the guests a few bucks like $15… which is reasonable enough.

You can also see this service during wedding event… but the photographer usually do not charge or print the photos on the spot… this is part of the wedding photographer service the newlywed… It’s getting late… I better stop… anyways, I you like to know more about wedding photo booth rentals, you can visit this site to read more… www.thephotobank.com… It’s quite informative.

Back home yesterday around 10 PM after 3 days in KL for study tour. It was a busy two days… one study tour in the morning and one in the evening… on both days. Left KK around 11.07 AM after the flight delayed from 10.45 AM.

I did not manage to check-in online coz the system can’t find my particulars when I tried web check-in service at home. So when I check-in at the airport through the check-in kiosk the next day, I was given a random seat at the back which I forgot coz I changed my seat so that I can seat next to my colleague at 27D which is almost at the end of the aircraft.

The aircraft was Boeing 737-800 with the bended wing tip… this 800 series is much quitter, wider and smoother on air compared to the older 400 series. The seats are normal, nothing fance… just the same as my few previous ride on 800 series. But the aircraft I rode back has different seats settings although it is also the 800 series.

The return aircraft seats have LCD at it back, credit card reader and handset for making calls or playing games. The last time I saw this was inside Boeing 777. Unfortunately the system is not functioning… it’s OFF! So I can’t play games with it like the one on 777 I rode before. But I was not that bored during the flight coz I have my tablet and phone to play with… I have lots of apps in my fon and tablet but I played Sudoku most of the time… it’s good to have electronic entertainment gadget for long journey… like PSP or smartphone or tablet… any tablet will do as long it is loaded with playbook apps… well, I was alternately playing and sleeping throughout the flight… which is only two and half hour… 😀

I’m crossing my fingers right now… I really hope my Nike Utility Duffel Bag will reach me before 14 October 2011… I need it for my cloths and stuffs for photomarathon… and for my gym after that… 😛

About Nike Utility Duffel Bag (Black)

Cool bag designed to be carried with the handles/shoulder strap as duffle, with the straps as a backpack or single strap as a cross-body bag.

Large main compartment with zippered hang pocket.

This duffle has a large end pocket that’s ideal for wet/dry storage.

Also has a small end pocket and zippered front pocket.

Water-resistant Tarpaulin bottom. Tough 600 denier polyester.

Size: 25″ x 13″ x 11″

After the exciting 6 hours journey on 24th August at Kalabakan road, we decided not to return with that road to Kota Kinabalu… furthermore the weather was cloudy and raining. We returned on 26th August through the common old road which is much longer… I think about 600KM or so and more hilly paths where it will pass Mount Kinabalu.

We reach Tawau around 4pm on 24th, and booked into Heritage Hotel. And this is the first time I have to change room. Before we went out around 6pm for dinner and ‘work’, I checked the windows to make sure it is locked, and it was not… and I can’t lock it. The latch is locked but not hooked… 😛 I decided to report it later when I come back coz need to rush for dinner… ‘buka puasa’ actually since my two colleagues are fasting for the Ramadan. But we were only back to the hotel around 10pm something… coz after dinner we actually went to install and configure the server and troubleshoot the network that night at our branch office so that we will not be rushing the next day… after all we are still excited with the journey I guess… and it is ‘puasa’ month, easier to work at night.

I called the room service and reported the window problem, and they sent two maintenance guys. They tried and said, they can’t unlock it coz they don’t have the key and the person in charge of the key has gone home for the day. The other guy assure me nothing will happen… it’s safe he said. I scolded him… I asked him what happen if someone kill me tonight?… the other guy was more professional and said, they will find a solution, they need to talk to the manager or something and they left. A few minutes later, the reception called and inform they can’t unlock the window, and the only way is for me to change room… 😛 So change room from 312 to 212 😛 . . . Continue Reading »

On 24th August 2011, I went to Tawau for official duties… for the second time this year. The last one was on 10th May. As usual, we travelled by land… with our office four wheel drive the Toyota Fortuner 2.5D.

Although I can use airplane to Tawau, I prefer to travel by land coz I can enjoy the scenery along the 400km journey. Furthermore time is on our side if we use our own vehicle… we don’t have to rush… we can drive slow or fast… We can stop anywhere we like to relieve ourselves.

Not like travelling by air, have to be on time to catch the flight… I really hate it when the schedule is tight… that’s why I usually take flight in the afternoon if I have to fly… coz I hate getting ready early in the morning. Travelling for official duty and non official like travelling for Las Vegas holidays are two completely different loads… yes loads… for official, the loads like the garments must be neat and well taken care… but for holiday, I can simply chunk my cloths into the luggage without worrying if they get crumple or not… 😛 . . . Continue Reading »

Went to Sandakan on Monday and back to KK on Wednesday. I was quite tired with the journey and furthermore I was in the paintball field the whole day on Saturday and Sunday. Journey from KK to Sandakan started around 9.00am by road… I prefer to travel by road coz it will give me opportunity to reflect life… err… you know to see what and how are life along the road… it was a long journey, about 300KM.

