Charming Penang in 'sparkling lightings'

PENANG’S main tourist spots such as the Esplanade and Gurney Drive will be all lit up for the coming Chinese New Year, said state Tourism Development chairman Danny Law.

“Our Chinese New Year lights will be similar to Hong Kong and Singapore’s fantastic Christmas lights which have become tourist attractions in their own right.

“The state aims to become the number one destination for tourists to come and celebrate the Year of the Tiger. The Street of Harmony and Chew Jetty are also among the places that will be lighted up,” he said after launching Prangin Mall’s new heritage stage yesterday.

Law said a host of activities such as the Chief Minister’s open house on the first day of Chinese New Year (Feb 14) in Komtar Walk and the Poh Hock Seah Association’s procession of 54 floats on Chap Goh Meh (Feb 28) had also been organised.

“Many people come to Penang for the Chinese New Year. The attraction here is the various Chinese cultural activities and also the traditional delicacies that can be found,” said Law.

Bling bling at Penang's famous landmarks? I love it...

Rapid Pg giving 2,000 free bus passes

RAPID Penang, in conjunction with the coming Thaipusam festival, will give out 2,000 one-way free passes worth RM8,000 to those who visit the company’s ‘thaneer panthal’ (refreshment stall).

Its creative and communications manager Yap Lee Ying said in a press statement that the passes would be handed out tomorrow and on Saturday from 4.30pm onwards at their stall along Jalan Western.

She also said 14 Rapid Penang shuttle buses would be used for the Thaipusam festival.

The buses will begin operations tomorrow from noon to 2am, and from 5am to midnight on Saturday.

For details on the bus routes, call Rapid ICIS Control Centre at 04-2381313.

The Star

FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour

The FIFA World Cup is back and bigger than before. One of the world’s most watched sporting events, matches are scheduled to take place from 11 June – 11 July in South Africa, and the excitement is palpable. But if you can’t wait to see your favourite team take to the pitch, then here’s the next best thing: the FIFA World Cup Trophy is coming to town!

The FIFA World Cup Trophy will be on display in KL as part of a whirlwind nine-month-long journey to 83 nations under the FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour by Coca-Cola. The tour began from the FIFA Headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland in late-September last year and has recently arrived in Jakarta, Indonesia after visiting every nation in Africa.

Just so you know, the current trophy is not the first FIFA World Cup Trophy. The first trophy, known as the Jules Rimet Cup, was used from 1930 to 1970. Although Brazil earned the right to keep it permanently after emerging as champions for the third time in Mexico City in 1974, the cup was stolen in 1983 and never recovered.

Hence, the current trophy was commissioned in time for the tenth World Cup in 1974. A change in regulations also means that the current trophy can’t be won outright. The winning team may only retain it until the next tournament whereupon they are awarded a gold-plated replica.

During the FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour by Coca-Cola, you will be able to view – but not touch – the real 18-carat solid gold trophy and have your photograph taken alongside the global icon.

You can even enjoy a full-on football extravaganza with celebrity appearances that includes a special commemorative 3D movie by FIFA.

Excited yet? Here are the details:

Date: Friday, 29 January 2010
Time: 10am - 10pm
Venue: Mid Valley Exhibition Centre

The trophy will also be on display at Kuala Lumpur International Airport for the public two hours before its flight for the tour's next stop, Noumea in New Caledonia.

Too bad I'm not in KL :(

'Avatar' passes 'Titanic' on worldwide chart

James Cameron is king of the world again.

20th Century Fox said Tuesday that the director's sci-fi spectacle, "Avatar," has passed his shipwreck saga "Titanic" to become the highest-grossing film worldwide.

As of Monday, "Avatar" had brought in $1.859 billion at the box office, passing the $1.843 billion worldwide record set by 1997's "Titanic."

"Titanic" remains the highest-grossing film domestically at $600.8 million.

"Avatar" has been No. 1 at the box office for six straight weeks with a domestic total of $554.9 million. It shot down "The Dark Knght" on Saturday to become the second highest-grossing film domestically.

"Avatar" has also mined $1.3 billion in international ticket sales, smashing the $1.24 billion mark previously set by "Titanic."

