Definitely sexist and chauvinistic pigs

If a man had premarital sex, it's almost likely that he can get away with it , but not a woman???? f*cking idiot this whole thing. Double standard definitely. And those women who are that bloody ineducated or too excited or i dunno, unaware of their body system maybe that they easily get pregnant when they did it? A lot of women know how to protect themselves from such unbecoming atrocity. However, thats not exactly my point here. I am more concerned on those women who have done it as a matter of mutual consent and then freaked out when it comes to marrying someone who did not know of her own past? Those who were raped, molested and so on are excused and I rest my case on them knowing that it happened beyond their power and willingness.

Please read the article below.


**********************************************************************************

By Alexandra Steigrad
Sun Apr 29, 9:49 PM ET

Muslim women in France regain virginity in clinics

PARIS (Reuters) -- Sitting in a cafe near the Champs Elysees, the 26-year-old French-born woman of Algerian descent looks like any other Parisian. But two months ago, she did something none of her friends have done.

She had her hymen re-sewn, technically making her a virgin again.

"I'm glad I had it done," said the woman, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity. "I wanted to reconstruct part of my life, to reconstruct myself so that I could feel better about myself."

This 30-minute outpatient procedure, called "hymenoplasty" and costing between 1,500 and 3,000 euros ($2,000-$4,000), is increasingly popular among young women of North African descent in France.


No exact figures exist to say how many such operations are done, but the woman's surgeon says he gets three to five queries and performs one to three hymenoplasties each week. Demand has been rising for the past three or four years.

Doctor Marc Abecassis, whose office is near the chic Champs Elysees, sees the rise in religion among France's five million Muslims fuelling this trend. His patients are between 18 and 45 years old, Muslim, born both in France and in North Africa.

"Many of my patients are caught between two worlds," said Abecassis. They have had sex already but are expected to be virgins at marriage according to a custom that he called "cultural and traditional, with enormous family pressure."

For this woman, the decision to have the surgery came after she broke up with a boyfriend who had pressured her into having sex. Unable to cope with breaking family tradition, she felt a hymenoplasty would help put her life back together again.

Another of Abecassis' patients, a 22-year-old Algerian immigrant who asked to be called Karima, said most young women had the operation to respect their culture or family tradition, not for religious reasons.

In fact, neither woman is a practicing Muslim. They dress, speak and act like other young Parisians, but are also part of a growing silent group of women who juggle traditional Muslim and modern French values.

All the women who spoke to Reuters did so condition that their identities not be revealed.

DON'T DISAPPOINT THE FIANCE

Karima also lost her virginity to an ex-boyfriend. She plans to marry soon and her fiance expects her to be a virgin. So last month, she commuted in from an eastern suburb of Paris, where she lives with her parents, and had the surgery.

The next day she was back at work. "I don't want to disappoint my fiance," she said, adjusting her glasses and brushing her highlighted brown hair from her face. "I wouldn't have had the surgery if I hadn't met him."

A leading Muslim spokesman said Islam says bride and groom should be virgins before marriage, but did not take a clear stand for or against hymenoplasties.

"If someone committed a sin, the essential thing is to repent," said Lhaj Thami Breze, head of the Union of French Islamic Organizations.

For many doctors, resewing the hymen goes against their ideals of sexual freedom and personal liberty.

"The surgery is an attack on women's dignity," said Professor Jacques Lansac, president of The National College of Gynaecologists and Obstetricians of France. "We will not take part in a market that places value on the quality of a woman -- if she's good or not. It is an attack on women's liberty."

He also argued that any doctor who performed these operations at state hospitals violated France's legal separation of church and state.

The church-state issue flared up in 2004 when France passed a law banning religious garb, notably headscarves, from state primary and secondary schools.

Since then, Abecassis said, some Muslims in France have been putting much more emphasis on certain customs as a way of expressing their identity. "Today it's the two 'V's' -- veil and virginity," he said. "It's a social phenomenon."

Surprisingly, French social security reimburses some of the cost of the operation in cases of rape or trauma. "Ninety-nine percent of the time, the claim is a fraud," he added.

Still, Abecassis defended the operations and said he helped patients who could not pay his 2,500 euro fee. "This surgery gives them another chance," he said. "It's a rehabilitation. For many, it's the only solution."

ANOTHER PATIENT AWAITS

Sitting in the same cafe, a 19-year-old Moroccan studying in Paris who asked to be called Amel spoke just before her first consultation with Abecassis.

"I dated a boy when I was 15 and I didn't even realize what had happened," she said, referring to her first and only sexual experience. "I didn't understand what I did."

Her parents introduced her to a young man earlier this year, and they plan to wed when she returns to Morocco in June. But he would not accept a non-virgin, so she needs the operation soon.

Amel is scraping together the monthly allowance sent by her parents and emptying her savings account to pay for it. Two friends back home will lend her the remaining 1,000 euros.

"If my mother ever found out about this, she would have a mental breakdown," Amel said. "I don't want to have this surgery, but I don't have any choice."


END OF THE ARTICLE
************************************************************************



That guy definitely had sex before ....thats how they would find out and decide whether a girl is still a virgin or not by judging whether her hymen is well intact or not once the man performs the "dukhul" (arabic for intercourse). However, what the hell is this tradition if it just remained as tradition???? In islam, both men and women are punished equally for committing fornication, i.e. zina. If they are unmarried couple and are caught practising zina, the shariah court will decide that they get 100 canes each. And if they are adulterers, they get stoned to death. However, Islam also preaches forgiveness through unconditional repenting.

By the way, not all non-virgin women are that "loose" during penetration. The vaginal muscles will get intact after a long rest and through practising the right exercise that increases the tightness of it. Nevertheless, there are some women who are unfortunate enough to lose the muscle flexibility once the "damage" has been done.

Having said all that, I am not condoning the practise of the premarital sex. I just think all that bigotry, chauvinism and sexism that occur as a matter of preserving the whole virgin idea is totally tactless. They arent doing it for the sake of the religion. It's more of trying to be kind not to hurt the future groom's ego and inflate it even more once he thinks that his bride is untouched throughout her life and he's the first man ever to "discover" her. What a load of bollocks. Seriously!

New Agong day and a volcano sightseeing

The thirteenth Agong, i.e. the Grand Sultan of Malaysia, Duli Yang Maha Mulia Seri Paduka Baginda Yang Di Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan, a sultan of Terengganu state of Malaysia has been installed, glorified, and officially invested this morning in a full Malay Sultanate Custom Practice at Istana Negara (National Palace), Kuala Lumpur.

It's one of the national traditions that one of the sultans from the 9 sultanate states will be elected as the Grand Sultan, The Yang Di Pertuan Agong to rule the constitutional government, National Ruler of Islam, opening and closing of the Parliament and in general, as the official Ruler of Malaysia for a five year period.

Tuanku Mizan is the second Agong to be crowned and glorified at a younger age below 50 years old (he is 47 this year) after the late Sultan of Perlis, AlMarhum Tuanku Syed Putra Jamalullail.

Speaking of coronation day, i tiba-tiba teringat Coronation Street. Not that i am a loyal follower of british soaps but heck, there was a time (sometimes laa when there's not much to watch on the telly and saje suka2 develop some interest in watching some lower middle class and working class british doing their best dramatic scenes, shouting, hanging out in their local pub and so on) when i did switch to Eastender (1st choice, on the basis of dwelling in london but a westender naturally ) and then Coronation Street, the oldest of all the soaps and still running after half a century with the same theme tune and those boring and gloomy Manchester weatherview from the rooftop.


