Bird Park, KL

Went to Bird Park in KL with Aliah last Sunday. Had lunch at this Hornbill Restaurant. Always like this restaurant - cosy. Food rather pricey tho..


Besides the collection of birds, there was also a nursery. Aliah had her time playing with the chicks and we saw this little chick, which just hatched.

Peacocks berkeliaran merata2 the park. Saw this hornbill too. Cute..

Seoul, Korea

Was in Seoul recently for a roadshow with that regulator. My first time there. It was the autumn-winter transition and it was rather cold. Touched down at 7am at -3degrees. It was 4-6 degrees while we were there.

Went with WL. Managed to go around, sight seeing. Went up the N Seoul Tower, and here's the view from the top.

The N Seoul Tower

Visited the Korean Folk Village too. The purpose of Korean Folk Village is to display elements of traditional Korean life and culture. There are multiple sections to the park. There are numerous replicas of traditional houses of the different social classes and the various regions.

Visited Deoksugung palace too. It became a palace in 1593 when King Seojo moved in (after all of Seoul's other palaces were destroyed during the Japanese invasion).

Short updates

Not able to find time to update this blog. Have been bogged down with work and the extremely terrible broadband service. Some updates here..

Aliah got 4A 1B for her Year 4 exam. Yes, it's a big deal for me (and Aliah) coz she did badly year end last year and mid-term too. I was extremely stressed out then. So, Aliah pun kena pressure kaw2 lah.. Her dad, for the first time, came to school to attend this prize giving ceremony. Hujan lebat hari tu!!! Anyway, well done, girl!


Also attended a congratulatory dinner for Tuanku Muhriz on 14 Nov at PJ Hilton. It was organised by the Aberystwyth Alumni Club Malaysia. Tuanku graduated with a law degree from
this uni many years ago. Tapi, tak sempat nak kata "Ayah den oghang Bongek, Tuanku" isk..

Makan-makan: Sinar Cafe, KL

Was with a group of Aberites last Sunday as they organised their royal dinner, scheduled this Saturday. It was at this Sinar Cafe, which I NEVER noticed despite plying this highway almost every forthnight. It's located above this Dunkin Donuts, just after the Sg Besi Toll heading south. Nice quiet and cosy place..

The nasik lemak rendang ayam was good! .. maybe sebab lapar sangat kot :-)

Made friends with a 5-year old cute boy, Adam, whose dad was at the meeting. yep, yours truly tolong babysit but still managed to finish that weekly commodity report. After he finished his drawing, we sang Barney songs and he introduced me to Pocoyo.

This is the first time i jumpa this Pocoyo character (shows how long since I have a little toddler :-)).. It is about a young boy dressed in blue, who is full of curiosity. It was in Spanish. The only word that i understood was "hola!" hehehe The other characters are:

• Pato is a yellow duck who wears nothing but a small green hat.
• Elly is a pink elephant who always wears a blue back-pack.
• Loula is Pocoyo's orange-yellow pet puppy and companion.
• Sleepy Bird is a teal-coloured bird. She does little but sleep, and usually flies with her eyes closed.

I had fun! Thanks Adam for bringing back fun! :-)

The Glittering Gold

I have been away for a conference past 2 days and gold hit a high of USD1,098/oz intraday yesterday!It was partly due to India buying 200 tonnes of gold from IMF.

Source: Bloomberg

The CIO of Emerging Global Advisors LLC expects gold to climb to USD1,350 an ounce and oil will top USD100 a barrel in the next six months, driven by a “herd mentality” fueling an investment boom. Gold prices is already +24% this year, and has outperformed U.S. stocks and bonds as investors seek to protect their wealth againstcurrency debasement and an inflation threat. So.. gold investments, anyone?

Cuti-Cuti Port Dickson

Spent a night at Avillion Admiral Cove last weekend with Aliah. We were there too the last trip :-) Aliah wanted to 'tido hotel', and no KL and PD is just near enough to drive. Plus, she wanted the beach, and my favourite Cherating and East Coast is a bit too far to drive.

Didn't do much. Just let Aliah enjoyed the pool and I sat with a book in hand. Book? hah! More like the shariah law text book! kakaka Anyway, we had pasar malam-tapaued dinner on Saturday night by the beach. Rupa2nya, there were spot lights along the beach and there were families and group of people berpicnic there malam2. So, we bentang our tikar, had our dinner and enjoyed the sea and the moon and the stars. Rather fun!

Wanted to go to Lukut Fort and Museum but it rained Sunday morning. Next trip then..

Qatar Weekend with Perak's Crown Prince

Nah, wasn't really spending weekend with him. But was part of the Malaysian delegation under that established regulator for a trip to Qatar. Perak's Crown Prince is the Financial Ambassador of the entity. BTW, the delegation proceeded to Bahrain, but we went home. huwaaaa



My first trip to Qatar. The country that has the third largest gas reserves. So full of dust and tanah gurun.. and many high rise buildings. Didn't manage to explore much given the limited time (we were there for 3 days only). Only visited the Museum of Islamic Art and the traditional souq waqif (pasar la tu..). Had fun tho! Made new frens *wink*wink*


Here are some shots to share:

The brownish building is the Museum of Islamic Arts, located at the Corniche, along the Persian Gulf. The Corniche is where people lepak2 and enjoy the skyline of Qatar (see pic below) and the fishing harbour.

The fishing harbour.

A mix of the traditional and the modern world. That's the fishing harbour against the skyscrapers of Qatar. This is a view from The Corniche.

This was the only museum open - the Museum of Islamic Arts. An eye-opening.

That's inside the souq. We reached here about 4pm, an hour before maghrib. The shops were just opening - after the Arab's afternoon siesta :-)

More of inside the souq. It's like a maze in there. The sections are clearly done up - makan place, spices/herbs, pets, clothings etc.

Here's a Pak Arab resting in the afternoon. See what he's on! :-)

The souq from outside.

Ashie and I had this chicken briyani while we were at the souq. Both of us lapar nasik. This meal cost us 35 Qatar riyal each (about RM35). .. and we didnt finish it. Huge portion.