Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur

Visiting Malaysia can not be done without visiting the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur.
So after visiting family in Lumut we headed for Malaysia's capital.
arriving there at nighttime gives you the opportunity to look at the towers in their full grace.
Lighted like a Christmas tree it sticks out in the Kuala Lumpur skyline. And for once directions are not given like three blocks from this or that MC Donald's but by the position from the Twin Towers.

The towers where completed in 1998 and where opened for public in August 1999. With an overall height of 451,9 meters from street level they are the highest twin towers in the world.
With 77,000 sq m of vision glass, 36,910 tonnes of beam, trusses and reinforcement, 160,000 cu m of concrete in the superstructure and a total of 76 lifts, including 29 Double-deck high speed passenger lifts in each tower (Each double-deck can carry 26 persons), the Petronas Twin Towers are an Engineering wonder and something Malaysians can be proud of.

The petronas Towers cab be visited daily and you can have magnificent views from the sky bridge that connects the two towers at a height of 170 meters from street level.

Congkak : Movie Review

The Plot:

Kazman decides to buy a house at the countryside near a lake as a getaway for his family. His wife feels uneasy in the house, she feels like being watched. While their little daughter goes down every night to play Songkak with someone only she can see.
Even when the mother throws away the Songkak game it just turns up again in the house the next day.They find out that the spirit of an old woman dwells the site. The spirit is trying to take their daughter away. In the end the oldest resident of the area, Pak Tua will rescue the family from a terrible haunting.

The Review :

Definitely one of the better Malay movies I have seen in a long time.
Although it is not a Hollywood blockbuster I enjoyed the movie. The story plot was very convincing and was not only based on the horror aspect but also on the family drama. The performances of the actors was above standard and no overacting like in some Malay movies.

The movie had some flaws to.
The lady ghost at the bus stop looked more funny than scary with a moustache. I still don't know if it was natural or attached.
Also the look of the old Lady ghost looked more funny than scary once her face was revealed.
Also the end was a bit weak when they tried to use some special effects but failed to make it look convincing.

Overall it is a movie worth watching and it will definitely give you some trills and chills and you will jump up more then once in your seat!

Rating : 7/10

Liverpool 1 - Chelsea 1

Hopaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

I could hardly watch it on my TV because of the bad connection.
But I checked out You Tube and guess what I found?

Was it snowing in Liverpool?

Now when people would have walked in to our room last night and joined us watching the Uefa Champions League Semi Final they might have thought that it was snowing in England, and that's what I thought for a while as well.

It wasn't snowing, well at least not in Liverpool. We where just watching the TV like in the old days. You pay so much for cable but not a single channel shows the football.
So we had to use the little antenna and watch one of the Malay channels. And it's not all that easy. You have to hold the antenna and stick your arm out of the window as far as possible and the slightest move makes the screen go blank.

So we saw Liverpool scoring the first goal in between the white and black snow, the black snow I blamed on the worldwide pollution. I don't know if the game was all that good. A few chances here and there.

But ten minutes before the end I gave up. My eyes where getting blur from all the snow, I even fell a little shill and I started getting cramps in my arm.

So I missed Chelsea's equalizer or should I say Liverpool's as it was an own goal!

Anyway, we might be considering to upgrade our cable for next season and get rid of that little antenna.

It always sounded so funny when my father was talking about the old days and the antenna, but me and my arm don't find it so funny anymore.

The cable company better be ready!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Champions League Semi Finals

Tonight the first semi final in the UEFA Champions League.
The fact that it will be 3 am in the morning is of little concern to me.
It is after all the Big Showdown in Football.

Liverpool - Chelsea
Barcelona - Manchester United
Doesn't it look very promising?
Definitely 4 major top teams in Europe.
Except for Man. U all the other teams had some mixed results this season.

Barcelona now in third position in the Primera Liga with 9 points less then arch rivals Real Madrid. The good news for them is that Lionel Messi seems to be back in shape.

Manchester United have less worries. They are on top in the Premier league and with likes of Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez they are widely considered as favorites to win the Premier League and the Champions League.

As for the other game we see two teams with some trouble in their ranks.

Although Chelsea is still in the race for their domestic title and the Champions League title, trouble never seems to be far away.
Is Avram Grant able to control such a group of superstars? So far the answer seems to be yes, after John Terry claimed that the Chelsea players are 100% behind their coach. That Frank Lampard is back in the selection will be big boost for the team.

In Liverpool their seems to be more trouble in the boardroom then on the pitch. Liverpool had a season with many ups and downs but they are in the semi finals of the champions League again. In the last four seasons they are by far the best team in Europe and that might be a cause why they lack the strength to battle it out till the end in the Premier League.

My clock is set and I'm ready to watch some top quality football.

