what's the difference between the taiwanese and the malaysians?

Let's be honest with ourselves. They are way better than us.

In the hotel rooms, i browsed through all 80 something channels provided by satellite TV. (note: in all of the 7 hotels i stayed in, satellite TV -the complete package with ALL channels- is provided... how about us? i see vision 4 in most hotels in malaysia, with a limited Astro package in some)

We often watch TVBS Asia on Astro, right? Well, it seems we like their channels. How about them? Nah.. no company in Malaysia providing such coverage like TVBS in Taiwan... which means they wouldnt have the chance to watch our local shows... even if they can, would they even consider putting Malay channels into their satellite TV services??

They have a very conservative mind as well. ALL of their rubbish bins are categorised into 'recyclable wastes' and 'other wastes', to promote recycling. Well then, what about us? We have plenty of 'kitar semula' campaigns which are mostly big talk and no action.. it seriously reflects our image towards the outside world concerning our attitude towards conservation of the environment.

One other side note: I noticed that in the cities, even the major ones like Kaohsiung and Taipei, rubbish bins are hard to find(irritated me once when i couldnt finish the super-tall ice cream and was thinking about throwing it away). But then again, the place is virtually free of rubbish. This shows the Taiwanese's attitude towards trash management. They care for their cities' cleanliness and are willing to work hand-in-hand with the city council to improve the hygiene of the local populace.

Oh, and if you might be asking, how about their 'pasar malam's（夜市）street cleanliness? Well, i can tell you that it's far cleaner than the Malaysian venues, by a distance, though there will be inevitable litter.

Their courtesy is second to none.

The 7-11 shops are ever present in the island(it's like...there's an outlet in every single building in East Taipei). And in every single one of the 7-11 outlets, the shopkeeper/cashier greets me with a loud and clear “光临！”(welcome!) whenever i enter or go out of the shop. Tell me if you ever encountered such courtesy in Malaysia. And specify which outlet. (Teluk Kumbar outlet has it...i love my town xD)

And the courtesy isnt just limited to 7-11 outlets or other convenience stores. The hotels and restaurants have the same habit as well. The Starbucks dude was extremely welcoming too.

In the underground station, i didnt know that we need to queue up to get into the trains. Yes.. we need to queue up. Manners learnt since we were small. Yet again, do you ever see us practising it in our LRT stations?? I felt kinda ashamed when i skipped queue. I allowed the people behind me to enter the train first, as a token of respect.

Oh, and for the record, their taxi-drivers DO USE METERS..

do stay tuned for other interesting taiwan-related posts.

i'm at taiwan.

yes. please do add me up on facebook to see the photos i took.

it's been a tiring day and i need some games of FIFA 10.

i'm not in the mood to blog right now ;P

if God permits

you can expect some updates from me in taiwan.

loads of photos incoming...!!

ciao!!

enjoy your holidays, people!!

aftermath?

totally enjoyed myself at the penang youth choir camp 2009!!

there were quite a number of songs that we learnt, but i still prefer those songs we learnt last year, as they were certainly a lot more memorable than this edition's choices of songs

i can vaguely remember my parts of嚯嚯嚯in the song丢丢铜仔. i just liked the soprano part where they go火车走到阿莫衣乇丢all the time. for the record, you can go listen to 徐佳莹's “出口”for that part, it's in the beginning verse of the song.

the other song was the jungle book song called 'the bare necessities'. oh well, i thought we as the tenors would be the ones to sing the main melody, but sadly, no =(

ahh nevermind, enjoyed myself anyway.

the other songs included the welcome blues, loved the chord progressions. the canoe-round which sounded like 'dick can swim' or whatever kind of expletive in the bass line =P . oh, and the indian song which went 'na na na' all the time ...called 'dravidian dithyramb' if memory serves.

our brother quo ping showed us how to sing queen's 'wee will rock you' the king-kong way with lots of new actions...

the same goes with '浪花一朵朵' while at the beach. had loads of fun strutting around on the sand!! many other games followed... loved them all, and hurt myself stepping on some oddly-shaped object that caused us to lose the group race lol.