********************************************************************************

I went to Bandung last week. One of the must-see places there is the Mount Tangkuban Parahu (Sundanese words literally translated as perahu tertangkup in malay or in english a capsized perahu boat or an upturned wooden boat). It is located at the north of bandung, in the west provincial region in Java Island of Indonesia. It is thought to be a dormant volcano but is gradually gaining its active level day by day. We can actually smell the strong, pungent smell of sulfur, which is one of the indications that a volcano is still remaining active. Some whitish and yellowish smokes continuously emitting from that volcano crater too.

Tangkuban Parahu Volcano crater view from the top side.

Hello people, come and visit this famous volcano in Bandung.

This Tangkuban Parahu volcano is reported to have last erupted back in 1983, that was 24 years ago. In 2005, this area was closed due to a sudden increasing activity and bulding up of gases measured by the Javanese volcanologists as a result of the tectonic activity sensed at the Anak Krakatoa , another active volcano in the southern tip of the Sumatra Island.

* Next update, the blast from the past as tagged by Pugly.

some rock legends and robbie williams

Guns N'Roses (GNR) jamming on Patience. Slash playing with a real snake:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEzuC5UoM8g




GNR classic: November Rain. Axl Roses on the piano and Slash doing his classic solo guitar jamming in front of a church in the middle of a desert:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLUmz3ptLX0




Nirvana classic headbanging Lithium:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUUHNf0S5cA



Another huge signature Nirvana song: Smells like teen spirit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1Qdcdw22Sw




Aerosmith:Crying......and then there's alicia silverstone and stephen dorff in it...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yROJuGAY0KI




Robbie Williams' Rock DJ uncut. You've been warned. This is a VERY VERY CHEEKY and disturbing music video :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJ-MZUozWqE



Robbie William's first ever solo hit Angel back in 1997. That was the year I first stepped on the British soil. Hello Bradford, loadsa memories....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkZWqnIZk1A



Come on Robbie, forget that awful RudeBox. Compose yourself, clean up and be the entertainer that you are born to be!!!!

Another one of the most cherished days

Alhamdulillah, i got promoted to a senior lecturer position under a new PhD graduate scheme. Normally you gotta undergo a PTK 3 before u reach such position. But alhamdulillah, since my university intended to practise a new policy, so here i am unknowingly to myself even, was made a senior. I dont think i am fully eligible for such position knowing that I still owe some papers for publications both for the local as well as the international journals. But alhamdulillah, after a long wait, i.e. 12 months, i think i do deserve it.

At Gunung Mat Chinchang summit, Langkawi Island, last year's aidil fitri, having reached there by the cable car. I was doing my best: I am the king of the world pose. Heck, I looked more like a giantess. But a sexayyy looking giantess indeed.



*****************************************************

That was me in summer 2004 with my postdoc-ex-officemate, Ming Fang at Royal Albert Hall (RAH) square:

Inshallah, this May 2007, I shall be there again for my long-awaited graduation ceremony. My college is right opposite to where I stand and RAH has served as the main hall for all the graduation ceremonies albeit becoming wholly-privatised few years back. It is part of the college's tradition as RAH was formerly a very close affiliate for soooo many years. This year too marked the centennial celebration of the college (click here) and I felt so honoured that I am gonna be part of the history by being there. From my humble beginning in the UK where i had my 1st british tertiary education at the University of Bradford in 1997, I have never forgotten my true aspiration to be part of Imperial College. And so, after attaining my 1st degree in Bradford, I moved on a step further and tried my luck by applying to pursue my PhD studies at Imperial. Alhamdulillah, I was accepted and I will never forget those feelings when i first registered myself as a student there. You can imagine a black choir in church singing : "Oh happy day" in the background. How jubilant indeed.

Somehow, I still believe that the saying :"the best thing comes to those who waits" works almost well enough for me. Nevertheless, I have added a few more words to it and now it becomes: "the best thing comes to those who waits with patience, perseverance, prayers and tawakkal".

King Khan of Bollywood

We grew to like him in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge ( the good heart shall win the bride). Now, he follows a step closer to the Big Guy himself, Amitabh Bachchan (aka Big B) to be immortalised in a form of a wax statue at the world-famous london wax museum, Madame Tussauds. This man, Shah Rukh Khan (aka King Khan or SRK) has found his own niche to be the second hindi origin actor to be adorned by the visitors from around the world at the aforementioned wax museum.

Photo source: BBC

With reference to the picture above, guess which is the fake one? I'd say, both of them are their very own alter ego. While Shah Rukh Khan claimed that he is very much a regular guy in the real life, his fans would still look at him as one of the highest paid actors in Bollywood.

It goes to show that great talents aren't such a waste even if you are not the best looking guy ever graced the Bollywood scenes. I had to admit that i did enjoy many of his movies. Those signature whizzing before laughing, that stutters when he tried to look cute, sleek back combing hair style, eyebrow arching, and those dimples....Lets hope that he'll keep on selecting a good role to maintain his box-office movie ratings and hence, his revered status as one of the living Bollywood legends.

Maulid-ur-rasool 1428 H

12 Rabiul Awal 1428 H, bersamaan 31 March 2007, Sabtu, hari memperingati kelahiran (maulid, that is the birth ) Nabi Muhammad Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam.

Nasheed popular Maulidur Rasul in malaysia:

Junjungan Mulia

( 1 )
Tercipta satu lembaran sejarah
Di tanah suci Kota Mekah
Hari yang mulia penuh saa'adah
Bermulalah sebuah kisah

( 2 )
Malam isnin subuh yang indah
Dua belas rabiul'awal yang cerah
Dua puluh april tahun gajah
Lahirlah zuriat yang saa'adah

Abdullah nama bapanya
Siti Aminah ibunya
Riang gembira menyambutnya
Lahirnya putra yang utama

( ulang 1 & 2 )

Muhammad nama diberi
Gelaran yang terpuji
Nikmat Illahi sama disyukuri
Terima putra yang berbakti

( ulang 1 & 2 )

Keadaan yatim anak mulia
Lahirnya bawa cahaya
Alam derita jadi gembira
Terima junjungan mulia

( ulang 1 & 2 )

Translation to the nasheed:

It has been created this history,
At the holy land of Makkah
What a holy day full of happiness
This tale thus began.

On the Monday eve, on an enchanting dawn
On a bright day of 12 Rabiul Awal
20 April, in the Year of Elephant,
A child was born, such happiness

Abdullah was his father's name
Siti Aminah was his mother
Full of joy and happiness at his birth
On receiving a remarkable son

Muhammad was his given name
The most praised one that is the meaning
All were very grateful to Allah's blessings
On receiving a son full of good deeds

Raised as an orphan this holy son
His birth radiated lights
The gloomy world became glorious
On receiving the holy one

Zanji maulid:

Sallallahu Ala Muhammad
Sallallahu Alayhi Wassalam
Sallallahu Ala Muhammad
Sallallahu Alayhi Wassalam

Yaa Nabi Salaam 'alaika
Yaa Rasul Salaam 'alaika
Yaa Habib Salaam 'alaika
Salawaatu'llah 'alaika

Ashraqa'l Badru 'alaina
Fakhtafat Minhu'l Buduru
Mithla Husnika Maa Ra'aina
Qattu Yaa Wajhas-Suroori

Anta Shamsun Anta Badrun
Anta Noorun Fawqa Noori
Anta Ikseerun wa Ghaali
Anta Misbaahu's-Sudoori

Yaa Habibee Yaa Muhammad
Yaa 'Arusa'l Khaafiqayni
Yaa Muayyad Yaa Mumajjad
Yaa Imama'l Qiblataini

Man-ra'aa Wajhaaka Yas'ad
Yaa Kareem al-Waalidaini
Hawdhuka's-Saafi'l Mubarrad
Wirdunaa Yawm an Nushoori

Translation to the zanji:

May Allah's blessings be on Muhammad,
May Allah's blessings and peace be on him.
May Allah's blessings be on Muhammad,
May Allah's blessings and peace be on him


Salutations on you, O Prophet
Salutations on you, O Messenger of Allah
Salutations on you, O Beloved
Blessings of Allah be upon you.


