Pesta Pulau Pinang : 21st Nov - 31st Dec 2009

Saturday, 21 November 2009 to Thursday, 31 December 2009
Venue: Tapak Pesta, Sungai Nibong
Organizer: Penang State Government
Tel: 04-2623505
Operation hours: 6pm to 11.30pm

A month-long fun fair with rides, games and a trade exhibition to cater for the whole family. The event actually started last Saturday, but you can always pick the date to go based on your preferred show on respective date :)

Schedule for Pesta Pulau Pinang:
21st Nov 2009 - Concert Dangdut - Band Chadni
22nd Nov 2009 - Artist: Deb Gab C
23rd Nov 2009 - Hip Hop Night / Abaracadabra
24th Nov 2009 -Band MPSBS
25th Nov 2009 - Concert Malam 60-an SP Group
26th Nov 2009 - Nasyid: Kumpulan Saujana
27th Nov 2009 - Local Artist: Fire Bird
28th Nov 2009 - Presenting Artists: Dkna, Rini, Aiza, Aril AF / Band Pengiring
29th Nov 2009 - Malam Perasmian Pesta Pulau Pinang 2009
30th Nov 2009 - Cultural Performance - Kebudayaan SUMUT Pemeintah Kabupaten Serdang Bedagai
1st Dec 2009 - Shanghai International Troupe & Cultural Performance by Kebudayaan SUMUT
2nd Dec 2009 - Bintang Pesta (Saringan)
3rd Dec 2009 - Concert Tom Tom Bak (First Step & The Young)
4th Dec 2009 - Chinese Singing Contest (Final)
5th Dec 2009 - Bintang Kecil RTM Pesta 2009 (Saringan)
6th Dec 2009 - Bintang Kecil RTM Pesta 2009 (Final)
7th Dec 2009 - Local Artists
8th Dec 2009 - Traditional Boria performance
9th Dec 2009 - Traditional Boria performance
10th Dec 2009 - Traditional Boria performance
11th Dec 2009 - Bintang Pesta (Saringan)
12th Dec 2009 - Artist: Kumpulan Spider
13th Dec 2009 - Artist: Helmi The Gimik / Band Pengiing
14th Dec 2009 - Traditinal Singing and modern pertandingn Kugiran Maksak Pulau Pinang
15th Dec 2009 - Traditinal Singing and modern pertandingn Kugiran Maksak Pulau Pinang
16th Dec 2009 - Cultural Keudayaan Pemerintah Kabupaten Labuhan Batu, Sumatera Utara
17th Dec 2009 - Nasyid: Kumpulan Hijjaz & Persembahan Kebudayaan Pemerintah Kabupaten Labuhan Batu, Sumatera Utara
18th Dec 2009 - P Ramlee Broadway
19th Dec 2009 - Festival Combat Sports
20th Dec 2009 - Local Artists
21st Dec 2009 - Festival Silat
22nd Dec 2009 - Bintang Pesta 2009 (Semi Final)
23rd Dec 2009 - Bintang Pesta 2009 (Final)
24th Dec 2009 - Presenting Artist: Nabil
25th Dec 2009 - Preseting Artists: Wings
26th Dec 2009 - Presenting Artists: Hujan / Band Pengiring
27th Dec 2009 - Presenting Artists: Farahwahida, Zehra, Kat Mentor, Pija Mentor / Band Pengiring
28th Dec 2009 - Presenting Artists: Mila
29th Dec 2009 - Presenting Artists: Kristal & Butterfly
30th Dec 2009 - Presenting Artists: Ani, Shikin, Haiza, Mama/Rini / 2 Irama
31st Dec 2009 - Presenting ARtist: Bunkface & XPDC

Charity Walk with TYT : 29th Nov 2009

Charity Walk With TYT
Date: 29 November 2009 (Sunday)

Time: 7:15am

Venue: Botanical Garden

Distance: 1km

Telephone: 012-4882419

From some blogs and report, you'll get a chance to win some lucky draws in the form of air flights - 5 tickets to Medan, Phuket, Langkawi, Subang and Acheh complimentary from Firefly.

If you are too free and want a slow morning walk, why not? :)

5th Penang International 12 Hours Walk : 9th - 10th Jan 2010

Date: 9 January 2010 ~ 8pm 10 January 2010 ~ 8am

Venue: Esplanade, Georgetown, Penang

Distance: How far you do within 12hour.