was happy to meet new friends in my group!! some of you are really getting involved during the activities. me likes you guys!! <3

i got the most presents during the talent show, mainly because i was playing background music with my guitar for 3 different contestants!! woot i sang some easy songs and got a special prize =]

danced a lot during the night. it was literally like clubbing without the alcohol ;D and a bad DJ... xD

was around 12 something when the activity ended after some truth-or-dare sessions.

i wont forget talking around with my roommates just before dozing off during these few days!! the topics, well, are best left unsaid ; )

sang 'amigos para siempre' and got many new contacts for the next day. went back at about 12pm to the education fair organised by FSI at trader's, where i met many of my schoolmates. went for lunch and back home by bus.

right now i'm more concerned about my further studies..

dad has rejected the idea of getting my A-levels done at Disted. i'm probably going to end up separated from my old friends, at faraway Nilai. i'm taking foundation on life sciences, that's my plan for now.

so how is my future gonna end up, i'm not so sure as of now.

i'm going back to NS!! i think that's good !! =D

holiday plans

what are your holiday plans?

i'm going off to penang youth choir camp on 19th december, back on 21st december, then pay a visit to the plug-in further studies exhibition at trader's hotel in the afternoon.

might go somewhere to buy some clothes for the next day.

i'll embark for taiwan on the 23rd, coming back on new year's eve, then might go somewhere for the new year celebrations.

a few days of freedom until i attend national service on 4th of january.

not sure when the holidays for NS will be, but keep in touch ,people.

finally you're gone

a grand and majestic farewell to my SPM

for now i will have to do with days without books...which may be a bane to my intellectual development and may cause me to become sluggish and slowly retard my nervous sensors..

blargh

let's enjoy the fuckin' free time while we still can!!!

another accident!!

this time was a parking mishap... well i thought i had turned the car nicely, but suddenly felt a little 'bump'...the back side of the car hit the car beside me...dammit i need to spend money to help them repair it....arrrghh

when can i be less careless??

went home and to pei nee's house at gertak sanggul.... so far!! but the place was nice, very serene and quiet. dont ask me why i went there. ;D

took some pictures of the place. the uploading is slow. if you wish to see those pictures, kindly add me up on facebook(send me a message if you do not know me) and check out my albums...

im kinda promoting teluk kumbar to the outside world =D

a farewell for a friend

first of all, rest in peace, brudda. gabriel, you'll always be the dude who plays the guitar with me whenever i felt lonely, and inspires me to delve deeper into this instrument.

i promise, mate, you will always be one of the first flashes that appears in my mind whenever i pick up my guitar.

i have faith in the Lord, that He will take care of you in your afterlife.

the first time i met you was in boy's brigade. i was 13 then.

i got to know you more through chow chong, a mutual friend between both of us.

upon knowing about your interest towards the guitar, i immediately started to talk to you more, hoping to learn more from you.

we did get to learn from each other, although the chances were few.

you were always the last one to leave school at times, playing the guitar with me.

i cherish those times, buddy.

now that you're gone, there's less one guitar enthusiast for me to talk to.

''I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.''

john 11:25

dude, wait for me up there. get your guitar ready =)

outing with a couple of friends

went for an outing on sunday with a couple of friends.

i bought my wife's CD

had lunch at canton-i.

the food was freaking expensive...like, a plate of one-ton noodles for rm12? kidding me, right? >.>

but the food was quite nice.

the yin-yeong was too dilute!!

i had no idea what is this. tastes good though

i have no idea what is this as well. tastes decent anyway ;D

so sweet them both...haha

me and alex

jiejie and me

the decorations at queensbay. there was no sign of red, just lots of green and black. the things hanging on top were lit with candles, looks more like some satanic church ....zzz

watched new moon. i was never a fan of twilight. almost fell sleep watching the movie. very average....give it a 4/10

fetched my friends to the jetty to get home, then went home.