A full moon rises over us
The other moon disappears
We never saw the like of your beauty
O face of gladness

You are the sun, you are the moon
You are light upon lights
You are gold and even more priceless
You are the light of hearts

O my beloved, O Muhammad
O star of east and west
O supporter, O praised one
O leader of both Qiblas

Whoever sees your face, gets happiness
O the kind one to both parents
Your clear and cool fountain
Is our goal on the Day of Reckoning

25th March: Elton John turned 60 and PDRM 200 years old

Her bitchiness, Sir Elton John, on the 60th birthday

May the queen of tart, bitches, drags, trannies, poofs and fairies, Sir Elton John be blessed with more love and happiness: with his love, David Furnish, more killer songs, lovely faux hairdo, flamboyant dresses and perhaps to remain as the only gay in the Windsor village (yeah, tell that to Daffyd (Matt Lucas) of Little Britain, that pompous and self-absorbed Welsh poof). He's still standing , still can feel the love tonight, still partying coz thats what friends are for....


For the man who sold more than 250 million records around the world, we salute you.
**********************************************************************************

200 years PDRM

The Royal Malaysia Police Force, or known locally as Polis DiRaja Malaysia, PDRM has just celebrated its 200 years anniversary. From what I was told by those policemen at Balai Polis Kajang, the 200 years was marked by the 1st police force brought over to Penang shore in 1807 by the British colonials (more on the history, click here). It was documented however that the Malay kingdom has formed a security force way before that, i.e during the Melaka Empire in the 14th century all the way to Johore and other states sultanates.

The PDRM symbol still embodies the British Empire symbol of the British Royalty Crown, similar to the Royal Malaysia Army force, TDRM.

Times Featuring: London Calling

From Times OnlineMarch 13, 2007 (click here for article source)


London calling

It’s cool, classy, cosmopolitan — and it should secede from the UK. Business Editor James Harding on why London is the new capital of the world. Do you think he is right? Post your views using the form below James Harding (this part is meant for posting on The Times only).

A couple of years ago, a friend of mine bought a one bedroom flat in Chalcot Square in Primrose Hill, London NW1. He paid £480,000 — just less than one million dollars. As I was living in the States at the time and flabbergasted by the price, he explained: “Chalcot Square is the best place in Primrose Hill, which is the nicest part of London, which is the coolest city on earth.” Location, location, location. “This is the best property on the planet.”

In fact, he was a few miles off. The most prized piece of real estate on God’s green earth has a view of the Serpentine rather than of Joan Bakewell’s living room. The Candy brothers, two upmarket property developers, have started selling flats at Number One Hyde Park for £4,200 a square foot. That means £84 million — $164 million — for a nice, roomy apartment.

Why? Because London is, indeed, the coolest city on earth. The capital of the world. New York, like Paris, has become a mini-break destination, a playground for grown-ups who enjoy the same standard tourist menu: a walk around Central Park; a shopping trip in SoHo; an entertaining, if unsurprising, show on Broadway; and a very large steak.

The world loves a long weekend in New York but, these days, prefers to make its home in London. New York has the nostalgia, London the future. New York defines the metropolitan, London the cosmopolitan.

And the reason for this is that foreigners in New York are, always, just that. The city treats even its long-term residents from abroad as visitors, welcomed on to the cocktail circuit, perhaps even to a share of a house in the Hamptons, but never to the power-broking tables at the Four Seasons. “New York is always American,” says Bill Roedy, the American who has spent the past 15 years in the UK running MTV world-wide. “Like Paris is French, Moscow is Russian, New York is American.”

London, on the other hand, is passport-blind. It does not have the luxury of being the de facto capital of a continental economy. So, it is international: it treats its visitors as citizens, as players.

Consider Chelsea Football Club, owned by a Russian, managed by a Portuguese and made great by a striker from the Ivory Coast. The Yankees may sign up a third baseman from the Dominican Republic or a pitcher from Japan, but the management is born in Brooklyn.

The men who run two of Britain’s largest mobile phone operators — Vodafone and Orange — are US-educated Indians. The world’s biggest mining companies, run by an American woman and two Australian men, have their headquarters in London.

In January, Nicolas Sarkozy, the French presidential candidate, came to London to chase the votes of young advertising executives and derivatives traders who had quit Paris. Last week, the head of the Democratic National Committee’s fundraising efforts came to the British capital, too, eager to tap up American expats willing to contribute to the 2008 campaign.

The mandarins of New York are currently gripped by a bout of Woody Allen-style neurosis, fretting that the city’s stature as the capital of world capitalism is being sapped by London. Last year, Mayor Mike Bloomberg and the New York senator Chuck Schumer commissioned McKinsey, the management consultants, to examine why international financial business was drifting away from Manhattan. And it suggests that their paranoia is justified.

In business terms, London’s claim to be the world’s favourite marketplace is not just a boast, it’s a statistic: the report found that in the past five years international companies have not been choosing to list on the New York stock exchanges but to float their businesses in London. In 2001 the US accounted for 57 per cent of all stock market flotations over $1 billion — otherwise known as initial public offerings (IPOs). By 2006 this had fallen to 16 per cent. In the same period, Europe’s share of the world’s big IPOs had risen from 33 per cent to 63 per cent.

Small companies as well as big ones have been choosing London. The Alternative Investment Market, which is where start-ups tend to go to sell their shares in the UK, listed 870 new companies in the five years since 2001, while Nasdaq, the market for new ventures in the US, listed 526.

Just to be clear, IPOs account for only a fraction of the investment banking business. New York still has much more money flowing through it than London. The financial stock of America’s business capital, which means the amount of money that flows through it in shares, debt and bank deposits, was $51 trillion in 2005. In Europe as a whole it was $38 trillion.

But London has the momentum. “By any of a number of measures, New York still dominates,” says Jim Burton, who used to be in charge of one of America’s largest pension funds and moved to London in 2002 to run the World Gold Council. “But from the perspective of where financial business growth seems to be heading, London does have a ‘buzz’ . . . the Russian, Chinese and Indian business moguls are not flocking to New York. [London] seems like the more vibrant place to be.”

London already leads New York in some new and growing areas of business, such as certain kinds of derivatives. The big boom industry in US financial services over the past decade has been securitisation, which involves the pooling of different kinds of debt to be sold on to other investors. It is reaching saturation point in New York but just taking off in London.

The significance of the surge in new foreign listings in London is twofold. One, the growth in financial business these days is not home-grown but cross-border. Two, when a company comes to market it is not the end of a cycle of business, it is the beginning: new share issues, share buybacks, debt finance and mergers and acquisitions can all flow from that first IPO.

