Interesting thing in Taiwan

Recently I went to Taiwan for a trip. Will talk more about the trip later. Here are some interesting things that I saw in Taiwan.


Old guy in Ximending, don't know what he is doing.

Along the way to Sun Moon lake, pass by a town near Taichung, there are endless number of stores on both side of the road selling betel nuts. These stores are manned by scantily dress female.


This is how the store looks like


Sex sells betel nuts in Taiwan!

I guess business is very very competitive in Taiwan. They are using all sorts of gimmicks to attract customers.


Stupid ice tea anyone?


Dog humping a pig?

Another interesting thing I saw are the signboards. Especially those in government own building.


This is in some national museum.


This is in the domestic airport in Kaohsiung

Technorati Tags: Photo + Taiwan

Petronas in Vietnam?

I've never thought of seeing Petronas station outside of Malaysia. When I saw one in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam, I was like dang. It looks exactly like how it is here.




This is in Vietnam. No kidding

I thought that was it, they have the petrol stations. Then when I was about to leave Ho Chi Minh city, I saw these in the airport. I believe, they don't have it even in KLIA.






Did Petronas gave these buses for free to the airport or what?

Technorati Tags: Vietnam + Petronas

Is Kenny Sia and Nicole an item?

I've been following Kenny Sia's blog for a while and since I never bother to participate in or read the comments posted by his readers, I don't know if anyone have raised this question before. Based on my observation and deduction, I bet that there is something going on between them. They've been going on trips together and etc etc... So is Kenny Sia and Nicole an item?

I won't be surprised if one day he announced that he is marrying Nicole.

Technorati Tags: Kenny Sia

Fate/stay night AMV

A cool AMV for Fate/stay night. Supposedly, the winner for 2007 Sakura-Con AMV - Action/Adventure Category. If you haven't watch the anime itself, go watch it!!

Technorati Tags: Fate/stay night + AMV + Anime

Cute doggie

Introducing a cute doggie. I have no idea what breed it is. Anyone knows? His name is Bibi.


Am i cute or not?


Bleh..


Grrr....

Technorati Tags: Pet + Dog

Quote of the day

I wish developing great products was as easy as writing a cheque. If so, then Microsoft would have great products - Steve Jobs.

Technorati Tags: Quote + Steve Jobs

Scambaiter

Church of the painted breast? Minnie Mowse? What am I talking about? Its something really funny that I just read, about the Nigerian email scams. I think you can find a couple of it in your junk mail folder. If not, lucky you. The article talks about how scambaiters are fighting back.

Its really funny how stupid the scammers can be, being blinded by greed. Sadly, those being scammed are even worst!

Technorati Tags: Nigerian email scam

Yangtze river cruise

After a few months of hiatus, lets continue with my China tour. We boarded the Victoria Anna at Chongqing around 5pm++. Victoria Anna is the latest ship on Victoria Cruises fleet of 5 star cruise ships. We specifically plan on taking the Yangtze river cruise on this ship and it was worth it. Of course you can't compare this cruise ship to those huge cruise ship like those in Star Cruises fleet.


Victoria Anna

We took the downstream route which is for 4 days and 3 nights. It is the more popular route because the trip is shorter compared to the upstream route. The ship set sail at 9pm. The next day, we reach the first shore excursion to Fengdu, the City of Ghost at around 2pm.


This Stone monument is actually an incomplete and abandon hotel



The entrance

After a short bus ride to the entrance, you can choose to climb the stairs or take the ski lift to go up Mount Ming Shan. We took the ski lift up of cource but I chose to walk back down.



We were only able to visit the Ming Shan and didn't have the the time to actually go over to the Ghost Palace. On the next morning, around 6:30am the ship approaches the first gorge, Qutang Gorge.


Its a Chameleon!

At around 8:15am, its time for second shore excursion. This time we are going to take a small boat through Daning River to see the Lesser Gorges. After that, we change to an even smaller boat, a sampan actually to check out the Mini Three Gorges.


The entrance to Daning river


The sampan that we took

Back to Victoria Anna for lunch. After that around 1:45pm , we reach the second gorge, Wu gorge



We reach the last gorge, Xiling gorge around 5:30pm. Due to heavy fog, I didn't manage to take any photo. The last gorge wasn't that great anyway. The next day is the end of the cruise and the last shore excursion is to the three gorges dam.


The three gorges dam cover by heavy fog.

See more photos at Flickr

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This is a Flickr badge showing photos in a set called Yangtze river cruise. Make your own badge here.

Related post:
Dazu Grottoes
Chongqing
Chengdu
The real firefox

Technorati Tags: Yangtze river + Cruise + China

Sudden surge in traffic

There is a sudden surge in traffic to this blog in the past week although I've not been posting anything new for a long time. No, I did not abandon this blog, I've been busy, okay? Actually, partly because I am lazy and partly I got what they call a writer's block.

Anyway, about the spike in traffic, I did a check on the stats and it seems like there is a sudden interest in the freeze dried durian which I posted late last year. Seems like a lot of people recently got to know about it and started looking for it.

If you guys find out where to buy it locally, do let me know.

Panoramic photos

Some panoramic photos that I created.


