Open Burning in Alor Setar!

Can you imagine the pollution open burning does? I was on the way to fetch CT the other day when I passed by two spots of people openly burning their rubbish! Don't these IDIOTS know that they are making our world A HOTTER place? Don't they know that it's already very hot as it is?
But, after some pondering, is it entirely their fault? I don't think so. They wouldn't burn their rubbish if the rubbish people collect the rubbish everyday, right? Many people would think what's PAS doing? Since PAS took over, the rubbish collection was getting from bad to worse. But it's not the current state government's fault. Before PAS took over, the previous government BN, awarded a contract to Environment Idaman Sdn. Bhd. to so call privatize everything. And according to this newsletter, they say they have improved Sungai Petani's rubbish collection, link to this newsletter.

Even at my place, rubbish collection is BAD. Rubbish gets collected a week once? It used to be every 2 or 3 days once. WHAT are the people in charge doing? And please be aware that PAS has NO SAY in this at all.
I stopped my car to get a picture of this, and I could feel the heat even inside my car! It was THAT hot.

*Note: This two pictures were taken at different spots in Alor Setar but located 200m from each other. :)

Straits Quay, Penang. :)

This is Straits Quay, Penang!
When I first arrived, the first thought that popped into my mind was, "Oh, how quaint! The stores are designed in such a way that you feel as if you are back in the past, where everyone took life easy (compared to the busy life we each led today), basically a place for one to clear one's mind."
There's a housing estate nearby. Guess how much do one of those houses cost?A bombshell! The cheapest house in not even the range of hundred thousands, but over a million dollars! Crazy? I think so. It's reclaimed land fyi!
Oh well, I guess people these days are willing to pay for comfort.

What happened to the olden days, where life wasn't full so activities from day to night? People weren't so money-minded then. These days, people take life far too seriously. The things we invent are making us slaves to it.

The Mediterranean Journey @ Agua, Penang... :)

Prepare yourself for something REALLY different when you step into this restaurant, located at Straits Quays, E&O Marina, Penang. :)
One thing which stands out from Mediterranean food and local food is the taste, it needs some getting use to. Mediterranean food are cooked in such a way that it's healthy. And of course, the price.This restaurant as I mentioned earlier, can be found at Straits Quays, E&O Marina.And, the service is great! It's probably the first time I've eaten at a restaurant where they change the plates between courses.This is their honey lemonade.

Look at the dish below, it's served with bread. I seriously didn't know how to eat it when I first looked at it. Each piece of meat you see is sliced SUPER thin, and notice that there are lots of veggies on the plate too?
This is how we think it should be eaten. :DMoving on, my dad wanted to try their ribs too. To me, there's nothing better than ribs BBQ'ed' covered with the good old BBQ sauce. :D TGIF's ribs is better any day!

Pork ribs!

But of course, the ribs served here is much MUCH more healty than TGIFs'. But who cares? I'm young! Haha.

The main dish, Paella, which takes 25 minutes to cook.

The rice is sticky, and the rice granules are much much BIGGER than the local rices'. It's their signature dish. This dish orginates from Valencia, served with seafood, chicken and pork.

The remains. LOL.

I guess it's one of their more popular dishes. People who came after us were also seen ordering this. So, give it a try if you have a chance. I don't really fancy it though.
And oh, did I mention the view from the restaurant is great? Shall upload some photos about the view there soon.

Stay tuned! :D

Fun Fair! :D

There isn't always a funfair in town, especially for a small town of Sitiawan. Some more, during festive seasons! Strangely enough, this CNY, there were TWO fairs!

It was a small one though. I was watching the rides, and I felt that the rides weren't very safe to ride on. I mean, if you hear the rides making loud clanking sounds of chains moving and stuff, would YOU feel like riding on it?Or maybe it's just me feeling this. There were still LOADS of people getting on the rides. And did I mention that each ride costs two tokens, which translates to RM 4?

I was dragged to ride on the Ferries' Wheel to accompany my small cousins. Well, I suppose someone has to accompany them. And my, you should have seen how fast it went!
My cousins, by the time spinning for the third time, they were all screaming each time it descended. Me, I could literally feel the inertia of myself when it went down.
There were station games set up there too. Each game cost a whooping RM 4 (two tokens)!And this prizes awaited those lucky ones. I can tell you, the odds of winning have been counted so that few would be able to get these prizes. Sometimes, I wonder, how many of the grand prizes shown do actually get won. Most of the prizes I saw, looked rather battered down, as if it were there for a long time already.
This game main's objective is to roll 6 ping-pong balls into the wooden slits. Each slit has a number value. And the total sum of the numbers would determine which prize you won. For example, 6 balls into the slit with a number value of "1" would earn you the biggest teddy bear there, which is nearly IMPOSSIBLE!
This game, is called "Catching the ducks!". The purpose of the game is to fish a duck at random, and see what number is pasted below the duck. Certain numbers will get you the bigger prizes, others would just give you a small CHEAP toy. I think there were more than 100 ducks spinning, and among the 100, I think maybe about 5 or 6 ducks contain the numbers that is needed to win the bigger prizes?
This game, is called "Hoop Game". I guess the name itself tells it all. You have to hook the hoops into the a hook and that enables you to win a prize. Simple eh? I tried, and I got none into the hooks. =.=
Merry-Go-Round flying version.
Another ride, I guess this was the only ride that was worth the money. My cousin and sis screamed like crazy. It's the only ride I think they screamed! Because it was going round in circles very fast, and surprisingly many times.
You know these machines above you see in the supermarkets which can be ridden for just RM 1 or 2? You need RM 4 to ride it here! CRAZY isn't it? But many people are still seen riding on these rides.