London’s financial workforce has been growing while New York’s has been shrinking — the City added 13,000 jobs between 2002 and 2005, expanding by 4.3 per cent to bring London’s total financial labour market to 318,000, while New York’s slipped back 0.7 per cent to 328,000. If the trend continues, at the end of next year there will be more people working in finance in London than in New York.

Wall Street has blamed the resurgence of London on regulation, immigration laws and the tax regime for foreign residents. There is some truth to this. After a spate of high-profile corporate collapses, Congress passed a set of new corporate governance rules known as Sarbanes-Oxley that made the whole business of operating a company in the US a lot more tiresome. Foreign companies used to consider a New York listing a badge of honour. In the past three years, many have come to see it as an unnecessary bother. They have come to London instead. (The UK has also done a good job of making the Financial Services Authority a selling point of doing business in London: while New York is governed by a rules-based regulatory regime in a litigious country that is susceptible to frivolous lawsuits, London’s regulators operate a principles-based system that has an altogether lighter touch.)

In the wake of the September 11terrorist attacks, Washington also tightened its borders. The visa restrictions have stopped many foreign scientists, mathematicians and economists from travelling to the US. The UK’s relatively open borders have become a competitive advantage. The tax regime in the UK has also played a part, but a less important one than many people think. The lenient treatment of nondomiciled residents — typically, very wealthy people who buy homes in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea but claim that their real “home” is elsewhere — has added to the lure of London. But, according to the private bankers at HSBC in St James’s, a Russian oligarch gets as good, if not better, tax terms in Moscow as he does in London.

But more than these technicalities, what matters is geography: London is the centre of the world.

From London it is possible to work a normal day and talk to Tokyo in the morning and Los Angeles in the afternoon. A businessman can get on a plane from Moscow and be in London in five hours, from Bom-bay in seven, even from Beijing in nine. This is one of the reasons why, over the past 25 years, London has turned itself into an international marketplace while New York has remained essentially a domestic financial capital.

The other factor is history. Since the late 1970s London, once the capital of a trading empire, has transformed itself into the hub of the foreign exchange markets. It became the place for European companies to borrow money, the home of the Eurobond. And in the past decade it has extended itself beyond the Continent to companies from India, Russia and China.

London’s restoration is fragile and Washington’s missteps compared with Westminster’s adroit handling of regulation and immigration have made a difference. But there is, if you like, some manifest destiny to London’s resurgence in the age of globalisation.

Deep inside the Bank of England there is a room where the directors meet around a huge, oval mahogany table. The Courtroom is, frankly, a vulgar neoclassical eyesore — but despite the pretentious opulence and faux history of the place, one thing is authentic: the weathervane.

High on the western wall of the room, this clock-face tells which way the wind is blowing. Historically, an east wind would bring the merchant ships up the Thames and, with them, a surge in business. A west wind would prompt the merchants to set sail and the bankers to rein in credit.

The point is that London has long been sensitive to the trade winds. More than that, it has been adept at exploiting changes in the tide and the climate for its own commercial gain. And in recent years it has swollen thanks to this openness to foreign merchants, who have sailed in because they are fed up with the pernickety, litigious culture in the US, or because the City is a short hop from their homes in Moscow and Bombay, or simply because they like the safety on the streets, the serenity in the parks, the quality of schools for their children and the choice of restaurants.

British cuisine, once a contradiction in terms, has become such a hot ticket that you need to book nearly a month in advance to eat a plate of offal at St John on the weekend.

London has qualities: geography, history, culture and, more than that, a grudging embrace of all comers. Within a short walk from Trellik Tower in West London you can find a coffee, a cheese sandwich and a custard pie from Lisbon that make you feel as though you are in a provincial Portuguese café; you can eat a plate of steamed dumplings from the Royal China that would satisfy a discerning Shanghainese; a steaming, home-cooked nabemono at Inaho that could come from the Ginza; not to mention a great Indian at Malabar, a fine Lebanese at Fairuz and all that groovy Asian fusion stuff at E&O in Notting Hill.

A weekend in London is like a world’s greatest hits of city living: an English breakfast at Tom’s on Westbourne Grove, a morning spent browsing vintage Americana on Portobello Road, an afternoon watching the best French footballers at Arsenal, Chekhov at the Royal Court or Puccini at the English National Opera, Irish oysters at Sheekey’s for dinner, then out clubbing with the Russians at Annabel’s or the royals at Boujis (I’m making this up now). The next morning, a Spanish string quartet at the Wigmore Hall, a proper Sunday lunch, then a sleepy stroll past the Renoirs at the National Gallery.

No question, all this takes money. A lot of it. Much more than most Londoners have. But the capital’s claim to global leadership is not, sadly, because it is an example of equality. In terms of equal opportunities and the income gap, London has nothing to crow about. It has an alarmingly high level of unemployment — 8 per cent — and the wealth gap is wide and widening.

It’s hard to say which personality, New Yorker or Londoner, is preferable — the ballsy versus the stoic, the gruff versus the curmudgeonly, the sharp-tongued versus the quick-witted. But the real difference between the two is this: New Yorkers come from the five boroughs; Londoners from the five continents. They are Poles, Pakistanis, Brazilians, Americans, Nigerians and more. There are, it is said, 300 languages spoken in London.

London is absurdly expensive. New Yorkers point out that the cost of living in their city is nearly half what it is here. Yet Charles Alexander, who is in charge of the UK operations of General Electric, America’s biggest company, says of his American colleagues in London: “They don’t want to leave.” They like the life, the schools, the style of the city.

None of this means that London’s future preeminence is predestined. Last month London First, which lobbies government on behalf of the city, convened a meeting of top bankers, lawyers and policymakers to consider how to respond to New York’s concerns about its competitiveness — for the Bloomberg/Schumer report was not so much an exercise in self-doubt as a political manoeuvre to ensure the repeal of much of the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation and a loosening of the visa restrictions. The Big Apple is going to bite back.

Bob Wigley, who runs Merrill Lynch in London, was at the meeting. His chief concern, he says, is complacency. London needs to worry about its transport infrastructure (in particular the long-stalled construction of Crossrail); it needs to be vigilant about its tax regime and defend its system of regulation. But, more than that, Wigley gives warning that “London needs to look east, towards the competition coming from Dubai, Singapore, Hong Kong”.

Many see the real test of London’s future in its ability to cement commercial relationships with countries to the east of Europe — in particular, to make it the destination of choice for companies from India and Russia. But if the City can replicate what it has done for Europe in the subcontinent and the former Soviet Union, then its place as the world’s capital of free capital will be assured for a long time to come.

In September 2002, Paul Auster wrote in The New York Times about his city’s relationship with the rest of the country: “Alone among American cities, New York is more than just a place or an agglomeration of people. It is also an idea.” New York is the de facto capital of America and still a beacon to people around the world. But London has become an idea, too, and not as a refuge for huddled masses but as the most desirable address for global elites. For them, the argument between New York and London is done. They are just left quibbling over the preferred postcode: NW1 or SW1, Regent’s Park or Hyde Park.

Time for passports to Pimlico?

We Londoners are such a humble, self-effacing lot that it would never cross our minds to mention the unthanked-for kindnesses that we do the people of Britain every day.

But if the provincials get too sniffy about London and those absurd politicians keep on insisting that the Palace of Westminster should be moved to Bradford, then there is an answer: secession.