Good to the market, good to all the movie lovers, good for James's pocket :)

AP

Sim Leisure To Run Penang's Eco-Friendly Theme Park

The Penang government has selected Sim Leisure Consultants Sdn Bhd to run the RM120 million eco-friendly "Ecofun Theme Park Resort" project in Teluk Bahang.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the project, which was expected to boost the state's tourism industry, would be built on the 12.5 hectares belonging to the Penang Water Corp (PBA).

"If all goes well, we hope to finalise the project before Chinese New Year so that work can start, the latest by second quarter of this year," he told reporters after meeting representatives from Bahrain-based Gulf Finance House and Sim Leisure here Tuesday.

Lim said PBA selected Penang-based Sim Leisure through open tender.The company was involved in the design and construction of the Universal Studios Theme Park in Singapore.He said GFH has also shown a keen interest in the venture.

GFH executive director, Andrew Payne, said the company had work together with Sim Leisure to set up theme parks like the Wahoo Waterpark in Bahrain.

"We are here today to see the size of project and its proposal before making any decision to invest here," he said.

Meanwhile, Sim Leisure managing director, Sim Choo Kheng, said the theme park would have five components.

"There will be a fun hotel, water park, active park, animal farm and jungle adventure to ensure that visitors come and embrace the beauty of nature," he said, adding that Sim Leisure's intention was not destroy nature but to utilise and harness its beauty.

Bernama

Meet "Condomfiere"

Saw this rather funny and cute photo while reading the NST online...so just share the laughter with all readers :)

IT'S BIG AND IT'S FRENCH... A replica of a condom shaped balloon, the "Condomfiere," is set up at the Palais de la Decouverte on January 26, 2010 in Paris, as part of a campaign created by French association CondomFly. The 40 meters high Condomfiere will fly on every continent from next December 1st, the World Day against AIDS, to promote condom use and prevention against sexually transmitted diseases. -- AFP PHOTO/FRANCK FIFE

NST Online Pix

The return of Brown Paper Bag :)

THE brown paper grocery bag, once chucked aside in favour of plastic bags, is making a comeback at various grocery stores, convenience stores and mini markets all over Penang island.

Penang Chinese Commercial Union chairman Tan Cheng Eow said proprietors of 102 stores had agreed to try reverting to grocery bags in support of the state government’s Plastic Bags Reduction Campaign.

He added that the union, with the help of sponsors, was distributing 100,000 grocery bags for free to these outlets in response to the call for eco-friendly alternatives to plastic bags.

“This bag is reusable, if you don’t purposely tear it. It is made from recycled newspapers and is recyclable, and would disintegrate in about three months if wet,” he told a press conference on Thursday night.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng commended the operators for doing their part, adding that caring for the environment transcended age and gender.

He added that the 3Rs of recycling (reduce, reuse, recycle) could only be successful with the fourth R, and that was “responsibility”.

The Star

Formula One Teams agree to modify points again

Formula 1 teams have agreed to make another change to the scoring system ahead of the new season. With the top ten finishers picking up World Championship points this year, the latest version of the scheme features a 7-point gap between first and second places, rewarding race winners more.

With any change to the sporting regulations requiring the consent of all entrants, governing body the FIA is now likely to accept the proposal to which all teams have agreed. The first top 10 points system was introduced in mid-December, with 25 going the way of the winner and intervals of four then separating positions 1 to 4.

However, the latest version of the system would see the runner-up pocket 18 points as opposed to 20.

"I think there is some tuning to the middle range of the points system," Mercedes Team Principal Ross Brawn explained to Reuters at the team's 2010 presentation in Stuttgart on Monday.

"There is a bit of a disparity in the gaps…it has to be ratified by the F1 commission but that's the proposal."

The new system would see drivers scoring as follows:

Winner 25

Second 18

Third 15

Fourth 12

Fifth 10

Sixth 8

Seventh 6

Eighth 4

Ninth 2

Tenth 1

WHY can't they make a decision once and for all? Seems like they are always undecided...

Lee Chong Wei and Koo-Tan triumphs in Malaysia Super Series 2010 :)

AN overjoyed Lee Chong Wei kissed the Jalur Gemilang on his T-Shirt and it drew the loudest cheer in the packed Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil yesterday.

It was a moment to savour for the world number one Chong Wei when he lifted the Malaysian Open men’s singles title for the sixth time in a most convincing fashion.

