Friday, April 24, 2009

It's a What??

After an exhaustive list of answers from people who are in the arts field, the science field, the hospitality field and even the pre-U field, it's certainly interesting to take note of how people in different fields of study think. But that aside, I guess it's finally time to announce the winner of the 'Guess what the heck is this' contest. Congratulations to Mr. Low!

I know a fire extinguisher when I see one! :-D - Iishan Low

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

The Great Escapade: My Fun Travel with MAS!

When I was much younger, taking a flight used to seem like a really big affair. And a big hassle too, along with a big price tag. Sure it's a whole lot faster, but my dad wasn't in the money-printing business unfortunately. So I always settled for a bus ride, or if I'm lucky maybe I'd travel by car, between my hometown in Kuantan and visiting my cousins who are in Subang Jaya, Selangor. I always thought that it would be great if one day I could move down and stay in Subang Jaya too near my cousins, because Subang looked like a really nice place. More maju lah, I guess, compared to Kuantan, haha.

Years went by, and funnily enough my entire family did move down to Subang after all and here I am, a resident here in Selangor for more than 4 years already. Now it's the other way round, because I take bus or car rides back to Kuantan instead. But still, I can't fly home on a nice aeroplane. Fares had come down a lot since 'Low-cost-carrier' became a magic word of sorts for avid travellers, but the often-heard horror-stories of delayed flights and less-than-desirable service kept me from flying back home.

Just last week though, something interesting happened. I had been following on MAS's new promotions for a while and while surfing at college I bumped into the Grab-A-Deal section in their site, and out of curiosity I tried to look for a Kuantan-KL flight offer. The price was unbelievable, I had to admit. I was staring at the screen for quite some time...

...and after 15 minutes, I actually bought three tickets back to home! I've never been so impulsive, but I certainly didn't regret making that decision. The retreat back to Kuantan was definitely refreshing, and I had a great time catching up with relatives.



Thanks to MAS, I'm really happy to have had the chance to go back to my birthplace and relive the good ol' days. But even better was the equally affordable flight back to Subang, which I managed to snag under the Balik Kampung deal. Altogether our flight back home was certainly a lot cheaper than I what I imagined it to be. Coupled with the nice service and pretty good-spirited staff of the airline, the trip back to Kuantan was nothing short of a blast, to say the least.



The most memorable part was no doubt having the chance to savour all the good food that I've been missing and wanting all this while. My stomach had its share alright, and the bulge is testament to my quest in reclaiming all the gastronomic delights that have eluded me since I moved down to Subang :D





I really had fun. Really, really had a lot of fun. So much fun that I was in tears on the way back, haha. I'll miss the place...

But the best thing I've heard this year so far just came an hour ago. One of my friend who's studying in the UK now just popped an awesome surprise on me that I'm getting a sponsored flight to London for a mini-holiday with him!! Turns out the mother bought MHFlex tickets which allows her to bring along a companion for FREE and since the father happened to be busy, she graciously invited ME along! Yes!!! I've even started packing already, haha. London, here I come!!

And what can I say but Man, that was great - this truly is the time to travel!!

Friday, April 10, 2009

What Does This Look Like?

My long break from posting aside, I recently went back to my father's birthplace for the annual ancestral visit. Tucked away in the hills of Pahang, and a short drive away from Kuantan is a place called Sungai Lembing. If you think it's another dead-end town with nothing but old shops and old people, then you are...uh, correct, actually. But not entirely true also, because Sungai Lembing used to be a thriving and lively mining town with populations numbering close to 10,000. Here we have one of the deepest underground tin mines in the world, so it may be old but back then used to have lots of glory to bask in.

A visit to the museum there nabbed me plenty of shots of the various equipments and tools they used in those tin mine eras. To spruce up my viewership (which has been nothing more than 10 views a day) a little, I thought of posting this:


On display right outside the museum, this nifty little cannon of sorts is one of the equipments that survived the long boring years that passed since the last mines were closed down.

Take a shot and tell me what this is, and win an exciting 4-day trip to the next FormulaOne race in....ah well, you know the drill. *cough*smallpresent*cough* First to comment with the correct answer wins!

And only one answer per person! :D



This contest is open only for people who qualify at least as my 2nd-degree friend. The prize will be announced after the winner is found and details for delivery will be negotiated at a time after that. For details regarding degrees of friendship, please refer to Friendster.com.