After all, Londoners give the provinces much more than the provinces give Londoners. The capital generates about £80 billion a year in taxes, and roughly £18 billion of that goes to support the rest of the country. So if Londoners were feeling particularly bumptious, they could start running an advertising campaign to ram the message home: a billboard in Burnley that read: “Your hip replacement — brought to you by the kind, hard-working people of London.” Or a TV ad in Exeter with the voiceover line: “Primary school education for your children — made possible by the diligence and innovation of those selfless people in the City.”

Indeed, we could go further. London has accounted for 20 per cent of the UK’s economic growth in the past decade. And when companies have moved their headquarters to the capital, they have chosen London over Paris or Frankfurt, or perhaps Madrid. They haven’t chosen London over Birmingham or Manchester. The location of big businesses to the City means that back office and auxiliary work is likely to go to some of the UK’s other cities. So there’s another line of possible advertising: “Good morning, Manchester — your jobs courtesy of London’s leadership.”

Of course, this may not go down that well and, having infuriated the country, Londoners may have little choice but to secede and become a city state that continues to operate in sterling while the rest of the country — the manufacturing hub — switches to the euro.

Some outside London may rather like this. They may suspect that they are currently being punished, in higher interest rates and taxes, for the excesses of London house prices and pay rises. And, free of its obligations to the rest of the country, London could finally get on with paying for what it so dearly needs: 1) proper investment in a functioning transport system, which means an upgrade and expansion of the Tube and a commitment to build Crossrail. 2), proper attention paid to the high unemployment rate in the capital and the stubbornly low levels of education in the city. And, 3) more affordable housing. Long live the People’s Republic of London. JAMES HARDING

The view from the North

London is a fantastic city. No one would argue with that. But it is also an arrogant, pampered and bloated city which has had all the odds stacked in its favour for decades and, actually, should be much better than it is.

Ah, but this is the trouble, you see. Criticise London as a northerner and everyone has you down as a chippy clog-wearer who eats coal for breakfast and is blinded by envy. But answer me this: if London is such a fabulous place to live, why does everyone always look so miserable? If it is so cultured, why do adults seem to have only two topics of conversation: 1) the awfulness of its state schools, and 2) the size of their mortgages?

The idea that London would be better off without the rest of the country is deluded. Why do so many young people flock there? It’s not because they want to pay £300 a week to rent a tiny room in a shared flat, but because this country is so Londoncentric that they have no option if they want good jobs. London is a succubus, drawing the talent out of the provinces — but many people, once they have children, can’t wait to get out.

London needs to realise that if Britain was like other countries, such as Spain and Italy, where provincial cities are not patronised, it might fare less well.

And it had better watch its back. The provinces are getting cooler and richer, so that, culturally at least, London is becoming less relevant. I won’t even dwell on that fact that the North West has produced the best pop music for the past 20 years. Or that it leads the field in comedy talent. Or that, proportionately, the number of new millionaires is rising faster there than in London. Suffice to say that the landscape is changing. CAROL MIDGLEY

‘NY is cheaper and more convenient’

The Londoner in New York Vicky Ward

Recently I had dinner with three British girlfriends at a bistro in the West Village in Manhattan. We were Amanda Foreman, the historian; Abigail Asher, a film art consultant; and Joanna White, a TV documentary-maker.

We are all married working mothers and have lived in New York for years now — Abigail for 20, myself for ten, Amanda probably for eight. Joanna has lived here on and off since she was 15. The inevitable question cropped up: would any of us return to England?

The consensus was: “Don’t be absurd.” New York is such a convenient city — everything is a five-minute walk or a 15-minute taxi ride away. And far cheaper than London. Ready-cooked meals arrive in five minutes; dry-cleaners collect and deliver your clothes the same day. Hairdressers come to your house. Computer technicians swing by to fix your e-mail. The pharmacies deliver cough drops for my children; and my new best friend Charles, the chief sales assistant at Ralph Lauren, sometimes drops off sale-reduced sweaters for me to try on at home if he thinks that I’m too busy to visit the store, which is all of two blocks away.

Don’t get me wrong. We all miss various aspects of England. I get a lump in my throat when I see photographs of friends’ children in wellies, playing in soggy fields.

Yet the irony is that London today seems vibrant and cosmopolitan thanks in large part to US influences, from Nobu to Starbucks.

London Fashion Week is slowly getting more ink, but the major British designers Luella Bartley, Matthew Williamson and Alice Temperley still have no choice but to show here. Wall Street money may be relocating to London; fashion and entertainment dollars are not. And even Wall Street dollars aren’t rushing that fast. London may have lots of investment banks and hedge funds but they are all branch offices. New York is HQ.

I have a feeling that Mayor Bloomberg will soon be retracting his comments about why London could replace New York as the centre of the world — and here is why.

What many Londoners might mistake for a failing in the Big Apple is one of New York’s greatest strengths: we have Haitian and Bangladeshi taxi drivers; yours are all English. London cannot shake its British habits.

New York is a genuine melting-pot, while London is several cities coexisting uncomfortably , like a bag of stoats. English London has very little to do with Russian London or American London or Arab London; stately-home England has very little to do with aspirational England. New York, by contrast, has such a powerful personality that it subsumes your other attachments and makes you something more: a New Yorker.

For all the hand-wringing in Davos and elsewhere about the evils of “income disparity”, at least in New York our billionaires pay taxes. A Russian resident not “domiciled” in London need give nothing back to the city.

Our mayor is a brilliant businessman and philanthropist; yours is not. And in New York, a true meritocracy, our billionaires underwrite the building of dozens of schools and libraries each year through charities such as Robin Hood, where wealthy board members pay all the administrative costs so that every penny raised goes to eradicating poverty in the city. Come, tired and poor and yearning — work; succeed; give back.

The other evening my husband and I attended a gala dinner to raise funds for the British Memorial Garden, a monument to honour the 67 British victims of the 9/11 terror attacks and to celebrate the friendship between the US and Britain. New York City’s Parks Commissioner, Adrian Benepe, said that New York had much to thank the British for, chiefly the fact that without them “we’d all be speaking Dutch”. Now, perhaps, London could learn a few more words from us.

Vicky Ward is a contributing editor to Vanity Fair

‘London has endless possibility’

The New Yorker in London Erica Wagner

I had a small dinner party on Saturday, so I headed off to Borough Market to shop. A bus along the sunny Thames to London Bridge and then in the thick of it, stalls selling everything delicious that you could imagine eating and more.

I bought gravadlax, Old Spot bacon and unpasteurised cheese; I bought steamed puddings and custard and I had coffee, standing on the cobbles, from the Monmouth Coffee Company. I was in heaven.

I headed home to make my supper; one of my guests was coming from Paris, which you might think was a big deal — but then it’s only two hours away by train, isn’t it?

Of course, London isn’t perfect. Borough Market is under threat from Network Rail (www.sabmac.co.uk — please sign the petition), and it’s fair to say that if I’d been in New York City I could have done my shopping at the Greenmarket in Union Square. But — and don’t get me wrong, I adore New York — it wouldn’t have been the same thing. And, yes, my friend could have come from Paris, too, but I reckon jet-lag might have taken the sparkle out of his conversation.

I left New York when I was about 18; I came to Britain to go to university and never went back home, as I admit I still think of it. I moved to London more than 12 years ago and don’t see myself leaving anytime soon.