Nothing can match up to the standard of Genting Highlands' theme park yet! ... Or maybe Disneyland theme park will! Waiting for someone to sponsor me there! :D

CNY! :)

CNY is here! :D

Ang pows! Come to papa! :D

Updates soon. :)A picture of fireworks being blasted into the sky in Sitiawan. Taken by me. :)

A Trip To Butterfly Farm Penang! :)

Went to Penang last Saturday. It was supposed to be a shopping trip for my sis, but it later turned out to be an educational trip. :D

Well, frankly, it was me who wanted to come to Penang Butterfly Farm. I wanted to find out whether they sold specimens of butterflies, so that I can use it for my Biology school project. Whether they sold it or not, I'll come to that part later. :P
Penang Butterfly Farm. It's privately owned I guess. Do you know how much it costs per person??? For a MALAYSIAN adult, it's RM 10 per person, and for a MALAYSIAN kid, it's RM 5. For tourist, they are charged at a different rate. They have to pay double the price, RM 20 per adult, and per kid... RM10.

Going in...

I think it's worth the money though. Where in Malaysia can you find a place where there are so many different butterflies so close to you? Even those rare ones can be seen roaming around in there!

These two butterlies don't wanna talk to each other. :D

One of the butterfies landed on my hand, and refused to take off, leaving my sister itching her hands also have one butterfly on her hand.
There are other things to see too... and not just butterflies. There is a turtle to see, loads of SCORPIONS and a museum of some artifacts that are unknown to me.
More pictures of butterflies.




There is gallery of already baked and preserved butterflies. I tell you, the collections are amazing! You can see different types of butterflies according to color, environment, place of origin, the name it. It's the prefect place for butterfly lovers!
Before saying goodbye.
And oh, they do sell butterfly specimens. But it all costs a bomb! Are you willing to spend between a range of RM 80 to RM 500 for a well-preserved butterfly? T

hey have a store especially for STUDENTS only, you can buy those specimens at a cheap rate of RM 5 to RM 30, but they are not well preserved, their wings are closed (the wings of the insects must be open for the Biology project). You can buy them, but you will have a tough time trying to open their wings as they are all hard and brittle already.

Anyways... going to Penang again later. :D

Outing to Kuala Kedah!

After Chem tuition, Tim called me, asking me whether I wanted to join them for a mini outing to "burn some time" (according to him) at Kuala Kedah to see whether the castle (palace) there is still open to visitors. According to him, the castle was still open when he last visited the castle when he was in primary school. But as I recall, the last time I visited that place (when I was Form 2 I think), is was closed, due to repairs.And it turned out, I was right, it is still not open to public. I wonder what they are doing with the building. Anyway, the sunset was worthwhile. But the condition of the Kuala Kedah beach is terrible! It's filthy! It's smelly. Rubbish is seen streaking everywhere!.. old shoes, paper cups, even bags! The sand is also black-ish in color, I suspect is due to the dirty sea water that is contaminated with oil.
Just look at the amount of rubbish! And this is just one part of the whole area. I wonder, if they clean the place up, treat the water, and make the place into a resort, with proper maintenance, I am sure it'll be a success!

Where in Alor Setar can you find places with such beautiful sunset scenery? Almost no where in Alor Setar, unless you are at City Plaza's top-most floor's car parking area.Anyway, the outing was overall fun! Joseph's car mati"ed" engine once when going up the steep bridge. He complained so much because he had to use his bukit skills four times! LOL. He also failed going up without sliding back on another bridge. Maybe he should retake his license! =P

One for the album!

Going into a flooded taman in a LORRY!

Before I continue on, The Star paper has published a few warnings about a second-wave hitting Kedah again, as well as Kelantan, and Perlis. If you want to read the articles with your own eyes, click here, and here.

"Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein gave the order as the Meteorological Department predicted the second wave could hit the three states if heavy rain persisted."

Quoted from The Star.

Let's hope for the best, and pray hard that a second wave doesn't hit Alor Setar again. We all want to enjoy our holidays in peace, right?

Back to the story.

My taman was so FLOODED that we had to get a lorry to get in, to check on the house. My neighbour, managed to borrow a lorry from a friend. He called my mum, and it was decided that my dad and I would tag along.

We arrived at Wisma, but they hadn't arrived. Apparently, jams were bad in town. I managed to take a few pictures while waiting.

Ever seen a tow truck letting down the towed car? It uses a hydraulic pump to lift the lorry's head up and allow the car to reverse down.Fascinating eh?

Here's another picture.I think no VIP or VVIP in the right frame of mind would want to use this road. Haha...

The lorry arrived, and let me tell you, it was no small lorry, it was HUGE! You know those lorries that carry sand? Yeah! That lorry.Some parts were knee deep and more, and lorry still had plenty of room before the water hit the engines of the lorry. A normal car would have "KO"ed before it even moved 100 metres!

On the way in, All water. And this was just the beginning of the journey.The waters were getting deeper and deeper as we ventured deeper into the taman. Look at this picture:The water has covered more than half the sign board!The poor Taman Golf Mini Market. After the flood receded, I heard the owner say that flood waters entered the shop about 4 inches. The cleaning they had to do was terrible.

Anyway, I got to my house. MY HOUSE WAS SPARED! Almost all of my neighbours' house were already submerged at least an inch of water, but mine was just lapping outside the house. Phew!

On the way back, my neighbour said a friend of his wanted him to rescue his dogs. And the golden retriever (as seen in the picture below) was overly excited. The dogs were hungry, and one of the people on board fed them bread and biscuits (BUTTER COOKIES!!!). The golden retriever started wagging its tail like crazy, splashing spots of mud on everyone.I thought I would go home clean and dry, but thanks to the dog, I was covered with MUD. Ah, it has been an experience! Hopefully, there won't be a next wave of floods!