Evan's Red Hot Blog

How to make money from stock photo

2008-12-20T14:39:00.004+08:00

Wondering how peoples can make lots of money by just selling their photos online? Come and explore the money making opportunities by selling stock photos. Don't let your photos sit in your computer and collecting dusts, make them work for you!

What is stock photos?
Stock photo is basically images that can be sold without paying expensive loyalty to an individual or company for its copyright. It is usually used for magazine, event and news publishers. Photographers/Designers makes money by uploading their photos to the stock agencies. The stock agencies will publish your photos online for potential sales. When buyers selected your photos, you will get paid by sharing certain percentage of the income earned by the stock agency.

Recommended Sites
There are many micro stock sites, some better. Since most contracts are not exclusive, I recommend using several micro stock agencies in parallel. Here are some recommended sites

Shutter Stock
- This is the leading micro stock agency today. I have earned the most using this site. Shutterstock’s business model allows a customer to make a subscription and during the subscription period the customer can download 25 pictures a day. This model encourages downloads, and indeed you will get allot of downloads. The photographers earn 25c per download, and additional 5c if the customer also requested to burn the image on a CD. There are also broader uses licenses that the client can buy for additional payment. The site is very friendly. It has an FTP upload option and pictures are approved within a day or two.

Dreams Time
- This is a less known site, but still very popular with the clients,
and gets great sells. The basic price per image is 1$ (or 2$ for full
resolution) out of which the photographer gets 50%.
The site is very friendly. It has an FTP upload option and pictures are usually approved within a three days.

Fotolia
- Fotolia is a rising star in the field of stock photography. They
usually pay more then 50% of the commission to the photographer, and
allow you to set your own price. They are one of the fastest to approve
photographs. Another nice thing is the way you can get your money. They
will allow you to make a paypal cashout once you've hit the 2 dollar
mark.

123rf.com
- 123rf is a relatively new agency which is doing well. They are still small, so if you are good standing out is easy. They pay 50% of each sale to the photographer - nice. Another nice feature is email notification once your images has been approved or rejected.

iStockPhoto
- Istock Photo is another big micro stock agency. They pay something between 20% to 40%, but the image is sold for 1-12 dollars so there is a chance of a nice payoff. Also as a photographer progresses, he/she gets more % out of every sale.

My ShutterStock portfolio

Ah Yat Abalone Forum Restaurant Review

2008-11-18T15:18:00.006+08:00

My sister has a cash voucher RM100 that can be used to dine in at the famous Ah Yat Abalone Chinese Restaurant. Don't be happy with the RM100 first because the food there isn't cheap and you must choose meals priced at 50% more from the voucher itself. For e.g. if you have RM100 voucher, you must get a menu with at least RM200 or above.

We took the RM338++ package (not including 10% service tax and 5% government tax). The menu including:

1) 6 Cold and Hot Snacks Platter

2) Shark Fins Soup

3) Yamashima Fresh Abalone and Mushroom and Vegetables

4) Deep Fried Freshwater Fish

5) Pork Trotter

6) Fried Rice with Anchovies

7) Almond Tea with Chicken Pie

The 6 Cold & Hot Snacks consists of chicken skin, eggs, fried chicken with chillies, tofu, pig's intestine, very sweet fried pork. After ate these snacks my stomach nearly full. The chicken skin is very crunchy, I like to fried chicken with chillies. I do not dare to eat the pig's intestine because it has a strong smell, my father like it very much!

Personally I like Ah Yat's shark fins soup because it is very different from the rest, the fins portion is big and it is not sliced too thinly like others. Next is the fresh Japanese Abalone, I find it is quite good of course it is better than those groceries stores. But it still can't beat the Mexican or African Abalone, of course the cost is much more expensive!!!

For the fish, I find the taste a little bland but it is very fresh. It should tastes better if taken for steam.

The pig trotter is rather a normal standard dish, the taste can be found at any restaurant. Fried rice is delicious even though I can't stomach anymore. Just tasted a tablespoon only. The desert is special yet delicious. The soup is made of almond and milk blend and the chicken pies are good! The first time, my mom praised the taste of those creamy chicken pies!

Total bill was RM310+ with tea after deducted from the RM100 voucher for 5 peoples. It's a little pricier but considering it is a fine dining, not much complain though. After payment, they gave another RM50 voucher this time, a good promotion strategy though.

