December 2006 Archives

Nik Nazmi has written a very interesting entry on his blog.

His entry title - "Apabila Orang Melayu Turut Berhijrah…" which translates to "When the Malays migrate as well..." is a fresh take of a Malay's point of view when we're talking about something as critical as our homeland's failing economical policies.

Here are the top 2 paragraphs from his entry in Malay.

Saya baru pulang daripada sebuah majlis makan malam tertutup bersama beberapa tokoh korporat. Tuan rumah majlis tersebut menceritakan bagaimana dia bertemu seorang tokoh muda Melayu Malaysia yang bekerja di sebuah bank pelaburan terkemuka dunia di Singapura. Beliau berkata kepada tokoh muda tersebut, tak minat pulang ke Malaysia ke? Pasti dia boleh memainkan peranan besar di bank-bank tempatan.

Jawab tokoh muda tersebut: “Saya tak ingin pulang. Kalau saya pulang dan dilantik menjadi ketua, orang akan memandang saya mendapat jawatan tersebut hanya kerana saya Melayu. Mereka pasti memikirkan ada dua-tiga eksekutif Cina yang berada di belakang saya, membuat kerja-kerja saya. Mereka tidak akan menghargai kebolehan, penat lelah dan titik peluh saya untuk mencapai kejayaan tersebut. Saya lagi rela berada di sini di mana orang tahu saya kena bekerja keras untuk sampai di sini.”

Here is an English translation.

Before I wiped out my blog database earlier this year, I had an entry at the end of 2004 about my visit to the Mornington Peninsula.

I recently went back to this wonderful beach area when SY's family was around - visiting my favourite back beach area. If you're wondering what a back beach is - it is basically the side of the beach that is facing the ocean. In this case - this beach is facing the Bass Strait so if you get swept away by the waves you just might find yourself ending up in Tasmania, or worse - maybe the South Pole.

Ok - maybe that was just exaggeration.

Anyways, this particular beach that I like is the Koonya Back Beach - what's so special about it?

When the tide goes out (low tide), beautiful mini aquarium like rock pools will be left behind. Fish that had decided to linger will be left behind in these pools - as will smaller sea creatures.

It is really quite easy to miss Golden House as you're driving past Power Street to head towards Crown casino or to the city.

Located at 18 Power Street, Soutbank - this pretty authentic China type Chinese restaurant specializes in steamboat meals at a flat rate of $20 a person.

The exterior is really nothing much - literally - with just glass windows and a lack of signage.

The food however is really something different... to me.

Tagged by Silly Wabbit.

Layer ONE
On the Outside
Name: Andy Teh
Birth Date: November 30th
Current Status: Domestic Partnership
Eye Color: Dark Brown
Hair Color: errr...Dark Brown?
Righty or Lefty: Righty
Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius

Layer TWO
On the inside
Your Heritage: Malaysian Hokkien-Chinese
Your Fears: Disability.
Your Weaknesses: PC/Video Games - I am a sucker to addictive games.
Your Perfect Pizza: Pepperoni + Cheese

Layer THREE
Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow
Your thoughts first waking up: I need to eat. It is cold.
Your Bedtime: Usually around 12:30 AM
Your most missed memory: Spending time with the entire family (aunts, cousins, etc) during school holidays.

The cover of the latest UK based Empire magazine features a very good looking picture of Optimus Prime from the upcoming Transformers movie.

This looks slightly different from the one from my wallpaper version. Optimus looks 'bulkier' and the eyes and lights from his torso really make a big difference.

Check out the image - full version available on click.

Thanks to TFW2005 for the news.

Melbourne Vietnam Noodle House is located on busy Swanston Street right in the heart of Melbourne city (in between Lonsdale St and Lt. Bourke St).

This place offers affordable meals under $10 and is generally quite busy during lunch and dinner times.

Let's take a look at some of the food that's available here.

This was the grilled chicken with steamed rice.

Go watch it now.

Exclusive to Yahoo and available in Windows Media, Quicktime (normal and HD versions).

More scenes after the jump.

Just on Friday I made a post about this sad story on Lim Kit Siang's blog regarding the death of Mohd Yusry thanks to Klang Hospital's negligence.

I have since been thinking about the Malaysian public healthcare and emergency response service.

The very basis of the death of Mohd Yusry, and probably many more Malaysians everyday lies in the poor system that we have to live with.

We lack the following.

- A centralised emergency services number (994,999,991,etc) and the need for a properly manned centralised emergency call center. It is very confusing in the event of emergencies. One has to think - "OK, who do I need to call and what are their phone numbers?" Make it simple.

- Qualified paramedics and emergency response personnel. Nurses shouldn't have to be the ones to be sent out with the ambulance, qualified paramedics should. We need to get rid of the "let's just get them to the hospital quickly" concept. Properly trained call center staff should be on the phones asking the right questions and providing support where necessary.

- Highly experienced doctors and specialists in government hospitals. It seems that people just want to serve their time and leave when they can in government hospitals.

- A service oriented charter for hospitals - instead of the current "we're there because we're supposed to" attitude. Patients first.