The win ended his agonising wait for his first back-to-back Open badminton title in his career. He had won the Korean Open last week.

Yesterday, a cool and confident Chong Wei took only 34 minutes to blow away Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand with a 21-13, 21-7 win in one of the most lop-sided finals in the home tournament.

“I have never seen a big crowd like this for the Malaysian Open. My parents were here too to watch me play for the first time in the stadium. I am so happy,” said the 28-year-old Chong Wei.

HOTSHOTS Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong went through a roller coaster ride before nailing the Malaysian Open men’s doubles title at the Putra Stadium here yesterday.

The top seeds came through some tense moments before prevailing over China’s Guo Zhengdong-Xu Chen 21-15, 17-21, 21-16 in a 55-minute final.

It was the second time that the duo won a title when they were ranked as the world No.1 pair. They also pulled off a similar feat at the Denmark Open last year.

Malaysia last won the men’s doubles title in the Malaysian Open through Kien Keat-Boon Heong in 2007. Then they went on to dominate the world doubles game for some time that year.

Yesterday, the win did not come easy for the Malaysians with both Kien Keat and Boon Heong experiencing ups and downs in their game.

At times, Kien Keat will be so intelligent at the net and then squander easy points at the front.

Boon Heong was awesome in finding the empty space to hit down winners in the opening game but was awfully off in the second game.

It was a neck-and-neck battle in the decider and the tide turned in favour of the Malaysians after they took a 16-15 lead.

Lanky Xu Chen irritated the home fans by gesturing to the crowd to be quiet after taking the 15th point.

It riled up the crowd and provided the impetus for the Malaysians to rise to the occasion. And they did it in steely form to romp home for their first title of the year.

The Star

Rapid Rossi delighted with F1 lap time

Valentino Rossi was overjoyed - perhaps as much as onlookers were surprised - at the Circuit de Catalunya on Thursday as the MotoGP World Champion concluded his Ferrari Formula 1 test with a highly impressive lap time.

With Rossi borrowing the 2008 Ferrari as a reward for his latest, ninth motorcycle crown - his seventh in the top class - the start to the Yamaha rider's day was delayed due to heavy fog in the morning; however, the visibility soon improved as temperatures rose, with clear blue skies already gracing the track by noon.

With more than 600 kilometres (375 miles) notched up by the end of the two days, Rossi had lowered his Wednesday best effort of 1:25.200 to 1:21.900 on the penultimate lap - a improvement of 3.2 seconds in a day and, somewhat incredibly, only 87 thousands of a second off Kimi Räikkönen's 2008 pole position time in the same car.

"We saved the last three quarters of an hour to try a 'time attack' with little fuel and fresh tyres," 'The Doctor' explained, having enjoyed the run more than his previous Ferrari test at Mugello in November 2008. After winning last year's Catalan MotoGP event in stunning fashion - by passing team-mate Jorge Lorenzo at the last corner - the Italian expressed his love for the Montmeló venue.

"I would have given anything for such a lap time," he continued, with Felipe Massa due to take over at the wheel on Friday. "It's more fun here because it's a little bit easier. More effort is required at Mugello but this track here is really wonderful, with motorbikes and cars, although I have to say that Turn 10 is a little tight and you're braking much later."

gpupdate.net

HL Bank offers RM4.92b for EON Cap

HONG LEONG BANK BHD [] has made an offer to acquire the entire assets and liabilities of EON CAPITAL BHD [] for RM4.92 billion to be satisfied fully in cash.

HL Bank said on Thursday, Jan 21 the offer, which will be satisfied fully in cash, is based on the issued and paid-up share capital of EON Capital Bhd as at Sept 30, 2009 that translates to a price of RM 7.10 per EON Capital share.

The offer price of RM 7.10 per share represents a premium of 31.5% to the 180-day volume weighted average price (VWAP) of EON Capital shares as at Dec 16, 2009, being the date prior to the announcement of HLBB’s receipt of Bank Negara Malaysia’s approval to commence negotiations with EON Capital's substantial shareholders.

"The offer, if accepted, will result in the merger of HLBB and EON Capital that would lead to the creation of a new enlarged banking franchise with significant size and reach both in Malaysia and regionally," it said.