For those who wanna try out this fantastic restaurant, there are two locations in Malaysia. One is at Kuala Lumpur, another is Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Kuala Lumpur:
Ah Yat Abalone Forum Restaurant
M6-8 Mezzanine Floor
Avenue K, No.156, Jalan Ampang
50450 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Selangor:
Ah Yat Abalone Forum Restaurant
Lot 9B, Jalan Kemajuan
Section 13
Petaling Jaya
Tel no: 03-79604988/79604288

French Boule - New Casino Game Has Arrived at Genting Highlands

2008-11-14T13:54:00.008+08:00

The history of the game of boules, otherwise known as pétanque, is perhaps the sport that is closest to French hearts. Similar to British lawn bowling or Italian bocce, the French version is traditionally played with metallic balls on a dirt surface beneath plane trees, with a glass of pastis at hand. The local boulodrome is a social focal point in southern France.

The object of the game is to throw your balls — usually with somewhat of an arched back-spin — so that they land closer to the small object ball (cochonnet ) than those of your opponent, or strike and drive the object ball toward your other balls and away from your opponent's.

French Boule in Casino, Genting Highlands:

This casino game is very fun and easy to play and the payout is a lot! You can find the game tables at Starworld, First World Plaza and Casino De Genting.

How to play French Boule:

The game of French Boule is played with you playing against the House by betting House chips. The betting limits are displayed at the gaming table. Place your bet in the betting layout at the gaming table before the ball is being rolled into the numbered tray.The Dealer then rings the bell and announce "No More Bets". The game begins with the House providing you a rubber ball to roll into the numerously numbered tray arranged in sequence from 0 to 9. The winning number will be the number where the ball stops.

Currently Genting pays 8 to 1 for single number bet and 2 to 1 for any 3 Numbers Combination Bet.

Genting Highlands - City of Entertainment

2008-11-13T12:29:00.012+08:00

It's a wonderful morning Saturday, for an early escape from the usual afternoon heat, I drove up to Genting Highlands to cool down for a short vacation 2 days 1 night. This cool hill resort with Casino is located at Pahang, Malaysia.

Drive to Genting:
ALTERNATIVE 1 : CHERAS WAY

1.At Sungai Besi Toll, proceed straight, keep left, enter exit to Cheras heading up the flyover.
2.Follow Cheras direction, go straight.
3.Pass by Makro on your left, go straight.
4.Follow Ampang direction
5.Pass by Ampang, go straight and you will pass Zoo Negara and Melawati (on your right).
6.Go straight, follow Kuantan direction.
7.Exit Kuantan flyover. Go up the flyover and join Karak Highway.
8.After the Karak Toll, proceed on till you pass the Genting Sempah tunnel. Exit to Genting Highlands after the tunnel.

ALTERNATIVE 2 : BATANG KALI WAY

1.At Sungai Besi Toll gate, proceed straight (heading towards city), do not take the left fork heading to Petaling Jaya or the Sultan Abdul Aziz 2.Airport on your left.
3.Take the left fork heading to the North-South Highway. You will see the Istana Negara (Agung's Palace) on your left. Proceed on and you will see Landmark - Muzium Negara on your left.
4.Exit to Jalan Duta, (see Landmark) at this exit Parliament House). 5.Keep going straight, passing Jalan Damansara exit.
6.Join North-South Highway (green signboard), and head north (Utara) towards Ipoh.
7.Exit at Rawang. Proceed towards Rawang town.
8.Pass Rawang, Sungai Choh and Serendah towns.
9.Next town is Batang Kali. Turn right to Genting Highlands (signboard shown).
10.At the next T-junction, turn left to joint road to Genting Highlands.
11.After about 10 or 15 minutes, you will see Genting Skyway Station and Awana Horse Ranch on your right. Proceed and follow directions to Awana and Genting.

ALTERNATIVE 3 : BATU CAVES WAY

1.At Sungai Besi Toll gate, proceed straight (heading towards city), do not take the left fork heading to Petaling Jaya or the Sultan Abdul Aziz 2.Airport on your left.
3.Take the left fork heading to the North-South Highway. You will see the Istana Negara (Agung's Palace) on your left. Proceed on and you will see Landmark - Muzium Negara on your left.
4.Exit to Jalan Duta, (see Landmark) at this exit Parliament House). 5.Keep going straight, passing Jalan Damansara exit.
6.Keep going straight on Jalan Duta, (do not take exit to North-South Highway). You will come to a small roundabout. Take 12 o'clock, and you will come to another big roundabout. Take 9 o'clock to join Jalan Kuching (heading towards north to Ipoh).
7.Pay toll at Jalan Kuching. Proceed straight heading up the flyover towards Selayang. Go straight, follow Kuantan direction and go up the flyover on your left.
8.Make a right turn (follow Kuantan).
9.After passing Batu Caves (on your left), exit left (follow Kuantan) to Karak Highway. Proceed on till you pass the Genting Sempah tunnel. Exit to Genting Highlands after the tunnel.