The sleeping Buddha in Dazu


A 5 picture stitch of the sleeping Buddha


Some rock carving in Dazu


Victoria Anna cruise ship

Related post:
Dazu Grottoes
Chongqing
Chengdu
The real firefox

Technorati Tags: Panoramic + Photo

Zhang Fei beef jerky

I love beef jerky, especially Oberto beef jerky. I used to eat a lot of those while in university. Oberto jerky comes in different flavors, from original to teriyaki. Its hard and chewy.

While visiting China, I found the Chinese version of beef jerky, Zhang Fei beef. Zhang Fei was a general from the three kingdoms period. So what does a historical general got to do with beef jerky? I have no idea, let me know if you do.


The big pack.


The individual pack.


The beef meat itself.

Actually, it doesn't really qualify as a jerky because its not really dried. The meat is still moist and tender. Zhang Fei beef also comes in a variety of flavors and they even have beef tendon. It taste really good! However, both Oberto and Zhang Fei are not cheap. Good stuff don't come cheap.

Technorati Tags: Oberto + Zhang Fei + Beef + Jerky

Oreo wafer stick

There is a new Oreo on the market and its not a cookie sandwiched with different filling in the middle. Its actually a wafer stick so you can't twist it and lick it, but you can still dunk it in milk if you prefer.



It taste just like the cookie but its a wafer. Yummy! The price is not cheap though, its 4 bucks for a pack of 5.

Technorati Tags: Oreo + Wafer

Dazu Grottoes

Dazu Grottoes, located in the Dazu county on mount Baoding, has a history dating back as far as the 7th century A.D. It is listed by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage Site in 1999 and is one of the four greatest stone sculpture treasure troves in China. It is a series of rock carvings depicting Buddhist beliefs. Its a long ride from Chongqing to the site, roughly 2 hours.







Thousand hands

See more photos at Flickr

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This is a Flickr badge showing photos in a set called Dazu Grottoes. Make your own badge here.

Related post:
Chongqing
Chengdu
The real firefox

Technorati Tags: Dazu Grottoes + China

Chongqing

Chongqing is totally different from Chengdu. The first thing I notice is the airport looks much more modern than Chengdu. Since we arrive late at night, we went straight to the hotel. On the way, we saw the beautiful Chongqing skyline with buildings all lit up with colorful lights. Chongqing is modern just like another major metropolitan cities you find in developed countries.


Chongqing skyline at night


Another night view

Some of the places we visited in Chongqing include

Ciqikou old town


Eling Park



Next stop Dazu Grottoes.

See more at Flickr

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This is a Flickr badge showing photos in a set called Chongqing. Make your own badge here.

Related post:
Chengdu
The real firefox

Technorati Tags: Chongqing + China

Chengdu

I recently went on a family trip to China. We took a direct flight to Chengdu. First thing that I notice is that the city is blanketed by haze. Did those bloody forest fire smoke from Indonesia blew all the way here? I doubt it. So it seems like Chengdu is a very foggy city.

The highlight of the trip is a cruise on the Yangtze river. Since we are a few days early, we went to a couple of attractions.

First stop, we went to Leshan and took a river cruise to admire the tallest stone Buddha. Leshan Giant Buddha is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1996.

The next day, we went to the Panda research base. This is the place to visit to see those cute Pandas, bar none.

It started to rain, so we had to leave before I have the chance to take a photo with a baby panda.

Next we went to Wuhouci temple and Jinli street. They are just next to each other. Jinli street was one of the busiest commercial boulevards during ancient times but have since been globalized by American culture.

Starbucks inside Jinli street

Next stop Chongqing city.

See more photos at Flickr

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Related post:
The real firefox

Technorati Tags: Chengdu + China

The real firefox

Will the real firefox please get on stage?



"You are thinking about the browser, ain't you? Well, I am much cuter than the browser! I am the real deal. Currently, I am staying in a research base in Chengdu, China with a bunch of lazy giant cousins."



"Since you are such a nice person, having taken an interest in getting to know me, I would like to introduce you to my family."



"And my girl."

Technorati Tags: Firefox + Panda + Chengdu

Upgraded to Blogger beta

Just upgraded to the beta. Already labeled some of the posts. Still lots of work to do.

Wasted all my effort on changing the theme previously, now I have to do it all over again.

Freeze dried Durian

At the beginning of this year, a relative brought me something call freeze dried durian from Thailand. It taste so good that it was all gone before I realize that I should take a picture to blog about it. Well, I just got a second chance.

Now before I continue, I have to say how did the Thais ever came out with this idea. They have durians, we have durians. Why didn't we ever thought of this?

This is how the packaging looks like. I suppose there are many different brands because the one that I got earlier this year is not this brand. However, the taste is just as good!

Individual packings. Two packs in all.

From the picture above, you can tell that it is not soft or soggy. It is not chewy either like how a dehydrated fruit typically is. It doesn't melt in your mouth. Its kinda puffy. The taste and aroma is superb if you are a durian lover but a nightmare for those who can't take durian.

So if you are ever in Thailand, remember to grab a bunch of it.

Technorati Tags: Freeze dried + Durian

Random Photos

Some random photos that I took.

Technorati Tags: Photo