EON Cap shares closed three sen lower at RM7.10 on Thursday.

TheEdgeMalaysia

Current BLR in Malaysia ( updated 4th Jan 2010 )

Hmm...economy slowy recovering and thus, the rates for housing loans also not that favourable anymore. Below are the Base Lending Rates for the banks in Malaysia. Please note that these rates are unchanged since April 2009.

Source: www.bankinginfo.com.my

Chong Wei Wins First Ever Korean Open Title in STYLE!

Reigning World No.1 men's singles shuttler Datuk Lee Chong Wei opened the new year in style by bagging the Korean Open men's singles title after beating Denmark's Peter-Gade Christensen in straight sets at the Olympic Fencing Stadium in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday.

In the final, Chong Wei, the top seed, outplayed the Danish veteran 21-12, 21-11 who is also the defending champion, for his first ever win in the Korean Open Super Series title throughout his professional career.

En route to the final, Chong Wei had also registered straight set wins over Englishman Andrew Smith (round 1), Marc Zwiebler of Germany (round 2), Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand (quarter-final) and China's Chen Jin (semi-final).

With the title in the bag, the 27-year-old Chong Wei will head home to defend his Malaysian Open Super Series title which starts on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, despite the absence of their top stars like Lin Dan and Bao Chunlai, China were still a dominant force when its players clinching three of the five titles at stake.

Wang Shixian beat unseeded South Korean Sung Ji Hyun 21-10, 25-23 to clinch the women's singles title, top-seeded Cheng Shu-Zhao Yunlei lifted the women's doubles title after crushing Japanese pair Mizuki Fujii-Reika Kakiiwa 21-16, 21-15 while He Hanbin-Yu Yang took the mixed doubles title, beating another Chinese pair Tao Jiaming-Zhang Yawen 21-15, 21-16.

South Korean pair Jung Jae Sung-Lee Yong Dae, the top seeds in the championship, prevented another Chinese victory when they edged fifth seeded Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng 21-11, 14-21, 21-18 in three thrilling sets to send the home crowd into a frenzy.

Bernama 18th Jan 2010

Congrats to our Datuk Lee for such a superb play, but then again, it was time and time again disappointment from our backup groups of mens single. I wonder what would happen if suddenly Datuk LCW suddenly suffers loss of form or injury. His shoulders is getting heavier day by day...

Lotus to launch Formula One car on Feb. 12

Lotus, one of the new teams in Formula One, will launch its car Feb. 12, the team said Friday.
Team principal Tony Fernandes confirmed the launch date in a press release but did not say where the car would be unveiled.


Driver Heikko Kovalainen said earlier this week that Lotus will only take part in Formula One's last two testing sessions. He said the Malaysian team doesn't have enough spare parts to test properly at the first session at Valencia on Feb. 1-3.

Kovalainen said he and co-driver Jarno Trulli would join the test sessions in Jerez, Spain, from Feb. 17-20 and at the Catalunya Circuit in Barcelona from Feb. 25-28.


Lotus will be one of four new teams on the grid this season, along with Virgin, Campos Meta and USF1. The car launched next month will be the first under the famous Lotus F1 brand since 1994. It has been designed by Mike Gascoyne, formerly a designer with Jordan, Benetton/Renault, Toyota and Force India.

The 2010 season opens in Bahrain on March 14.

Hmm...let's hope Lotus F1 team come good in the new season new adventure. Or at least the best performer among the 4 new team :)

Federer, Serena Williams top list of Aust Open seeds

No. 1-ranked Roger Federer and Serena Williams top the lists of seeded players for the Australian Open, with Belgium’s Yanina Wickmayer the only highly-ranked player missing out.

The men’s seeds follow the ATP rankings exactly from Nos. 1-32; the women’s list follows the WTA rankings from Nos. 1-15, skips Wickmayer, then moves every player from Nos. 17-33 up a spot.

Wickmayer, who won the Auckland WTA tournament last week - her first event since her one-year ban for doping violations was overturned - is ranked 16th but is playing in the qualifying tournament.

Serena Williams has won the Australian title each odd-numbered year since 2003, beating No. 2 Dinara Safina in straight sets in last year’s final.