ALTERNATIVE 4 : GOMBAK / SETAPAK WAY

1.At Sungai Besi Toll, go straight, pass the old airport (on your left), proceed straight on to Jalan Tun Razak.
2.Keep on Jalan Tun Razak, pass Jalan Ampang and the National Library (on your right) and the General Hospital (on your left). Keep left and take a 3 o'clock at the roundabout and join Jalan Ampang.
3.Go straight heading towards Jalan Genting Kelang / Setapak. After toll gate, proceed on towards Setapak, and go left to Jalan Gombak.
4.At around 4th mile, Jalan Gombak, make a left turn to Kg Bandar Dalam, proceed on, then take a right turn (follow Kuantan) to Karak Highway.
5.After the Karak Toll, proceed on till you pass the Genting Sempah tunnel. Exit to Genting Highlands after the tunnel.

ALTERNATIVE 5 : FROM NORTH

1.From Ipoh (North-South Highway), exit to Rawang Interchange. 2.Proceed towards Rawang Town.
3.Pass Rawang, Sungai Choh and Serendah towns.
4.Next town is Batang Kali. Turn right to Genting Highlands (signboard shown).
5.At the next T-junction, turn left to joint road to Genting Highlands.
6.After about 10 or 15 minutes, you will see Genting Skyway Station and Awana Horse Ranch on your right. Proceed and follow directions to Awana and Genting.

ALTERNATIVE 6 : SHAH ALAM WAY

1.From Kuala Lumpur International Airport, proceed on towards Shah Alam.
2.After passing Shah Alam Stadium (on your left) go up flyover by following Kuala Lumpur direction, join the New Klang Valley Expressway..
3.Go straight on the highway, till you see Damansara / Petaling Jaya Interchange.
4.Exit at Damansara / Petaling Jaya flyover, you will see Damansara Toll. Proceed straight till the end of Damansara Highway, turn left to Jalan Duta.
5.Keep going straight on Jalan Duta, (do not take exit to North-South Highway). You will come to a small roundabout. Take 12 o'clock, and you will come to another big roundabout. Take 9 o'clock to join Jalan Kuching (heading towards north to Ipoh).
6.Pay toll at Jalan Kuching. Proceed straight heading up the flyover towards Selayang. Go straight, follow Kuantan direction and go up the flyover on your left.
7.Make a right turn (follow Kuantan).
8.After passing Batu Caves (on your left), exit left (follow Kuantan) to Karak Highway. Proceed on till you pass the Genting Sempah tunnel. Exit to Genting Highlands after the tunnel.

Road map to Genting Highlands:

For those who like to take public transport to Genting, you can take a bus or train to KL Sentral, Terminal Putra Gombak LRT station, Pasar Rakyat or 1 Utama. There is a coach to Genting from KL Sentral. The price is around MYR7.60 to MYR8.50 depends on your depart location but remember it will only stop at the Genting Skyway station, you need to take the skyway to the top which cost RM5 per person one way. But you can save more if you purchase the package whereby you will get the outdoor amusement park ticket too but you have to return to KL in the same day, but since you plan to stay overnight, no need for you to return to KL.

For best deal, it's recommended you choose the Go Genting package, I have always purchase the deal from Genting to take advantage of the cheap price. It's only RM42 per person. If you buy the items separately, the total cost will be more expensive.
1- Return Genting Express Bus transfer from Terminal Putra-Gombak or KL Sentral or Pasarakyat or 1 Utama
2 - Return Genting Skyway transfer
3 - Genting All Park Theme Park Day Ride Pass or Buffet Lunch at Coffee Terrace

Separate tickets:
Genting All Park Theme Park Day Ride Pass: RM51 for adults, RM36 for children

If you consider the theme park pass itself already cost RM51!

Several coach locations at Kuala Lumpur that you can take:

Genting counters:
Terminal Gombak: 012-236 9611
KL Sentral: (603) 2279 8989 / 8990
Pasarakyat: (603) 2148 4300 / 6300
1 Utama: (603) 7725 8211

It's hungry, time to eat lunch at a cosy karaoke lounge, Be A Star Karaoke located inside Genting Highlands Resort. There is ongoing promotion where you only need to pay the meal and you entitled to 2 hours of room usage and free drinks. The good thing is there is no room charge! The food was reasonable, the total bill came up about RM35 only with the enjoyment of meal plus singing in front of a big projector screen. The sound systems was great too, it's like you are singing in front of thousands of fans!

When I look at this, I remember how good the feeling of driving a fast car when I was young without a driving license.

The fun fair here is exciting too, buy a game card, EziCash from the dispenser machine and you can play hundreds of game arcades, fun fair, and many more games.
Take a nostalgic trip back to memory lane with an all time fun-fair favourite. There are 2 merry go round, one is located at lower ground Genting Hotel and another at First World Plaza.