sunset at the beachside

world cup draw: predictions

Group A
South Africa	Mexico
Uruguay	France

hosts south africa look like a potent force at home, but have yet to impose themselves on the international stage, save for the confederations cup in which they did quite well, but would probably finish last, unless they can find their stride. mexico and uruguay to fight it out for second place, with mexico maybe getting the edge. france are favourites to top the group, but will have to watch out for complacency, which led to their shock 0-1 opening defeat to senegal in '02. with the unpredictab;e raymond domenech at helm, they are on a rudderless ship, but have the quality players to pull them through.

france - mexico - south africa - uruguay

Group B
Argentina	Nigeria
Korea Republic	Greece

argentina have probably the strongest squad in the competition(save for spain) and should qualify easily, topping the group, even with the seemingly inefficient maradona at the helm. it will be interesting to find out who gets into second place though. nigeria are one of africa's most attacking sides and would relish facing the south koreans, who always have that aura of freshness and speed, or the defensive-minded greeks, who won euro 04 with their negative tactics.

argentina - greece - nigeria - south korea

Group C
England	USA
Algeria	Slovenia

england have the best team around in this group, just lacking in the goalkeeping department. with the amount of talent they have, they would be expected to top the group, but will have to watch out for the usa. usa would definitely be the ones to finish second, unless a shock result derails landon donovan and co. algeria are the unknowns here, but they beat egypt, the african champions, in qualification, so will not back down easily, as do slovenia, who beat fancied russia. both teams however have only national pride to play for, considering the quality of the other two sides.

england - USA - slovenia - algeria

Group D
Germany	Australia
Serbia	Ghana

a tough one to call. germany are always the big guns in tournaments, as they have shown in the last euro. they are heavily expected to top their group and progress, but a turn of events might see them miss out on qualification altogether. australia have a very good squad and might relish facing the other teams, but are likely to finish bottom. serbia topped their qualification group which contained the likes of france, and would be a very difficult side to face. when the occasion rises, vidic and co can be unstoppable at times. ghana are not to be written off. they have the likes of sulley muntari and michael essien, and playing at their home continent, would have that extra edge towards their play.

germany - ghana - serbia - australia

Group E
Netherlands	Denmark
Japan	Cameroon

the netherlands have got a very favourable draw in group E. under bert van marwijk's leadership, they should have not much problems showcasing their attacking prowess while beating the other sides, but would have to watch out for the fast, attacking denmark side and japanese guile. denmark are no pushovers either, and will be taking advantage if holland are to slip. the cameroonians would be relying much on samuel eto'o for their attacking options, and would be challenging the other teams, no doubt. japan are the underdogs, but can spring surprises if they are up to the occasion, and will rely on dead-ball specialist shunsuke nakamura for the goals.

netherlands - denmark - cameroon - japan

Group F
Italy	Paraguay
New Zealand	Slovakia

italy are favourites to top the group, but would need to avoid another euro 08 disaster if they are lead the group. paraguay are the black horses who will be capitalising on italy's shortcomings, and have very good attacking options as well, but playing away from home might be too much to handle. slovakia have the likes of marek hamsik and martin skrtel so never write them off, but they would do well to get points off the aforementioned two teams. new zealand are obviously the whipping boys and would be prepared for an early trip home. but a surprise could be on the cards for those who look down on them.

italy - slovakia - paraguay - new zealand

Group G
Brazil	Korea DPR
Ivory Coast	Portugal

the group of death, or so people think it is. brazil are the bookmaker's thrid favourite to win the world cup, and with their playing style turning on the defensive under dunga, they are simply an effective unit which gets the job done in moderate style. they will be the team to beat in the group. portugal have a great team, but the stewarship of carlos queiroz is getting poor reception and their qualifying campaign shows why. ronaldo and co will have a hard time playing joga bonita with their brazillian counterparts, while facing the powerful ivory coast side. the ivorians are good enough to get through the group, and are in for a surprise in this one. drogba and co. will definitely live up to expectations, if they stay disciplined. apologies to north korea, but they are definitely going home for this edition of the world cup, however, complacency might lead to some shocking results.