Safina is seeded second this year, followed by French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, U.S. Open finalist Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, Olympic champion Elena Dementieva and Venus Williams.

Organisers resisted giving former No. 1-ranked Justine Henin a seeding for her first Grand Slam event back from retirement.

The 27-year-old Henin, who won seven singles majors before quitting in May 2008 while holding the No. 1 ranking, made her tour comeback last week at the Brisbane International, where she lost in the final to fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters.

No. 2 Rafael Nadal, who beat Federer in the final here last year, is seeded second, followed by 2008 Australian champion Novak Djokovic, U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro and No. 5 Andy Murray.

Federer won the Australian Open in 2004, 2006 and 2007, losing to the eventual champion in ‘05, ‘08 and last year.

After losing to Nadal last year, Federer recovered to win the French Open and Wimbledon, increasing his career tally to 15 Grand Slam singles titles, beating Pete Sampras’ record of 14.

He completed a career Grand Slam of winning all four majors by winning the French for the first time. He lost the U.S. Open final to del Potro, ending a streak of five straight titles at New York.

My blog posting had been copied without my permission !!!

Today after lunch, my friend told me that one of my blog posting made it into the Penang Has It All facebook page. He thought I was writing up for them. I was caught by surprised because I didn't. It was the my posting of the 5th Penang International 12 Hours Walk updates. You can check out my posting here:

http://relax-mind.blogspot.com/2009/12/5th-penang-internation-12-hours-walk.html

Now here's the posting in the Penang Has It All facebook webpage :

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/event.php?eid=226502342177&index=1

Look at the description details of the event for their posting, it's EXACTLY the same as mine!!! The admin that posted the event in the facebook page simply just copied and pasted everything from my posting !!! And I was not being informed or asked about it at all.....what is this !!! Those info I got through emails and calls to the organizer and they just simply take at as their own work ????!!!!

They can at least inform me in advance that they are taking the info from my posting. But this is copying everything of my own words. I believe even 10 years old kid knows how to copy and change some words if they were to copy homework from their friends. Furthermore this is done by a General Facebook group which has thousands of fans and followers. What can I say? Sigh....

Merentas Desa Pulau Pinang 28th Feb 2010

Event : Merentas Desa Pulau Pinang (Penang Cross Country Run)

Location : Teluk Kumbar

Date : 28th Feb 2010

Time : 7:30am

Kenny Rogers Roasters Eating Day 13th Jan 2010

Yes, you heard me right at the post title, it's Kenny Rogers Roasters Eating Day today. Simply wear red today (can be anything from footwear to clothing to accessories) and purchase yourself a Kenny Rogers quarter meal, you will be rewarded with a FREE quarter meal. YES, it's a BUY 1 FREE 1, only at Kenny Rogers today.

Latest updates I got in Penang is that the shop in QB mall is so full until you don't even have a place to seat :) Good luck to those who are going during dinner time...

Penang steps up effort in heritage conservation

The Penang state government has set into motion various initiatives to ensure efforts towards the heritage conservation of George Town as a Unesco World Heritage site are on track.

After facing the threat that George Town could be delisted from the World Heritage list, the state government has now taken a multi-pronged approach to tackle the issues related to heritage conservation.

Penang local government committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow said that among the steps included the completion of the Penang draft local plan. This plan would govern details of land use throughout the island, including compliance within the heritage zone.

Chow said the draft local plan was ready and would be presented to the state planning committee on Thursday, Jan 14.

"Once the plan is approved and adopted by the state planning committee,it will be displayed for the public to provide comments and feedback," Chow said after a meeting with the Penang Island Municipal Council (MPPP) heads of departments and non-governmental organisation (NGO) representatives at the George Town world heritage office.

Also present was MPPP's secretary Patahiyah Ismail, who is also helming the duties of the council president.

The local plan is crucial for Penang as it provides detailed information on land use, including the description of every single lot, building and area in Penang and also provides for development restrictions and future development planning zones.

Chow said once the local plan was out, it would help resolve problems related to insufficient of enforcement and compliance by the public and also developers.

He said it would also help the state government address growing concerns of its heritage conservation efforts, especially as more properties owners within George Town's heritage zones carry out renovation works and building repairs that failed to comply with conservation guidelines.

The local plan will not only charter the management of George Town, but also the entire island.