You do need to go to Paris to see the Eiffel Tower, you can find it at First World Plaza too :)

I did not try this because I scare of height, haha. For those who are extremely adventurous and you have the guts and the spunk, try the indoor Rock Climbing at First World Plaza. It's only RM4 per climb. See if you can climb walls like Spidey! It's fun and easy to climb and there are rock climbing professionals that can assist you to climb to the top.

Instead of rock climbing, I chose the Genting Archery Range. I took 10 arrows for only RM10.

Ripley's Believe It Or Not has come to Malaysia! The ticket price is RM18 per person. It was so lucky, that day which I've visited, the fertility statues are there! Don't simply touch the statue or you will get pregnant! These world famous fertility statues from the Ivory Coast of Africa have generated interest throughout the entire world. Dozens of women have claimed that as a result of touching the statues, they have been able to start a family! Surprise, No?

One of the weirdo statue inside the museums, actually there a lot more such as the once the tallest man in the world, the man with horn and the man with double eye balls but I did not really upload to here because it might cause copyright infringement.

Hou Mei Chinese Restaurant, look at the queues - evidence that tells you it is one of the famous restaurant in Genting Highlands that you can't be missed.

She had a nice chicken chop for RM18 and I had the fiery curry Tom Yam noodle for RM15. The price is quite reasonable considering dining in a hill resort where lack of fresh food and vegetable supplies. Both meal's portion are quite big though.

Cameron Highlands Guide 2008

2008-11-07T15:26:00.010+08:00

Cameron Highlands located in Malaysia and it is one of the biggest hill resort in the region. This place offers great views of tea and vegetable plantation, comfortable weather and sizzling food.

Fruits and vegetables like tomatoes, cauliflowers, cabbages, oranges and strawberries grow fresh and healthy in the cool climate and fertile soils of the highlands. You can buy them either at the various markets or the farms which are located throughout the highlands.

To get there:
1) By Air:
Book your air tickets at Airasia for budget price or Malaysia Airlines. The hill is located on the North of the airport. Once you reached the airport, take local taxi or coaches to Cameron Highlands.

2) Bus
Buses to Cameron Highlands operate daily from Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh and Penang. Buses from Kuala Lumpur depart from the Pudu Raya Station and KL Central. Buses from Penang depart from Prangin Mall / Komtar.

Express bus service from Singapore is now available. Unititi Express leaves Beach Road Singapore at 10.00pm daily and arrives in Cameron at 7am the following morning.

Bus schedules and details

Call the following bus companies for the latest bus schedules and fares.

i. Kurnia Bistari @ (KL) 016-3033330 (Counter 87 Puduraya) (CH) 05-491-1485
ii. Kinta Omnibus @ (IPOH) 05-254-0124 (CH) 05-491-1200
iii. Unititi Express @ (KL) 012-2150044 or 016-5058776 (CH) 05-491-4181 or 05-491-1452

3) Taxi
Taxis from Kuala Lumpur are available at the Pudu Raya Terminal. There are also daily taxi services from Tapah and Ipoh to Cameron Highlands. For services from other locations, please check with the local taxi terminal. Visitors coming from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) will be able to get a taxi from the KLIA limousine service (normal taxi) but the cost will be higher.

4) Self Drive:
For those familar with the roads in Malaysia, you can drive there using North-South Highway. Last time, you could only get to Cameron Highlands from the south via Tapah but since the opening of the new Simpang Pulai road, traveling to the highlands has become much more easier from the north. You can also get here from the east coast via Gua Musang in Kelantan but take note that this road has yet to be gazetted by the authorities.

From the South via Tapah
Cameron Highlands is about 300kms from Kuala Lumpur and it takes less than 3.5 hours to get here via the North-South Expressway (NSE). If you are driving from Kuala Lumpur, get find your way to the NSE by following the sign to Ipoh. Once you're on the expressway, keep on driving north until you reach Tapah which will take about 1.5 hours. Watch out for the sign that indicates the Tapah and Cameron Highlands exit (Exit 132). Once you have passed the toll booth, turn left at the traffic lights. From here onwards you will be on the long winding road to Cameron Highlands which is about 60 km's away. If you're driving from the north just take Exit 132 at Tapah and follow the same direction. It takes an average of 1.5 hours to reach Tanah Rata from Tapah.

Driving Tips :
The road from Tapah to Cameron Highlands is narrow and has a lot of sharp bends. If you have passengers who get motion sickness, its time to get those plastic bags out (just in case).
The roads have been upgraded recently so the drive up can be quite pleasant. There will be lots of heavy vehicles going up and down this road so be careful especially when you are overtaking. Most local heavy vehicles will give you the signal to overtake when its save so be patient. Its also common courtesy to let the vehicle behind you overtake you if you're driving slower that vehicle.