But I was very sleepy throughout the journey… I wish we were travelling with RV instead of the double-cabin Nissan Frontier… or could be much comfortable if we were using the Toyota Fortuner which unfortunately involved with an accident two weeks ago… not by us, but by some other department who borrowed it… 😛

And our journey was a bit weird this time coz there are so many vehicles seems to be ‘makan jalan’… you know, they drive till over to the opposite lane… I hate it when people do that… there is one corner where all three of us inside was a bit frightened by a big bus which was speeding and overshoot its corner and entered into the opposite lane… our lane… lucky nothing happen… even with rv insurance I don’t think anyone want something bad to happen… was really happy to be back safe…

On Wednesday, I did not come back by road but by air… for the first time I use the MASWings.. MASWings is owned by MAS by the way. And this is the second time I use a plane with propeller… the fist time was somewhere in early 90s using Fokker plane. This time the plane is the newer kind of plane with propeller… the ATR 72-500. Lucky a friend in Sandakan advice me to take the back seat… I was wondering why… coz the door is at the back. When I checked in, I asked for back seat, and I was given seat 18C… and the plane only has 18 rows… cool…

Inside the plane, when the announcement asked us to pay attention to the screen infront for the safety demo and instruction, I was waiting for a screen… a single big screen to come down from the roof in front… but how wrong I was… I never imagine this plane is more advance than the Boeing 737 or Airbus 320… the screen actually LCD screens above the passengers on every two rows on both sides…

OK, have to stop here… next need to write about the just concluded SPL’s 1st Leg… 😛

Started my journey around Sabah this morning. My colleague, Azemie, picked me around 8.40 am and proceeded to pick another colleague, Disney. We had our breakfast at Papar food court… which I called it Pasar Makan… the one in front of Papar Milemewa supermarket.

We reach Tawau just before 5.00 pm and went straight to the hotel. We saw a few more colleague at the hotel’s lobby. I booked my room last week… I got my non-smoking room… the receptionist use my credit card for verification… I asked how much?… she said RM600… emm… OK…

Took out our bags from the car and let the hotel staff to deliver the bags to our respective room. My room is  quite big… but unfortunately it has no mini-fridge. Then found out the bathroom door can’t completely close… the door knob somehow stuck… I slammed the door… and it closed… meaning I have to slam the bathroom door every time I need to close it for the next 3 or 5 days… depends… I might check-out on Wednesday…

We had our dinner at one of the seafood eating place… emmm… not sure what the place name… eaten there a few times already… it is near the library and next to the bus station…

Tomorrow, there are few numbers of  activities outlined by our branch here…. and on Tuesday too… OK, that’s all for now… need to rest… 😛

For the past one week or so, I was like super busy and super tired… and it’s not over yet… work at office are piling with dateline… 😛 end of year chaos… everything must be completed… dateline on this date… dateline on that date… 😛 and at the same time systems, network, computers and printers are giving nerve wrecking pressure sometimes… probably they are overused at this time, that’s why somehow they also get over-burned… 😛

With all the chaos, I still manage to join the Operation Nexus last Sunday… you can say it was the biggest woodsball game so far held here… 120 woodsballer divided into two teams… the good guys US Black Water and the terrorist Kurdistan Workers Party… but I’m not in any of the team… I was there to take photos… 😀 At the end of the day, I was completely exhausted and knockdown… coz on Saturday, I was also under the sun for our Ministry sports event.

But today, Friday, our office had an early Christmas lunch at Promenade Hotel… the food are OK… I was not really hungry… so did not really eat… there are 16 of us, but lucky we did get a good discount… no, we did not use home everything coupons or any Christmas vouchers or discount coupons… but because of one of our staff daughter is working there… so she gave us loads of discounts… 😀

And this Sunday, I will be going east-coast for work… probably will be covering Tawau, Semporna, Lahad Datu, Sandakan, Ranau… another Journey Around Sabah trip for one week… 😀

Starting tomorrow, I will going around the state in my Journey Around Sabah… to do official works. I will start with the northern route first… starting from Kota Kinabalu to Tuaran to Kota Belud to Kota Marudu to Pitas to Kudat and to Simpang Mangayau… errr… the last one is not an official site to visit… 😛 But will be taking an opportunity to visit the place… again… 😀

It’s a lot of stations to visit in a short period… Tuesday to Thursday… so most probably I will not be visiting some of the stations… I will adjust my journey accordingly… accordingly at every station… it all depending on how long I will be at one station…

My journey this time is going to be a bit pack compared to my previous journey in 2008… coz during that year, I started my journey around September… but this time, it is at the end of October… and there are loads of work in the office right now waiting to be completed before the year end… 😛 The work load has show it sign… suddenly this morning I feel pain on my nose… you know, pain deep inside the nose skin… and a little reddish bulging… yeah… an acne products at work on my nose… 😛 This thing always appears every time after I eat roasted peanuts… I actually ate a packets of roasted peanuts provided by the Malaysia Airlines… yea, flew to KL two weeks ago… anyways, need to go sleep soon… need to be fit for my journey tomorrow, and to make sure no more ‘jerawat’ popping up… 😛