Chow said the state government was also embarking on formulating two other plans for George Town to comply with Unesco requirements: the special area plan, and conservation management plan.

"We are also carrying out our own internal reviews of the state heritage enactment, which will be tabled at the next state legislative assembly sitting," Chow added.

Patahiyah meanwhile said that the MPPP was also in the midst of setting up a special heritage enforcement unit that will make rounds from next week to monitor anyone flouting heritage building and renovation guidelines.

"We are planning capacity building, which will entail beefing up our legal and enforcement systems; right now the officers concerned are going through the necessary training on heritage conservation and enforcement.

"We are also looking at beefing up building and planning processes, so that the owners of the heritage buildings will feel comfortable enough to apply.

"The current processes are complex and putting them off, so now our plans are to make the building and planning processes more friendly so people will be encouraged to apply when carrying out repairs and renovations and comply with the guidelines, instead of embarking on the works themselves without approvals," Patahiyah added.

She said the council would adopt an awareness educational approach in the interim without clamming down hard on those who flout the law as even many architects in the state seemed unaware or unconcerned about procedures related to heritage conservation.

The MPPP is also preparing a home-owners' manual for properties in the heritage zone to provide them guidelines should they want to carry out restoration and renovation works on their premises.

Good job and efforts by the state government, keep it up, I support you!

5th Penang International 12 Hours Walk Post Race report

OK, the walk is over. It's the 2nd day after the walk. My muscles are not that aching anymore and my blisters are gone. I can walk almost back like normal except for still cannot walk fast and still having some difficulties going up down the staircases. Before I proceed with my race report, there are few points I would like to highlight:

1. Distance calculation : Men's Open result is quite a mess. There aren't any proper updated result from time to time. They print out the result from time to time, but was told it was not updated. When I asked one of the official, the reply I got? "Ya, Men's Open result will be messy, we have 280+ participants in this category, so we are going to have a problem!" My final tally was not matching with what the official counted, but where and how to verify this? Disappointed...

2. Food serving : Overall, the food being served is OK, thanks to G-hotel's generous sponsor. However, they should have at least prepare more food knowing that this year's edition reached the record 740 participants! Seems like they only anticipate 500 people. At 9pm food serving, I didn't even have the chance to have any food! The 2nd round serving at 12am, by the time the queue reached me, the fried beehoon is gone! Only left banana and 1 slice of watermelon...thankfully there's this uncle approached me and offered to share half of his beehoon with me :) For the 3am and 6am food serving, I was already quite tired, so I went to queued up once I saw them preparing the food. Please be considerate a bit...

3. Drinks : 100 plus is the official drink sponsor, but somehow they only serve out the drink bit by bit after 12am. Again not enough allocation? Thank god we still have plain water, else surely will be a sorry state for all walkers...

4. Certificate of Participant : When you walked for 12 hours (I'm counting out those stopping or leaving early), you could at least expect a much higher quality cert that comes with the finisher medal. But somehow this round, we are only given a blank cert without stating our final distances we covered and our position in our own category. They should have at least make it more professional. After all, it was called an International event :(

OK, enough complains, now on to my race report, I will try to make it simple and short, since I'm still quite upset about the final result. My friends was teasing me what's the point of walking so hard getting pain all over and still ended up with nothing? Haiz...

1st - 2nd hours:

Still energetic, walking -pace very fast. Was almost like my Starwalk pace, even though I tried to slowed down a bit knowing that I'm walking for 12 hours instead of 1! Didn't managed to take any food after 1 hour since it was super crowded. At the end of the 2 hour, I completed 15 laps...1 round short of my target.

3rd - 4th hours:

Started to feel boring. Still going fast but not at the pace of my first 2 hours. Managed to tag along one of the ex-colleague and walked together with him for at least a good 4-5 laps. He slowed down in the end and I keep on going. At the end of 4th hour, added in another 12 laps, again 1 short of my target.

5th - 6th hours:
OK, now is the struggling time. Both legs are so tired and felt numb. I stopped by after 4th hour for some food, but there's no more food left...only fruits...haiz. At this moment, I was telling myself to keep pushing. My pace is dropping fast. Each time passing the clock tower, I was looking at the time. I'm trying to divide my laps covered into each hour and every 30 minutes. My target is at least 10 laps every 2 hours, so I will go a bit slower for the first 5 laps of every hour, and faster a bit if I still have time left to push for lap no 11. At the end of the 2 hour internal, I added in 11 more laps, total now is 38 laps.