There are many things about New York that I miss. I miss the Brooklyn Bridge. I miss Nathan’s hotdogs on the boardwalk at Coney Island. I miss the subway, which is cheap and clean and runs all night. I miss coffee cups that say It’s Our Pleasure to Serve You! in faux-Greek script, and I miss the Staten Island Ferry, which now doesn’t cost a dime. There are times when I wonder what the world and his wife are on about when they hymn the superiority of dirty old London over any other city. Not long ago there was a travel piece in The New York Times advising visitors to London on how to get a taste of the vibrant nightlife: go to Leicester Square, said the writer, at 11.30 on a Friday night. You what? Rejoice at the streets awash with puke! Chortle as you take a stinking night bus home! I ask you, as they say in New York.

And yet: here I am and here I remain. For London, as the great city’s great biographer, Peter Ackroyd, would tell you, allows of everything. In its disorder, in its sprawl, in its clutter and mess and ramshackle air, there is a sense of endless possibility, of secrets ever to be discovered. I don’t love London in the way I love New York, but London never ceases to fascinate me, perhaps because I know that I’ll always be a stranger here. But maybe everyone is a stranger in London; only London truly knows itself.

It fascinates me the more as it has changed over the years. They say now that London has the best restaurants in the world; I suppose that depends on what you are looking for and what your price range is. But it’s not Gordon Ramsay or Richard Corrigan that make me love London. It’s the breadth and spread of the place, its oddness, the fact that it is a city where wealth and poverty still coexist.

When I go back to New York I have a sense of a place that is now almost segregated by wealth. The Upper West Side, where I grew up, would no longer be affordable to people such as my parents were when I was growing up. Of course, London “gentrifies” too: the East End, where I live, has changed immensely since we moved there ten years ago. Yet to me London is still more socially mixed than New York; it’s harder to make assumptions about others, and people are more likely to have a wide, strange variety of friends than to move in small, safe circles.

London is a dainty place, a great and a gallant city; all the streets are paved with gold, and all the folk are witty . . . So goes a song I learnt years before I came here; and now I know it was sung with some irony a couple of centuries ago. But only some. I am glad to be a New Yorker — a New Yorker who lives in London.

*****************************************************************************
Manal's own point of views:

I do miss London. I have like a bucketful of reasons why it's my second home after Malaysia (Bangi and Kuala Lumpur). One of them is that my mojo is definitely stronger there. Oh ok...and the myriad attribute of the city where there's always slums coexist with the posh areas, more races from around the world live in one big city, variety of food, clothes and shoes that I know i can fit in them almost perfectly, the unpretentious dirty areas, the different moods it offers every time u reach to a certain borough or zone, the narrow streets and what lies at every corner, the competitive transport network that allows u to cross the british isle's boarders into neighbouring continents, it's where almost every world religion is permitted to have and to build a worship centre at a significant size, bizzarre alleys, inhabitants dressing sense from the expensive boutiques to the council flats hippies, where punk still lives on, the many bridges from east to west, the funny feelings to see familiar strangers among the malay/malaysian communities where the integration is formed gradually and many2 more...I've been to many parts of the world, yet it seemed as if london gives me some breather, and kuala lumpur the haven for delicious halal food (asian, far east, middle east, western, woteva u name it, it's served halal).

I could go on and on, but lemme just do them bit by bit, little by little.

news round-up 2

Full bodied bikini (pic below) termed burquini which meant bikini in burqa style for muslimah (female muslim) swimmers/beach enthusiasts has been given the go at Cranulla Beach, Sydney, Australia. The first lady to don such costume is Mecca Laalaa, a lebanese-origin who has earned her lifeguard licence thanks to the new Australian Outreach program aiming at muslims in Australia. She is committed to wearing headscarf and modestly covered dresses but that has not stopped her to join those blonde, blue eyed and tanned Australian lifeguards. In an article featured on IHT (click here), one of Laalaa's drives to engage into such activity was related to educating the Australians on the muslim minority.

I'd say, let this bathing/swimming suit style go global. Even many hotels in malaysia impose a limited choice of dress code for anyone (especially their customers) who wishes to use the swimming pool facility. That suit looks rather similar to professional swimmer suit. The only other accessory one needs is a suitable swimming goggles as this burquini covers the head part too.

First theatre I watch in KL

I went to see this free-entry theatre but with an advanced booking by my friend, Hawati, who is also an assistant registrar at this Faculty of Artistic and Creative Technology in UiTM. We gathered at the MTC next to Saloma Bistro down in Jalan Ampang for the show. There were all 6 of us booked under her name.

This theatre show entitled "Kalut" (loosely translated in english as worried and anxious in a haphazard way). The act and directing was done by the faculty students.

Poster photosource: kalut official blog

To me, this is the 1st ever Malaysian theatre show I have ever seen. I missed that Puteri Gunung Ledang Musical at Istana Budaya before because i didnt have a car yet that time. Unless they do matinee or early evening shows, I do need a transport to go back home since most of the shows finish around 11pm or that they did not give an approximate running time to it. Good thing i just learnt that there is a Bukit Nenas Monorail station just a walking distance from MTC.

(Speaking of public transport connection in KL: Depressing as in not every place has easy access to public transport including buses. It might be ok if u go out during the day time, but if u had to be somewhere or leaving somewhere in the late evening, chances are a bit slim for you to rely on a public transport. Nevertheless, it has been improving a LOT esp that this year is the Visit Malaysia Year.)

OK I digress.

Back to Kalut theatre. My honest review: 3 star for good attempt at theatre acting, 2 Star for the storyline, and overall: 3 star. I only laughed a bit. Surprisingly, most of the audience which consisted of the college students seemed to enjoy it very much based on the roaring laughters across the theatre hall. Sorry but i think most of the jokes are too Senario-malay typical corny slapstick jokes. I even found myself feeling a bit bored in the middle of the show. But that just me. I was probably got used to English (and american) humours that it probably didnt tickle me much. However, I was impressed at their ability to deliver the dialogues and their courage to stay in their character despite some audience cheers (and some jeers). I also noticed that since many of the audience were from the same faculty as those actors and actresses, 1 fella got more cheers than the rest of the cast simply due to his popularity. That i knew from hawati who told me that this student-actor, Fasyali Fadzli Saipul Bahri was not a stranger at all when it comes to stage performances especially on the acting and monologues. Never mind him being famous, I do think that he has displayed a promising talent in acting and I rate him the best actor among the cast.


All in all, I had a good time tonight. I am now looking forward for more theatre shows in the future around KL. If i can get someone to go with me, then it'd be cool. Otherwise, i probably end up going to a show on my own. Which is OK as well but of course, less fun.

Just some old PC jokes

1. Who would think Adobe Photoshop could assist a doctor's job, or more precisely, a radiologist job? I suppose it could hide some "bad" news.....If a model gets airbrushed to erase any skin flaws or making her thinner than real life, why not an X-Ray photofinish?

2. Thought that ESC button is only for aborting some pc job/command/ etc? It might give an inmate who is planning a breakout a certain sort of imagination.....

3. Careful what kind of password you wish to inscribe on creatinng a new web account. Especially not any word below 6 characters.

********************************************************

Oh and by the way, I got that DSL power surge from that G & B shop before the shop closed and it costed me RM 25 after a little more bargain as a regular customer. So far, it does work. I dunno whether it is a good idea on testing this new product during some heavy shower or not. An experiment sort of to see whether it does serve its purposes or not. Moreover, it is still under warranty period though. But at the mo, i'd like to have it as my first shield against any sudden lightning strike. And perhaps, right after that i'll just unplug my modem and continue with my work on the pc without internet connection. That would be the safest bet, i reckon so.