From the north via Simpang Pulai / Ipoh
Now that the new road from Simpang Pulai is open, more people are traveling to the highlands via this route. The road condition is much better here than the Tapah route and it only takes about 45 minutes to get to Kampung Raja from Simpang Pulai.
Take Exit 137 (Simpang Pulai) and turn right at the traffic light right after the toll booth. Turn right again at the next traffic light about 200 metres away. You are now on the way to Cameron Highlands. Eventually you will see signs to Kampung Raja or Cameron Highlands along the way. After about 1 hour, you will reach the Kampung Raja junction where you will have to turn right from the new road into Kampung Raja town. You're now in Cameron Highlands and you can just follow the main road to your destination. Brinchang & Tanah Rata is about 25-30kms from here.

Driving Tips :
Driving up this road is definitely a pleasant experience because it gives you some great views of mountains. Since the roads are less winding, people tend to speed here but watch out for the sharp bends at some stretches. There is NO mobile coverage along this road.

For more information on the NSE (North-South Expressway), please visit www.plus.com.my

Getting Around Cameron Highlands
It will be very convenient for you to get around Cameron Highlands if you have your own transportation. There are no car rental services in Cameron Highlands.

You can still get around with the local bus and taxi, but you will not have the flexibility you get from driving in your own car. Alternately you can also get on one of the many tours organized by the local tour companies in Cameron Highlands.

Some guest houses do provide motorbike rental services which you can use to get around. Bicycles are not here popular because of the terrain and the high traffic.

Local Taxi Rates

Distance between major towns in Cameron Highlands

i. Ringlet to Tanah Rata - 13km
ii. Tanah Rata to Brinchang - 6km
iii. Brinchang to Tringkep - 8km
iv. Tringkap - Kuala Terla - 5km
v. Kuala Terla - Kg.Raja - 3km

Accomodations:
I prefer to stay at Hotel Equatorial because of best deals available. I only paid for RM198++ (excluded %10 of service charge and 5% of government tax) with RM88 F&B voucher. The food & beverage credit can be utilised daily or accumulated for redemption at any food & beverage outlet. If you don't spend the voucher, it will be refunded at 50% (RM44) of its value in upon check out.

There are also many nice hotels and apartments for rent. Strawberry Park Resort is also recommended but its location a little remote from the main attraction places.

There are very high class resorts available too such as The Lakehouse, The Smokehouse.

For those traveling with more than 4 peoples, you might considering renting an apartment, like Star Regency.

Attractions

Here are all the places of interest:
Multicrops Central Market
Honey Bee – Ee Feng Gu
Sungai Palas Tea Plantation: except Monday 9:00-4:30
Boh Tea Ria Shop @ BohPlantation
Cameron Valley Tea House
Ee Feng Gu Honey Bee Farm
Butterfly farm
Butterfly Garden
Green Farm
Vegetable Market @ Kea Farm
Multicrops Central Market
Orchid Farm
Rose Centre
Rose Valley
Cactus Valley
Cactus Point
Healthy Strawberry Farm
Kasimanis Strawberry Farm
Kok Lim Strawberry Farm
Big Red Strawberry Farm
Raju Hill Strawberry Farm

My Suggested Itinerary for 3 days 2 nights trip:

Saturday
12:00pm : Lunch at T-Café or Yong Peng (Tanah Rata)
1:00pm : Go to strawberry farm, Tanah Rata – Kasimanis/KHM/Raju to strawberry
milkshare/ice-cream
3:00pm : Check in Hotel
3:30pm : Tea time or Cactus Point/Valley
4:30pm : Go to Rose Center (Kea Farm)
6:00pm : Steamboat Dinner at Highlands/OK Tuck/Golden Win Restaurant/Country
Lodge’s (Brinchang) – steamboat
8:30pm : Night market, Brinchang

Sunday
9:30am : Breakfast at hotel
11:00am : Go to Sg. Palas Tea Plantation, Brinchang
12:30pm : Lunch at Uncle Chow/ Palm Leaf Garden (Brinchang)
2:00pm : Go to Butterflies Farm, Kea Farm
3:00pm : Go to Vegetable Market/Farm
4:00pm : Tea time at Tanah Rata
7:00pm : Dinner at Mayflower/ Roselane steak house (Tanah Rata)

Monday
9:30am : Breaskfast at hotel
10:30am : Go to Multicrops Central Market
12:30pm : Lunch at Cameron Valley/ Restaurant No. 14 – southern Indian food?
2:00pm : Free & Easy / Sam Poh Temple - Brinchang
3:00pm : Tea Time @ T-Café?
4:00pm : Leave Cameron Highlands
5:30pm : Visit Lata Iskandar Waterfall

This is an unique Cactus that you can find at Cameron Highlands

Cameron's Corn! It's so delicious even you can eat it raw! The size is very big and the taste is irresistible, you only can find this Fat Corn at here. It's only RM10 for 7 corn, so cheap! The vegetables are also very fresh and cheap, I bought 10 packets of vege only cost RM10, can you believe it?