Survivor: Reality TV at its Best

I never liked the whole thing.
Survivor: Put a bunch of people on an island and let them compete a bit, give them some food once in while and when they had enough let them leave and in the end there will be only one left who wins.
A simple plot in wish the survivor skills where pretty limited i thought.
It was because my wife loved the show so much I started watching it too and, well I have to admit I became a big fan.
Last weeks episode was just finger licking reality TV at its best.
Isn't it like a good game of chess?
And it seems that the woman are better in it than the men!
Building it up slowly from the start too a super climax, thats how it was.
Cirie had to go too exile island while two groups competed for a trip too one of the other islands. In the end Ozzy's team won and they had great fun(especially the ice cream vendor) and returned too the island with a full stomach.
And then the real test came and one by one they gave up for snacks with the idea they wouldn't be voted of anyway.
Jason decided to take a gamble and let one of the girls win in exchange everybody promised not vote him of. I have to admit that he never will be a good poker player. But by doing this he opened up an opportunity not to be missed.
Everybody in the group was quite confident,yes, that Jason had to go. As quoted by one of the contenders : Jason must be the stupidest contender ever.
At the end was the tribal counsel voting.
Ooooh how they all where so sure. But slowly reality hit them when the votes came out the urn one by one, untill it was four votes for Jason and Four votes for Ozzy. What a climax it was when the last vote came out and it turned out to be Ozzy who had to go home.
Angry he was, he hated some people! But thats the game Ozzy. Of all the contenders you should know best.
Did you guys underestimated the GIRL POWER that was in the making?
It came clear to me that survivor was more than just trying to survive in nature with limited tools. The social part seems to as important if not the most important factor in the show.
True, maybe the ladies are not the strong ones when it comes to the tests but when it comes to surviving by manipulating the group the girls are way on top. And it has to be said, the guys look all a bit stupid to me!
So go on girls, I can't wait to see whats gone happen this week.
SURVIVOR: the game is on!!!!!

Mariah Carey doing better than the King!

Where are the times of Rock n' Roll music?
Long gone may I say!
Reading in the newspaper that Mariah Carey got Her 18th nr. 1 hit in the US, which is better then Elvis Presley ever did, was a bit of a shock to me.
That I probably know only one or two songs of her makes it even more surprising for me.
There is no doubt that she can sing but I guess it is not my cup of tea.
What happened with all the good rock bands?
Did they all die of an overdosis of something to heavy for stomach or did they all just got to old?
Maybe I'm getting to old and a little bit nostalgic!
Well for now I just keep listening to my old tracks and let the rest of the world listen to Mariah Carey!
Greetings to all the Rockers out there.

The meaning of the Olympic Torch

Off course, when the Olympic Comitee announced that China would be the host for the 2008 Olympic Games, they could expected that some things might happen in the process.

What is happening now with the Olympic torch was to be expected.
What does the Olympic torch stand for anyway. Is it not about peace, understanding, unity?

Yes, and isn't that the problem with China. Invading Tibet, kick out most of the Tibetans and get it populated with Chinese people.
For decades it is been happening unpunished. China was always a bit mystical, untouchable, never trying to get any attention.
But that all changed when they where choosen to host the Olympics this year. Suddenly all the spotlights where on China.
Off course the Tibetans and the Dalai Lama would take advantage of all this to put Tibet back in the daylight. They would have been fools not to do so!
Now all the pressure is on China and the West.
It is time for the West to look in the mirror and admit that they are nothing more but a bunch of hypocrites.
It seems that superpowers always can do whatever they want.
Lets see if this time is gone be different, lets see if the west dares to take a correct standpoint or if they decide to stay hypocrite.
Lets all pray and hope that one day the Tibetans too find they freedom.

Stupidity never pays

An Australian found out the hard way that stupidity never pays.

The 51 year old(the older the more stupid) had swallowed 65 condoms with hash.
He had to be taken to hospital with severe cramps. After taking röntgen photo's the doctors discovered suspicious packets in the stomach. 3 condoms had been burst ed open.

Surgeons had to do an emergency operation that took 2 hours. According to the Bangkok Post the Australian had been trying for 5 days to get the condoms with hash out of is body.

The hash was apparently worth us$ 30 000.

The police suspects that the man was on his way to Ko Pang Ngang where there is a full moon party every month.

I don't think there will be too many full moon parties for this fellow, except maybe in jail.
But he gets the Oscar for the biggest idiot of the month!!!!!!!

Manchester United on the way to the Premier League title

I followed it on the net again this weekend: The English Premier League.

Man.U beat Arsenal 2-1, and no surprise there.
It's all about making the right choices and making the right transfers at the right moment.
And that is exactly what Manchester United has been doing for so many years.
They are able to keep all the good players for years and even get some better ones at the same time.
Getting a player like Carlos Tevez to Anfield proved to be a good move from Sir Alex Fergusson.
And that's what it is all about. If you want to compete in the English Premier League and the Champions League you have to invest in your team and not only in your Football stadion.

And that's the problem with Arsenal. Letting a player like Thiery Henry go and not investing in some new top quality players is probably why they wont be Champions or win the Champions League.
I think that Arsene Wenger got the most out of it and they should be happy with a third place in the Premier League.
Let's be honest! Is Adebayor a world player? No!
Ok, he scores his goals, but scoring one goal out of five chances is nothing to brag about.
And that's a the difference with players like drogba from Chelsea or a Rooney from Man.U. These players need only half a chance to score.

So out Arsenal and only two left.

Manchester United and Chelsea.
And who will it be?
Chelsea, a team of superstars bought together in the last few years by the billionaire Abramovich or Manchester United, a team ruled by the iron hand of Sir Alex Fergusson.

I think I will put my money on Man.U.