From the moment you step into Koko - your level of expectation would naturally take a step up.

Offering Japanese teppanyaki and á la carte dining, this Japanese restaurant is located on the 3rd floor of Crown Towers.

I came here to have lunch with SY's family - thanks to her parents for the treat.

Warung Agus is a Balinese cuisine restaurant located on 305 Victoria Street in West Melbourne.

Wikipedia:

"A warung (old spelling waroeng) is a type of small family owned business — often a casual, usually outdoor restaurant — in Malaysia (edited - HarbX) and Indonesia.

The term can also be used to refer to many other types of shop, including the wartel (short for warung telepon, essentially a manned phone booth) and warnet (Internet café)."

They are only open for dinner Thursdays to Sundays (takeaway also available).

I came here with SY's family as Siao Khee recommended this place from previous experience.

The interior of this place is rather unique, with a traditional village feel with an exotic Balinese touch.

Please read.

http://blog.limkitsiang.com/?p=873

I am beyond any words to describe how I feel about the parties involved in the death of this young man that is around the same age as I am.

God help us all.

Looks like Malaysia is in the world spotlight again, this time for the cruel and brutal murder of the Mongolian girl, Altantuya Shaariibuu, whose body was blown to smithereens with C4 explosives.

What I am interested to see - and probably the rest of the world now, is how justice will play out.

From The Age, Australia.
"Altantunya Shariibuu, a 28-year-old mother of two, was kidnapped on October 19. She was allegedly shot twice in the head, and her blown-up remains were found in forest at Shah Alam, south of Kuala Lumpur. She was identified by DNA taken from bone fragments.

Respected political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda, 46, who was allegedly her lover, has pleaded not guilty to abetting murder, a charge that carries the death penalty.

The prosecution case hinges on an alleged meeting between Abdul Razak and two elite police officers at his Kuala Lumpur office the day before the kidnapping. The two officers, special taskforce Chief Inspector Azhila Hadri, 30, and Corporal Siral Azhar Umar, 35, are also charged with murder. They have not entered a plea."

Over the past few days since Saturday (10/12) Melbourne has been shrouded in a blanket of haze as major bush fires rage across parts of Victoria.

In the (almost) 6 years that I have been in Melbourne, this is the first time I have ever seen the city like this.

It almost reminds me of the bad hazy days in Malaysia during the yearly "lets be morons and burn every jungle" times from our neighbours.

Let me share some pictures of Melbourne with you. Note these pictures are taken at around 5pm, which on normal days is still nice and bright with clear skies.

- Here's a view from my car on Queensberry Street.

Allrite.

HarbX has been "Feedburned". I hope this will enhance your experience on HarbX.com further. RSS subscription has been available for quite a while now - but I hope by moving to Feedburner I'll be able to know better now how many people are actually subscribing.

So if you'd like to update your RSS feed, please point it to http://feeds.feedburner.com/harbx.

My old RSS links are still available, and I'll still make sure that they'll be accesible at all times moving forward.

The other important subscription tool that is available now is the Email subscription tool. I'll still be working on how the email displays over the next few days and fine tune it. But rest assured, this will be a secure system - and most importantly, your email addresses will not be used for any other purpose.

If you'd like to give the email subscription a try, just click here.

Subscription links will be available on all pages on the top right side of the page.

If you'd like to know more about what RSS is - here's a link to Wikipedia.

If you'd like to use a standalone RSS reader - I recommend RSS Bandit.

Thanks - and hope this enhances your HarbX experience further.

Matt used to work as a waiter at Blue Chillies and he has been raving about the place for ages.

So he decided to take us there for a treat so we could see what he is fussing about.

Blue Chillies is a modern Malaysian restaurant with a jazz,soul, and R&B music atmosphere. It is located just before the busier part of Fitzroy at 182, Brunswick Street.

Recently we have heard a lot about the NEP.

So what is this NEP - and why is everyone (bumiputeras and non-bumiputeras) so worked up about it?

From Wikipedia:

"The Malaysian New Economic Policy (NEP or DEB for Dasar Ekonomi Baru in Malay) was an ambitious and controversial socio-economic restructuring affirmative action program launched by the Malaysian government in 1971 under then Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak.

The NEP ended in 1990, and was succeeded by the National Development Policy in 1991. Although the NEP was hailed in some quarters as having reduced the socioeconomic disparity between the Chinese minority and Malay majority, others accused it of having reduced non-Malays to the status of second-class citizens by cementing ketuanan Melayu (Malay supremacy).

The NEP is often invoked as part of the Malay Agenda, which is in turn part of the Malaysian social contract granting Malays special rights in return for non-Malay citizenship."

I've been pretty excited about the Ghost Rider movie ever since I stumbled upon them filming a scene here in Melbourne last year.

Check out the wicked trailer on their newly relaunched website.

In the trailer - I just realised that Aussie funny girl Rebel Wilson from the TV sketch 'The Wedge' is making an appearance with a cameo role.

On another hero front, I've just realised that my favourite TV series of the moment, Heroes has come to a season end. At a bloody exciting cliffhanger moment.