brazil - ivory coast - portugal - korea dpr

Group H
Spain	Switzerland
Honduras	Chile

in what has been described as an easy group for favourites spain, spain are just too good for their opponents, but would need to end their dismal world cup record to do well in this competition, while they may be facing the likes of brazil and portugal in the second round. the swiss are expected to do well and at least qualify in this edition's world cup, but for a team that loses to the likes of luxembourg, it could be quite an uphill task. honduras have good players such as wilson palacios and david suazo, but inexperience could be their achilles' heel. chile play fast and flowing football, which would be a bane to the other teams in this group. expect spain to top this one, with competition strong for the second spot.

spain - chile - switzerland - honduras

reply: arsenal's plight

the condition at the arsenal camp worsens again.

still fresh from their 0-3 drubbing in the hands of chelsea, their youngsters were knocked out of the league cup deservedly by manchester city, 3-0 with all goals coming in the second half.

even arsene wenger has said:

'i have no professional courtesy'

without a handshake and off the pitch he goes.

arsenal fans, you might have to fear for the worse.

tottenham, aston villa, sunderland, manchester city and to a lesser extent, liverpool are catching up..

be afraid, be very afraid

;D

arsenal's plight

you have seen the arsenal losing 0-3 to chelsea, right?

to be honest, this was very much the same arsenal team that crushed everton 6-1 away on the opening day if the season, minus van persie, no?

you see, what this arsenal team really needs is a kind of consistency that has not been present since their 2003-2004 season when they went the whole season unbeaten. it might have a thing or two to do with experience, but who knows?

currently arsenal rely much on their talismanic captain fabregas and their silky playmakers arshavin and nasri to provide the spark. with van persie out injured, they had eduardo for cover(he wasnt of much use in that 3-0 mauling), and the returning bendtner.

if they are to get going during the january transfer window, they will need some good strikers according to what all the papers are saying. but what is it that isolates eduardo and co? with van persie sidelined until sometime before the world cup(i would like to know what happened to the placenta treatment he was getting!!), arsenal lack the cutting edge that he brings to the side. his penetrations into the penalty area are not matched by eduardo or bendtner as of now. they are rumoured to go for van nistelrooy(!) or chamakh or fabiano..the list goes on...

but hey, why dont give a chance for the youngster carlos vela and the other strikers to strut their stuff. provided they can adapt to situations and learn from the chelsea defeat, arsenal might come good.

for now i think they need a holding midfield player who can fit nicely into the system, since eboue will be missed during january. alex song would need a partner in the center of arsenal's 4-5-1. for the record, they also should have a decent replacement for the injured kieran gibbs at left-back as well. for the wealth of arsenal's attacking department, with jack wilshere, aaron ramsey and walcott coming into the fray, they shouldnt have much problems at attack.

they should be spending at other areas instead.

for your information, i am NOT a fan of arsenal =]

给人家点？

1.你的名字·
我的名字


2.最近最鬱闷的事?.
最近烦恼的事


3.最受不了自己的哪个缺点?·
本身的缺点

4.遇到喜欢的人，你是勇敢表白还是默默关注？·
有什么好知道的


5.说出点你名的人3个优点(不可删除题)·
蛋。蛋。蛋


6.以一个形容词形容点名的人的外表·
圆


7.你现在最想拥有的是什麼?·
世界和平


8.什麼时候感觉最开心？·
有世界和平的时候

9.恋人／老公／老婆让你最欣赏的优点是什麼？·
她让我欣赏的优点

10.覺得自己的性格是?·
自己的性格啦，不然什么

11.现在最想做的事?·
现在想做的事

12.接下来最想去旅行的国家或城市? 为什麼?·
接下来想去的地方。私人原因

13.你为什麼要回答这些问题?·
因为我要回答这些问题

14.你觉得点你名的这个人是什麼样的个性？·
蛋

15.什麼时候觉得孤独?·
觉得孤独的时候

16.最近一次掉眼泪是?·
最后一次哭

17.请列出喜欢的饮料?·
我喜欢的饮料

18.家人重要还是伴侣重要?.
各有各的重要

19.你希望点你名的人成为你的?·

食物

20.你觉得自己五官哪一个最好看?·
我觉得那个最好看的