Wiz kid of OZ

Juat click on the image.




A pint of lager anyone...not me though, i am a tee-total, matey!

On a personal note: I have not been down under. Would love to do so one day.

Power Surge for DSL connection

Must. Get. That. DSL. Power. Surge.....U dont need to wait till the rain starts to pour in malaysia when the lightning can strike even 10, 20 mins before the shower hits the area. Last sunday was the hmmmm....dunno how many times....but last sunday was the WORST hit of all time ever since i am connected to the broadband in this country. Imagine the strong burning smell emitted from my old (Jaring supplied) Aztec modem. There was a little but distinctly sharp 'clack' noise and the modem is dead. I took precautions for my pc as it is connected to a SIRIM approved power surge cable. Now, I must connect the modem DSL phone line to an appropriate power surge specially customised for phone-to-modem connection purpose.

I just got back from G & B shop off taman reko, kajang and asked about this power surge. They have quoted its price: RM 26.00. Alas, i did not carry enough money with me, and so I just bought a new ADSL Aztec modem for RM 91.00.

The shop closes around 7 pm. Maybe I should go back to that shop later today to purchase that power surge item.

Previous post on broadband failure due to lightning strike here.

Reserved

I like reading blogs. I began reading them back in 2003. Those early malaysian bloggers like The Reader, Organized Chaos are still continuously contributing their thoughts (or whatever form of entry) till today.

The number of blogs just kept increasing over the years. In September 2004, I started my own blog with the early intention as an online diary. I wasnt keen to let this blog go public in the beginning. Only towards mid-2005 or so did I have the courage to share my thoughts with other fellow bloggers. Through drbubbles and kakteh , I began my public blogging adventure. However, until now i still havent mustered enuf courage to share every single thought, day-to-day story basis, life experience and anything I consider personal within the blogosphere. The only nearest encounter for that matter is via leaving some comments on those blogs i frequent. By doing so, i may let out some bit of me without creating a blog entry.

I am friendly and easygoing by nature, but experience has taught me to become reserved. It is one of the ways i think that i can discipline myself to be careful not to be such an open book that i was before. I was misunderstood before and thus, the "eccentric one" title. I think i have been a complete individual, totally self-relying person since i was very, very young. My mum had me after 4 years of age gap between myself and my eldest sister. And just a year or so after that, I got another sister, and then 3 yrs after that, another sister, and then 3 bros after that, and then 2 more sisters, which total up to 9 siblings altogether.

My parents told me that I could already take care of myself at a young age of 3 or maybe younger. My eldest sister was too old to play with me and she was the eye candy of my parents for quite some time. And then when my 3rd sister came to the world, I started to develop the affinity of doing things on my own somehow. Nevertheless, I forged some sort of a close bond with the 3rd one as a result of wanting to socialize badly. I was easy to look after, least fussy with food and so on. However, my rebellious streaks began early too. Perhaps, I was seeking some attention that was becoming more and more divided as more members of the family were born.

At a tender age of 5, I tagged along my mum to her birth country, Egypt, just the two of us and not feeling afraid at all. I was given my own hand luggage, and even without a proper, formal education, prior to my tadika year, i can read ABCs and numbers. That i self-learnt through television and by figuring out my eldest sisters textbooks both english and malay ones. Sometimes, i just sat down listening to whatever my mum teaching my eldest sister and it might have absorbed into my tiny but hungry for knowledge brain. It was probably curiosity and the thirst for learning that made me a bit "nerdy" even at a young age. During that 1st ever trip overseas, i wasnt scared of grownups and could actually walk around the airport, and take the lift on my own to get to wherever i wanna roam despite those adult glares on me. I didnt care what they think of me. I was happy in my own world. Furthermore, I didnt do stupid, damaging acts just like my peers that time, jumping around, crying nonsensically for attention and too timid or shy.

People like Ruby Ahmad, Gab, Abdun and Pugly are quite eloquent in sharing their daily experience, while those like Lilyliverbird and bisutulibuta are brazen enuf with their more explicit stories under pseudo identity, but these two have always left me in stitches. Since i am still a bit reserved in exposing all in my head, I would comment in their blog on whatever funny (and genuine) entries they wrote instead.

Oh well, I reckon if I am still not daring enuf to do what most bloggers normally do, at least I can act as a "reporter" to share some current scoops in my own words (or quoted whenever possible). Or I could actually attach some online articles (news mostly) for my own reference and perhaps to some other readers, too if they deemed it interesting enough. I personally dont see cut and paste articles from online news and whatnots a big no-no for a blog entry. It's a way of sharing minus all those email forwarding hassles (and consequences esp in terms of adding more "junks" in the inbox unless some people prefer to send those fwded stuff to their bulk/junkmail box as it does not contribute to the inbox quota).

Part of my so-called "selective" reserved mode and practice (SRMP) was nurtured actively during my PhD years. That way I can still make a lot friends but at the same time preserving some mystery bits of me. Actually that is what many people suppose to be like, but i only get to be more "smarter" in my social skills as i get older. Besides that, as a career-person, by applying SRMP, I also learn to be discreet whenever necessary while still attaining good collegiality and integrity in order to be in harmony within the working environment. A lot of things has improved since SRMP and one of them is my ability to keep secret not just my own but also close friends.

Rachel Weisz: Talents in a beauty package

Oscar 2007 has had its final curtain last Sunday, 25 Feb, and those results have been announced. There were some few major surprises, but overall, it's almost predictable. Forest Whitaker and Dame Helen Mirren won the best actor and actress for their political and emotional portrayal of Idi Amin and Queen Elizabeth II while Alan Arkin and Jennifer Hudson (of american idol reject) won the best supporting actor and actress. All four have never won any Oscar before.


Anyways, looking at www.oscar.com, I was mesmerized by Rachel Weisz beauty and charms. She was 2006 best actress for her gritty act in Constant Gardener alongside Ralph Fiennes. Below are her photos taken from that website. It's not the 1st time i am blown away by her natural beauty. She became famous as the love interest and the heroin in The Mummy and Mummy Returns. It's just that every year she became prettier and prettier.


I'll continue with more on Rachel Weisz soon but in the meantime, have a look at the 4 pictures, which i have selected from the oscar website specially for your view. On a personal note, thank you, Sir Gab for your concerns. I was busy, and then had arguments in the family since last CNY, didnt speak much to my mum since then, but in spite of all that, i "debugged and rebooted" myself by driving at night around KL and spent last weekend at a friend's place n managed to continue those nightlife (nocturnal) activities with her and her guy buddy at Taman Tasik Titiwangsa watching and taking pics of the Eye of Malaysia. SAjer nak tulis ayat panjang2.

Tadika time

To kak teh, here is the tadika story i owe u earlier.

I had a fun-tastic Kindergarten year. If i really close my eyes and think about it, i can actually see myself back in that tadika. It was those years in the age of innocence.



U get to feel like Axel Frog doing silly things in tadika...

Everything seemed like so uncomplicated. We learnt many nursery rhymes, singing together, playing together, and it was my 1st ever formal education. We were taught on ABC, huruf jawi, muqaddam, simple english, and basic numbers. At 6 yrs old, i can read and write. It's not that big deal really, certainly not in the genius kid group either. But at least, it made my darjah satu year a lot easy.