Damn. Don't you just love it when they do that to you?

If you're a big fan and just want some interesting reads related to this great series - try the following links.

- Hiro Nakamura's Blog
- Interview with the people behind the series at CBR

Imperial Kingdom is located on 546 Waverley Rd, Glen Waverley.

I have heard good things about the yum char at this place - so here we were with Davie and Amelia.

I think one of the strong points about this place is the selection of dishes.

Sushi trains can be a fun experience for some.

You stare at all the food that passes you by and before picking up the dish, the first thing you do is to check how much the dish is by looking at the colour of the plate.

Go Go Sushi is the earliest sushi train in Melbourne that I can recall - with such an environment. Utilising a conveyor system in the middle of the restaurant, you basically get choose what, and even which type of Japanese food available freely.

Go Go Sushi is located on Swanston Street right in between Little Bourke Street and Bourke Street.

Barricade is quite a new Decepticon character to me. I have no recollection whatsoever of him in any previous Transformer cartoon.

Like the Optimus Prime wallpaper, this is probably an early render - but probably would be very similar to what he is going to look like in the movie.

2 sizes as usual.

1680x1050
[This desktop is no longer available for download. Removed on request by Hasbro Inc.]

1280x1024
[This desktop is no longer available for download. Removed on request by Hasbro Inc.]

Leave me some thoughts if you have any - about what you think about him.

Personally, I think his insect like face really looks badass!

Enjoy!

If you want to link to this wallpaper entry, please use http://www.harbx.com/archives/2006/12/barricade_early.html.

When I was in primary school, I absolutely loved watching Optimus Prime kick ass on TV in the Transformers Generation 1 cartoon.

Therefore, I'm proud to bring you this wallpaper featuring an early render of him for the upcoming movie with his absolutely cool weapon.

Available in 2 sizes.

1680x1050

1280x1024

Judging by the similarity of this CGI with the concept boards we have seen previously, looks like this is *probably what the good ol' Autobot leader will look like in the movie.

ILM (Industrial Light and Magic) is certainly doing a great job as far as I am concerned.

I hope you fans of Transformers like this as much as I do.

Please link to this entry at http://www.harbx.com/archives/2006/12/optimus_prime_e.html.

A Reader's Toolbox
Everyone dreams of a cruise line travel at one time or the other. But not everyone is up to a cruise search. Mostly people are interested in looking for the perfect cruise dress, or getting first hand knowledge about the best cruise deal. There are quite a number of cheap cruises these days. Although princess cruises might be a bit costly, the carnival cruise has always been a steal.

Going for a yum char should be a relaxed affair.

I believe you shouldn't be rushing when you're eating or feeling pressured. Well, at least this was generally how it was in the olden days.

This is why I like Plume.

Located on 546 Doncaster Road in Doncaster, there is plenty of parking available around this restaurant so it is worth making the journey there.

Let's take a look at some of the food available through their traditional 'push trolleys' making their rounds.

This one is a shark's fin and prawn dumpling.

Ying Thai 2 is located at the edge of the Italian restaurant district on 110, Lygon Street, Carlton. As you may have guessed from the name, it is actually the sister restaurant of Ying Thai 1 on Victoria Street, Richmond.

This Thai restaurant is always packed during dinner hours consistently, so be warned that it is advisable to have reservations.

I've been here quite a lot of times, and one thing that I enjoy is the intense flavour of the food and its consistency. That's probably one of the reasons why this place is probably the only Asian restaurant doing well in this predominantly Italian food district.

We like to start with the 'Gai Tod' deep fried chicken wings when we come here. This is a nice crispy fried chicken served with sweet chilli sauce.

The Economist has a very interesting article that talks about our Malaysian economy, stock market and our recent racism fueled UMNO AGM.

Seriously - what in the world did we do in between 1996 and 2006? How did we not only lose out to our Asian neighbours, but also managed to slip below our performance in 1996?

We were recommended to Longrain by Davie and Amelia. So we paid them a visit on my birthday as SY wanted to take me out for a nice dinner.

Their address? 44 Little Bourke Street.

Located at the corner of Liverpool Street and Little Bourke Street at the top end of Chinatown, it's quite easy to miss this place when you're not really looking.

The Malaysian government has mentioned lately that they will crackdown on extreme bloggers who criticize about the government. The internet does not operate in a separate law vacuum.

This is true of course. However - where else can people actually speak up? Our Malaysian media is heavily controlled by the government.

At the end of the day, (most) people say something because they care.

If this is surprising to you, let me reassure you that YES - the government controls the media. This includes the major newspapers and some TV/radio stations like RTM.

I think this is enough. It is time we stop sitting on our lazy asses hoping for change to happen. It definitely won't come unless the general rakyat voices out.

Man Mo is a Chinese/Malaysian cuisine restaurant in the heart of New Quay, Docklands.

We were here for dinner with SY's friends - Cheryl, Mark, Jasmine, Jason and Eng Hooi.

From the outside - you'll realise that this is not the average type of Chinese restaurants. The prices on the menu certainly reflects this as well as most of the mains are around $20-$30.