Category: 6 category - 3 for men and 3 for women.

I joined this event back in 2006. It was rm40 per entry that time, but these year it's only rm20. Somehow this so called International event is a bit let down due to lack of sponsorship and not so well-organized back then. Hopefully this time around can be a good and nice event :)

Penang Beach Carnival 2009 : Penang Beach Run @ 28 Nov 2009

Date: 28 Nov 2009

Time: 7:30am

Venue: Golden Sands, Batu Ferringhi

Distance: 10km

Website: www.msnpp.com.my

This run is part of the Beach Carnival 2009 in Penang. But be careful though, running on the sands can easily injured your leg if you don't land your foot properly. Good luck and enjoy the fun!

Sabbatical year for Räikkönen in 2010

After nine years in Formula One, Kimi Räikkönen will not appear on next season's grid, according to his manager. Having been encouraged to leave Ferrari in order to make way for Fernando Alonso, the Finn's only serious option was believed to be McLaren although negotiating has now seemingly come to an end.

"The option in Formula One was to be at McLaren or nothing," driver Manager Steve Robertson told Finnish newspaper Turun Sanomat. "Kimi and McLaren were unable to come to an agreement, so he will not drive in Formula One, at least not in 2010."

With the Mercedes team - formerly Brawn - unwilling to pay any driver too high an amount of money and McLaren's limit unlikely to be as high as that of Ferrari, Räikkönen will in fact earn more by not racing next season, as Ferrari must pay off the remaining year of prematurely terminated contract.

Hmm...sounds good to me that he's earning more by not racing next year, but the question is....will it just be a 1 year stop or will turn into a permanent retirement from F1? I really hope to see Kimi back...

Champions Line-Up at McLaren for 2010

McLaren will boast an all British Champion line-up next season after Jenson Button's move from Brawn was confirmed on Wednesday. With the latest two title holders racing in the same colours in 2010, the Woking team will house two Champions for the first time since Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna in 1989.

With Button having accepted a significant pay cut ahead of this season and then desiring a rise to £6m for next season, his crown-clinching Brawn team - now Mercedes Grand Prix - refused this, with demands eventually being met at McLaren, which continues to be a customer of the German engine manufacturer for at least another six seasons.

Although the amount of years is unspecified at this stage, the Button-McLaren contract has been confirmed as a 'multi-year deal' as a team signs to the two most recent Champion for the first time in F1 history. The last time two Champions were partnered in one team was another all-British affair with Graham Hill and Jim Clark being Lotus team-mates in 1968.

Wow...will we see the repeat of teammate racing each other as in Hamilton-Alonso few years back??? Wait and see...

Malaysia slides 9 places to 56th spot in 2009 Corruption Perceptions Index

Facts don't lie. People are not stupid! We have our own capabilities to see and judge what's good and what's supposed to be done in many suspectable and brought up issues. Personally, I'm not surprised we fared worse this year...

Malaysia dropped nine places to 56th position out of 180 countries surveyed in the Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2009, the anti-corruption watchdog announced yesterday.

Malaysia’s decline from 47th spot in 2008 is the steepest among the Asean countries in the ranking this year, although it fares better than all member countries except Singapore (3rd) and Brunei (39th), which is participating for the first time.

In the latest survey, Malaysia scored 4.5 points out of 10, where 0 means highly corrupt, and 10 is the best possible score.

“A fall of 0.6 from 5.1 in 2008 to 4.5 in 2009 is alarming not only to the people of Malaysia but also the government of the day,” said Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) president Datuk Paul Low at a press conference here to announce the survey results.

He attributed Malaysia’s poorer showing to the perception that there had been little progress in combating corruption and that political will was lacking in implementing effective anti-corruption measures.

“There are several examples in the survey period giving rise to grave concern,” said Low.

“They include no action being taken against parties implicated in tampering in the appointment of judges, the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) fiasco, where the cost rose from an estimated RM1.1 billion to RM4.7 billion and a possible RM12.5 billion, and political crossovers particularly in Perak.”

So it's the government still going to act dumb and do nothing? Or how much and what 'actions' will be taken after this survey results is being widely debated among us? Seat back and wait to see what's going to happen...