Quickie: To Recess or not to Recess?

With the failed $700bn bail-out plan in the US, we can expect the recession to hit some (many?) countries really fast and very soon. Economists define recession as two straight quarters of economic decline. A quarter here means 3 months. The US share market, Dow Jones plunged 770 points or 6.9% of its value on the 29th September, its biggest drop in a day ever recorded. Although since then it has rebounded slightly, somewhat. The ripple-to-tsunami effect of this can be felt elsewhere including the drop of oil prices below $100 per barrel and of course stock markets in many parts of the world. As they say, “When US sneezes, the world catches a cold.”

Quickie: Macha VS Matcha

“Hey Joe!”, “Hey Macha!!”Bet you have heard of these sentences many times in the mamak or an Indian restaurant or etc.
The word Macha is very ubiquitously used among us especially among Indians as it is coined from the Indian Language anyways…
However I realized how wonderful and handy this word can be to get you out of tight situations.
Imagine this:-
You were sitting down with your mates having a drink and all of a sudden someone appears from the corner and calls your name,
“Hey ________” <- fill in whatever your name is but for argument sake, let’s just say Andy. “Hey Andy!”You’ll be damned, it’s your old friend from secondary school and you can certainly recognize his face but when you tried to call back….
“Hey ……..”
Words just refuse to come out because you can’t remember his name.
This is the perfect time for you use the word Macha to safe yourself from embarrassment.
“Hey Macha! How’s life?” <- awesome isn’t it? Now you can proceed with the conversation without any guilt feeling. No no, no worries about his real name. You can always look for it later. Now that we have found ways to avoid embarrassments, this is actually not the Macha that I wanted to talk about in the first place;
The real Matcha that I really wanted to talk about is the green tea ice cream hehe.

One of my favourite food is the Green tea ice cream or just Matcha in Japanese and the best tasting one is none other than Häagen-Dazs brand.
Picture speaks a thousand words so here are some pictures of the tantalizing Matcha ice-cream.

Quickie: My Political Inclination

ACCORDING TO YOUR ANSWERS,
The political group that agrees with you most is...

LIBERTARIAN
LIBERTARIANS support maximum liberty in both personal and
economic matters. They advocate a much smaller government; one that is limited to protecting individuals from coercion and violence. Libertarians tend to embrace individual responsibility, oppose government bureaucracy and taxes, promote private charity, tolerate diverse lifestyles, support the free market, and defend civil liberties. The RED DOT on the Chart shows where you fit on the political map.
(http://www.theadvocates.org/quiz.html)

The 3 most libertarian countries in the world in 2006 per State of World Liberty Organisation are Estonia, Ireland and Canada. 

Chakana - The South American Connection

Recently, I've received a souvenir from Mel who just came back from South America. The souvenir is a necklace with a Chakana symbol. Interestingly enough, I had very little idea what it is. However after a brief explanation, I had a better understanding now. Chakana or also known as an Inca Cross is an Andean symbol.

ClubMed Cherating 2007

Club Med Cherating is located in Pahang bordering state of Terrengganu. Located at beachside, the resort is facing the beautiful South China Sea. It is about 3 1/2 hours drive away from KL city centre. This is the second consecutive year that my company has organised a company trip to Club Med Cherating. After one full year, we are back at the same resort except we are bigger contingent this time. It was definitely a fun-filled trip.

不想懂得 歌词 Lyrics

最近过年来，我天天都听988因为要吸收多点气氛吗！
反倒我就时时听到 Angela 张韶涵 的新歌。。不想懂得。
听下听下都不错哦。所以我就借此机会翻译这个歌。
Gonna try to translate this song to English to see how far I have improved in my mandarin.

Quickie: Happy Chinese New Year!!

This is my feeble attempt to contribute to the decorations in my house.

When I took this picture I was really busy and my hands were a little bit shaky, so in real life it should look a little bit better than this =).

Anyhow have a great new year ahead!!

新年快乐！！

Cambodia Siem Reap Le Grand Café

The most interesting thing about the Indochinese countries of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam is the three major influences in their country. The first stage happened many centuries ago. During this period, Kings and Queens ruled over the land, wars and slavery are common and many grand buildings were built. The most dominant empire that arose during this period is the Khmer empire which resulted in the construction of Angkor.

Cambodia Siem Reap Pub Street

Pub street is without doubt the most happening street in Siem Reap. As the name suggest, this is the street to get your booze and to party! In the afternoon, the street is relatively quiet (Left) but at night it springs to life.

Cambodia Siem Reap Old Market

The old market is where you do most of the shopping and bargaining. The market sits on a triangular piece of land and surrounded by shop lots. You can find all sort of things to buy in the market.

Cambodia Siem Reap Phnom Bakheng

Behind us is the view of Phnom Bakheng (Left). Phnom Bakheng is the favourite place to watch sunset in Angkor. This is probably the first place most tourist will see in Angkor as well. The reason is because a day pass of USD25 (Year 2007) is valid from 5pm the day before and therefore to get your money's worth, watching sunset in Phnom Bakheng makes prefect sense.

Laos 老挝

Happy New Year! Ah my wanderlust bug is back again!!
新年快乐！！ 我又很想要旅游啦！！
This time around I’m aiming to go Laos. Now is probably the best time to visit because not only Airasia has just started flying to Vientianne beginning from mid of 2007, but also I have to be quick before the country gets too touristy.
这次我要去Laos。现在是最好的时间出去那边玩，因为Airasia 刚刚开始飞到Vientianne。另外我要快过其它的旅客去，如果不抓紧机会，Laos会缓缓越贵。呵呵。