This is a morning view of the hill.

This is the hotel where I've stayed in.

Maps of Cameron Highlands:

I can't understand why the peoples wanna abuse such a nice plant?

Yummy....what a delicious ice-cream, you only can find this at Cameron Highlands. Go to Raju's Strawberry for this lovely desert. Although the strawberries were not very sweet but it was fresh and juicy.

Rose Centre, located at Kea Farm just a little walk outside of Hotel Equatorial. The Entrance Fees: Adult - RM4.00 / Child - RM2.00. The place name is not really related because I can't find more than 10 roses there! There are many other plants instead of roses!

Can anyone tell me what is the name of this flower? Seriously I do not know the name of it. Hahaha...

Many tea plantations around at the hill, this is taken while going to the Boh's Tea Plantation.

This is the first time ever I'd to see this old machinery at the Sungai Palas Tea Plantation. According to the locals, it is used by the workers as a roller to process the raw tea back in the old days. Now, they would use a much bigger machinery to produce more teas.

Fireman BBQ Steamboat

2008-10-15T12:53:00.004+08:00

Love Thai food & BBQ or steamboat? We had my birthday celebration at this Fireman BBQ restaurant at the new Jaya One Commercial centre. It is a Thai's style BBQ steamboat restaurant, it is very new and clean. The menu have ala carte and set selection. We chose the most expensive seafood set. The portion is very small, the plate is big but underneath just full of raw cabbages! Aside from the set, we have also ordered ala carte raw Pig's liver and raw pork meat. The raw food is not marinated which I find it's too plain compare to the real Thai's BBQ steamboat which I have tried at Bangkok last year. I think the main course is the raw cabbages, seems like I eat the vegetable more than the seafood! I feel the food doesn't worth the money we are paying for. The damage is RM66++ for two persons.

Fireman Show? The show started around 8pm, only last for few minutes, the man showing some stunts with fire on his body, mouth, spitting fire, dancing with fire, etc. Overall, it's basically similar to the one at A'Famosa show. Though, the show only available at the Jaya One's branch.

There also also newly launched Fireman Set Lunch - Daily (weekdays) with just RM 9.90 per set.

Address: Blk C, Unit 43-LG2, Wai Sek Kai, JayaOne Petaling Jaya
Branch: The Curve.

Recommendation: IMHO, I find the the food is over-priced. The only special thing is you can watch the fireman show which last for less than 5 minutes. The show only available at the PJ Jaya One's branch.

Phuket, Thailand - Tips, Guide and Places of Interest

2008-09-26T22:43:00.022+08:00

21 Sept 2008 - 24 Sept 2008

I went to Phuket, Thailand with my fiancée for a 4D3N vacation during the end of September, 2008. Overall, I've enjoyed the trip but personally I can't stand the hot weather. I took AirAsia for a budget flight to Phuket, it takes around 80 minutes to reach there from KLIA (Kuala Lumpur International Airport).

Once we reached the airport, we've bound to a numbers of sales person approaching us for taxi and car rents. At last we have decided to rent a car for 4 days for 2400 Baht. The car is a Toyota Vios G which is the same as my own car! :) even the color also the same! We started to drive from the airport to our hotel, Poppa Palace at Patong.

This hotel is highly recommended because the room is comfortable, quiet, the staffs are really polite and friendly. The bad point is the location is not at the main road, you need to turn into soi (small road) to get to this hotel. I booked through Asia Rooms for 976THB per night included breakfast.

Once we get into room, wow... my fiancée was so excited to see the romantic decoration on the bed. That was the first time we saw such a great decoration in a hotel. Quickly, we took some photos of it.

After dropping the luggages, we drove to the Phuket Shooting Range. I chose Automatic Caliber 9mm, 10 bullets for 890THB. I was quite nervous at first to enter the shooting area because the sound of the shot is very loud and need to wear a earphone-like to dampen the loudness. The instructor taught me:
- How to release the magazine
- How to insert the 5 bullets into the magazine and load
- How to aim and shoot
The first shot was very nervous and at the same time can feel very excited to experience the 'kick' (momentum) after firing the shot. Here is the video of my shooting

Hahaha 6 out of 10 bullets on target :)

We drove further south to Promthep Cape to view the sunset and had our dinner there.