7th - 8th hours:
This is killing me period! My sleepiness was hovering me every single moment. Every lap while walking, I was yawning big time. The crowd was reduced to merely 100+ at this time I guessed. Hungry and sleepy, I couldn't take it anymore and stopped by to queue for food at 3am. Was a bit napping while downing my food! Poor fella...At the end of 8th hour, I was adding in my 49th lap.

9th - 10th hours:

The latest results for all other category have been posted up, but not the men's open one. Deep in my heart, I was wondering, there must be some serious calculation error. I do not really care anymore about the laps, just wanted to cover as much as possible and pray that 8am faster arrive. Met with Mr Jordan Lee, one of the main man for this event at around 530am, he was telling me "Fight your own race, do not compare..." I just replied with a simple smile. The result finally came, I stopped short to check out my latest result...completed 34 laps at 430am????!!!! After 10 hours, I already did 60 laps and official only counted 34 at the 8+ hour internal....

11th - 12 hours:

My motivation is at the lowest point. It's almost gone. I do not have the urge to continue anymore. I felt that it's better for me to just sit down and rest for the remaining 2 hours without wasting my time, effort and pains I have to suffer. My friend told me not to care for the result anymore, just follow our own calculation. I stopped by for meal at 6am, after that slowly carried on. I knew that I will not be able to hit 10 laps anymore for the last 2 hours, so I'm just targeting 8 will do. In the end, I did...I'm just glad it's over...

Still have 8 minutes on the clock, but I don't think I will be able to put in another lap, so that's it for me. Stopped by at the food tent to get some plain water and pastry, then sitting down at the finishing line eating while watching the final clock countdown. I then proceed to changed my smelly t-shirt and shoes and went to take few cups of Milo before lining up for my medal and cert. The result at 730am puts me at position 15 with 58 laps covered, but deep down within, I just don't really care anymore...

Got my medal and cert, then proceed to wait for the lucky draw. Empty handed as expected, I just wanted to go home bath and rest that very moment. After the event finished, saying bye bye to my friends and while I was walking towards the main road to wait for my wifey, she arrived just in time. Felt so glad seeing her, just like looking at my savour :) Slowly walked like an uncle towards the car, putting my stuff at the back seat, hop on to the front seat and then with 1 glance backwards, saying bye bye to the venue I have walked almost non-stop for the past 12 hours...

MAS's 'Everyday Low Fares starts today

Malaysia Airlines (MAS) will be introducing its first Everyday Low Fares for domestic and international flights tomorrow until Jan 15.

Its Senior General Manager Network and Revenue Management Dr Amin Khan said these low air fares are for domestic routes travel from Feb 22 to Dec 15 and from Feb 22 to Dec 17 for international sectors.

"Since we introduced Everyday Low Fares last year, we have sold more than RM350 million worth of tickets with the three most popular destinations for Malaysians being London, Melbourne and Hong Kong," he said in a statement Sunday.

According to Dr Amin, from tomorrow until Jan 15, travelers bound for Hong Kong could fly to the city for only RM419 one way.

Travellers within Peninsular Malaysia could enjoy an amazing all inclusive one-way fares starting as low as RM89, RM193 for Asean destinations, RM419 to China and RM469 to the India Sub-Continent, he said.

He said the Everyday Low Fares was a good opportunity to grab some bargain airfares especially in the improving economic climate.

"Customers can enjoy the best fares now and travel later as we have provided the flexibility of a 10-month travel period," he added.

To make the deal sweeter, Dr Amin said that MASholidays is offering attractive holiday packages within the same booking and travelling period in conjunction with this campaign, offering travellers tour packages to attractive beaches, ecotourism sites, heritage and trendy tourist destinations such as Penang (from RM354), Bali (from RM694), Bangkok (from RM679) and Hong Kong (from RM1470).

Travellers can book and check out other packages at www.masholidayz.com, he said.

Hmm...every now and then, we will have this kind of war price between MAS and AirAsia...good for us! :)