On the second day, we went to Phi Phi Island by cruise for 700THB per person including return transfer from/to hotel, snorkeling equipments and lunch. The distance to the island is quite far it took about more than 1 hour to reach there by big cruise. If using speed boat, it might be faster. Overall, the main attraction on the trip was the snorkeling at Tonsai Bay on the way to Phi Phi Don. The corals are very beautiful.

Passing by Phi Phi Ley

After returned to hotel, we went exploring the Patong area. It was an unlucky day, I've got ticket issued for illegal parking at a road side. DO NOT PARK at the right side of Rat-U-Thit 200 road!
300 Baht gone!

I know I've a bad mood after getting the ticket, but I didn't wanna spoil the vacation mood. We continued our journey to Baan Rim Pa for a romantic dinner. The food was a bit overpriced but it has a very nice interior design and also facing the beach. Very romantic!

Butterfly shaped pineapples :)

We headed down to the famous Bang-la Road. The street was closed at night for peoples to walk along the street to see the night life of Patong. Here you can see many bar girls dancing on top of the tables while customers watching from below. Some salesman trying to sell us Agogo show, banana show, watermelon show, whatever show but we did not go.

On the third day, in the morning we went to Phuket Aquarium. The ticket price is 100THB per person. Not much things to see, most of them are just fish, no crabs, no prawns, no seashells and others.

Giant Garoupa

Singray

We can't stand the heat anymore and we went to the Central Festival for some air-con shopping and had our lunch there. Again. the sunshine was very harsh and the heat was unbearable so we went to Jungceylon shopping centre to cool down ourselves.

Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island

2008-09-14T01:23:00.009+08:00

31 May 2008

Offical Website

Let's have some history on the Statue of Liberty here. It was a gift presented by the French to the Americans in 1886 to commemorates the centennial of the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence and also a gesture of friendship between France and USA.

It is one of the most visited place in USA. The statue is located at the Liberty Island at the south of Manhattan. There are also a many replicas of the statue on several states of America and elsewhere, such as France, China and Japan.

The Pedestal

You can take the subway to reach there, take the 1 train to the South Ferry station, 4 or 5 train to the Bowling Green station or R/W train to the Whitehall Street station. Once you have reached the station, walk to a garden, Battery Park. Tickets can be purchased at the Castle Clinton National Monument at the Battery Park. For more info click here.

I have paid $12 for the entrance fee, the fee schedules:

Ticket Prices	Adults	Seniors	Children
Reserve or Flex	$12	$10	$ 5
with Audio Tour	$18	$16	$11

(children - 4-12; seniors 62+)

You can visit the museum gallery and pedestal observation levels with applying to the Monument Access Pass. This pass is very limited! It is strongly recommended that you reserve the pass online or queue up early. I have missed the chance so reserve it online without any charges!

This is the cruise to Liberty Island and Ellis Island

Boarding on the Statue Cruises Ferry to the Liberty Island from the South Ferry Port.

Why is the Statue Green? Originally, the Statue was actually made of copper. Copper undergoes oxidation and changed gold color to green color over time. Unlike steel, this green color thin layer of coating protects the metal underneath. This natural process is called patination

Korean War Memorial

After visiting the Statue of Liberty, take the ferry and depart to the Ellis Island Immigration Museum. This place was once the entry point for immigrants entering the United States.

This is the first immigrant to the USA.

The Sphere - a metallic sculpture located at the Battery Park that once stood in the middle of Austin Tobin Plaza, the area between the World Trade Center towers in Manhattan. It was damaged during the September 11 tradegy.

M&M and Hershey's @ Manhattan, New York

2008-09-13T13:15:00.006+08:00

7 June 2008

I went to M&M and Hershey's in Manhattan to buy some chocolate souvenirs. The exterior and interior decoration of these buildings are very nice and attractive.

M&M's World® New York is located at 1600, Broadway, NY

M&M as the Queen of Liberty....very big head... haha

Inside the M&M shop, you can see this with rows of candies tube that let you choose the colors and customize your gift with according to your own taste.

The Culinary Institute of America

2008-09-12T23:47:00.007+08:00

30 May 2008

This is the place that we gathered to have a great lunch during the second week of the residency program. This Institute of Culinary is located at the north of Fishkill, it has a cafeteria inside the building where we had our lunch. The food was delicious...yummy...

The main entrance foyer has a huge garden landscape. Feels very relax...

From left to right: Prashant from India, Me, Sounak from India, Guilherme from Brazil

From left to right: Sounak from India, Karan (Team Leader) from USA, Guilherme from Brazil and me.

Big Size Stuffs

2008-09-12T23:39:00.007+08:00

In USA, you can find stuffs like these in a bigger size which I think some countries might not have especially in most of the Asian countries. I bought these from Wal-Mart.

Phat guy - 2.1 Quart (2 litres) Pepsi :)

Very big packet of Lay's ... Yummy!

Fender Highway One Telecaster bought from Guitar Center

2008-09-12T15:21:00.007+08:00

This is my newly acquired Fender Telecaster electric guitar. I have bought it in one of the Guitar Center branch in New York. It was a sale day and I've got it with $638.99 with a hard case $59.99, and another guitar stand $14.99.

Here is the specifications and user reviews on this guitar.

I chose this model because I like the Satin nitrocellulose lacquer finish which will give a vintage look after few years on the road. Sound wise, it is a bit hotter than the standard series but still giving a crisp and clean tone. In terms of craftsmanship, I feel it is a little bit better compare to the standard series especially on the neck construction.

When I brought it back from the USA, at first, I managed to carry it into the plane and put it nicely on the overhead compartment. The airline was Cathay Pacific and it was boarding from New York to Hong Kong for transit to Malaysia. However, when I boarded to the Malaysia Airlines during transit from Hong Kong to Malaysia, I was not able to put the guitar into the overhead compartment!!! I was so disappointing and at no other choices, they brought it to the luggage area and checked it in :(

Street Art outside of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

2008-09-12T15:10:00.006+08:00

27 May 2008

Outside of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, there are many shops selling arts, crafts and souvenirs. However there was also a body art showcase just along the road side!

The girl was just relaxing.....

Apple Building @ Manhattan, New York

2008-09-12T14:15:00.007+08:00

27 May 2008

A very modern and stylish design of the Apple Building in Manhattan. With all glass architecture from the top of the entrance to the spiral ladder to the basement shop, the design looks marvelous!

Look! even the stairs are made of glass!

The New York Chinatown & Little Italy

2008-09-07T20:33:00.004+08:00

26 May 2008

As a Chinese, I've always wanted to get to know more about the culture of the Chinese that live in different part of the world. Since I was around NY, I've planned to go to the Chinatown located at the south of Manhattan. The so-called Chinatown is actually an area surrounding the Canal Road where many Chinese do their trading business on.

Information booth providing maps, information and etc.

A shop selling Wushu/KungFu stuffs such as sword, Bruce Lee's movies, t-shirts and many more.

The Original Chinatown Ice-Cream Factory which is a stall that sells tropical fruits based ice-cream. I had a lychee sorbet. Emmmmmm...... delicious..

Suprise! I found a Malaysian restaurant in Chinatown serving Malaysian cuisine. I was missing nasi (Rice) so much, and I had the nasi lemak (Coconut Rice) there. The taste was quite similar to the one back home but it was not that spicy.

Nearby there is a neighborhood, Little Italy where there are many Italian restaurants and shops.

The Colorful Brooklyn Bridge

2008-09-07T20:23:00.003+08:00

26 May 2008

The evening weather was so good, it was cold, breeze and windy as I was walking towards the Brooklyn bridge from a subway stop at Manhattan.

Here are some of the shots during the dusk and also some beautiful night scenes. Some of the shots are blurry because the platform is very shaky (it's made of wood which I think dated back a long time ago) even I took with a tripod.

Empire State Building

2008-09-07T20:10:00.005+08:00

25 May 2008

The Empire State Building was once the tallest building the world. I have queued for about 2 hours to go up from the street to the main observation deck at 86th floor. The security was very strict thanks to the 9-11 tragedy. The ticket price is $20 just to go up to 86th floor. Top-up another $15 to go up to the 105th floor!

Official website

Some of the bird eye's views from the observation deck

This is the famous Chrysler Building, it was also once a tallest building in the world lasts for 11 months before it was surpassed by the Empire State Building in 1931.

Explore Manhattan, New York

2008-09-07T18:19:00.014+08:00

18 May 2008 - Explore Manhattan

I've started my journey to the NYC by driving to the nearest MTA (Metropolitan Transportation Authority) train station, Beacon and took the train to the NYC.

The ticket costs $12 one way from Beacon-Grand Central Terminal. For more info on the maps, pricing and schedule, click here.

This is the MetroCard:

It took about 1 hour and 15 minutes to reach the Grand Central Terminal, the central hub connecting to multiple major towns in New York.

Here is the Broadway and many huge billboards!

A Stall selling kebab, hot dog, chestnut and etc.

The Rock at the Madame Tussauds New York

Hard Rock New York

Poughkeepsie and New York 2008 - Car Rent at Hertz

2008-09-07T17:51:00.008+08:00

17 May 2008

I was sponsored by IBM to attend a program called Residency that involves the collaboration of all the IBMers around the world to update the new MQ version 7.0 course materials.

The spacious Sierra Suites Hotel at 100, Westage Business Center Drive, Fishkill 12524 NY.

The exact location of this hotel:

View Larger Map

I have got a nice car to rent from Hertz during my 4 weeks trip in Poughkeepsie