Earlier today, one of my tadika (kindergarten) songs came into my mind. Probably i wasnt in a really good mood or something....u know la those time of the month plus this stupid issue on insurance car settlement. Bengang giler dgn diorg nih....i call this person citer lain, and then bila call another 1 of the same company citer lain gak....hangin betul!!!!!! so i tried to pull meself together to remain cool, calm and collected as much as possible. Lagu tadika ni we sang before we leave home and it goes something like this:

Terima kasih, terima kasih,

kepada cikgu dan juga rakan,

Saya dah penat,

Say dah penat,

Saya mahu lah pulang....

*******************************************************************************

I used to follow University Challenge, a quiz program mainly for undergraduates and postgraduates university students in the UK and is shown on BBC 2 every Tuesday night at 8.30pm during each university term. Back in 1997 during my undergraduate years, i lived with 4 other malay students in a 5 bedroom house. We all shared one tv set and so i dont get to watch this program every week unless i was alone in the house or if the rest of the housemates had other things to do in their own room.

However, during my PhD years (i skipped masters, only did PhD and bachelor degree), I lived on my own, with my own tv, hence i got to choose my own programs! Yea for the love of god, finally i can have things my way including which tv channel i wanna watch and so on. Nevertheless, i still had fun living in a shared house though we had to compromise and share many things together.

OK back to my PhD years. I have been religiously watching University Challenge almost every Tuesday. But the season i remembered the most was autumn 2004-summer 2005 season.

That pic below shows Jeremy Paxman, the show host, standing in the middle of 4 Corpus Christi lads who won in that aforementioned season. The guy, Mariani, sitting second from the left was chosen as the best contestant, having answered the most questions right. I still dunno what is his origin, but he does look oriental (far east) to me. It was fun watching those nerds helping each other during the bonus questions, which are the extra point set of questions each group will get when one of them buzzed and answered each of the main questions correctly. Jeremy Paxman, a well known BBC TV personality, is known for his acid tongue and annoying questions he wud normally ask during "an interrogation" session with some politicians or certain well-known figures. However, he did make me laugh on many occassions. People say he is scary and in your face but i think that has made him a household name for quite a number of years since he began his tv appearance.

You almost certain will not find a goodlooking contestant in this program, but i am impressed at many of them who managed to answer some mindboggling questions. They have to be quick and precise and must listen very carefully to every Paxman's fast-paced questions.

I can still remember its theme tune.

The Swiss Guy has done it again at Australian Open 2007

Even though Fernando Gonzalez has fought brilliantly, he was still outsmarted by Roger Federer, who has emerged as the champion of the Single Men match today in Melbourne. I dunno what kinda mantra or prayers these two great tennis players would normally silently chant to stay focus and spirited, or what kinda motivation that drove them to be the winner, all i can say here is it all boils down to the mind power. It is without a doubt that these two lads had to brave themselves in order to go through the matches, playing in front of each of their opponent's supporting team and thousands of spectators with high expectations. I must congratulate Fernando for continuing his brilliant performance despite on the lower winning odds. Of all the matches he has ever played against Roger, he has yet to win any.

And I am thoroughly enjoyed myself watching them playing on the Astro channel star sport 82.



This is the first ever final match in a grand slam that Fernando (pic above) has ever played in his life. He definitely is getting better and better each year. Some said that his strong motivation and inspiration comes from his blonde girlfriend who has been watching most of his games except the SF and final. He played fast and has gone more powerful than ever. Such a showmanship was quite unforgettable especially the moment he beat another tournament favourite, Rafael Nadal on a straight set.




Yet, Roger (pic above) also has his own master plan and one of them would be to place himself in the top echelon of the great tennis players in the history. Today marked his 10th Grand Slam winning, and 4 short of Pete Sampras record of 14. The latter has never won Rolland Garros and so does Roger. This French Open in June has so far empowered Rafael Nadal's position as the consecutive king of the clay court.




Holding the Australian Open trophy for the third time in his life (previous ones were in 2004, 2006. Roger lost to Marat Safin in the SF stage in 2005). With that, he is now a regular winner in Melbourne and the 1st player to win a Grand Slam this year.





Off he goes, aiming for more victory in this year's remaining 3 Grand Slams. Roger Federer is leaving the court carrying his Wilson racquets in the bag,the championship trophy, a fat cheque and a heart full of pride.

To Andy Roddick, better luck next time. You were such a one man show guy with all that shouting, cursing, mumblings that had me laugh. Not just that, you also like to pull your shirt up to wipe those excess sweat off your face while exposing your nice torso. Although you have lost to Federer in the SF match, you have entertained us with your superb tennis skills and a lot of perseverance. At least you did win against him previously at the Kooyong Classic here in Melbourne.

Yeay for Serena Williams!!!

The great relief:



The celebration has just begun:



Saturday, 27 January 2007, Australian Open, Melbourne.

Many congratulations to the resurgence tennis player, Serena Williams on winning her third Australian Open Single Women title beating Maria Sharapova, the world top seed woman on a straight set 6-1, 6-2.Serena entered as an unseeded player, ranking at 83 due to her serious knee injury that had restricted her tournament back in 2006. This victory would place her in the 15th rank.

Overall, this is her 8th Grand Slam single title. She has also won 6 Women Double titles, playing as the one half of her elder sister, Venus Williams. On a Wimbledon record, these two Williams sisters have dominated the single title from 2000-2001 for Venus, 2002-2003 for Serena and then Venus won her title again in 2005.

Serena dedicated this Australian Open win to her half sister, Yetunde Price who was shot dead in LA in 2003.

Here are some of the photos of Serena: the first top 2 pictures were taken just after she just won against Maria during the second set, and the 2 bottom pictures during the trophy-giving ceremony.

The big smile that says it all:

Ladies, this baby is mine for the 3rd time and it looks awesome next to my ample bosom:




Tomorrow is another very important match: Single Men Final between the reigning champion Roger Federer versus the surprisingly hot Chilean Fernando Gonzalez. Having seen Speedy Gonzalez trashing Rafael Nadal in the QF and continuing his masterpiece winning streaks by another straight set win against Tommy Haas has made him another superpower in the tennis world. He has never even made it to any SF in any Grand Slam championship before and only won a trophy in a double match. And for that, I can assure u that tomorrow's match is gonna be an epic battle of the less-expected against a winning favourite.

Timeless Beauties at the Golden Globe Awards 2007

They are full grown women, each with their own enchanting personas and timeless beauty that shouts aging with full of grace.

Brace yourself, here we go, from the top:

1. Jennifer Lopez aka J Lo:

Flaunting her sultry body draped in classic yet revealing black gown that has projected those aura of elegance as well as a sure message: I am back with a vengeance and I'm still a diva!

Look at those lovely sexy back! Aint she a gem or what? A bit generous on the bottom but hey, nobody's perfect. It's a trademark, innit....

She certainly has been doing a lot of workouts in and outside bedrooms.....

2. Beyonce Knowles:

Thats a definite bootilicious...still is one and we hope that she'll just keep on getting better!

Dark and exotic....and a nice view too...A Feast to the eyes....

Having sponsored by L'oreal mustve made her very conscious with her hairdo...It is one lovely lock there and I hope they are all hers.

3. Heidi Klum:

The model, wife and a mummy who enjoys her pregnancy. It was fun to see her with Tyra Banks in Tyra Banks Show. And heidi sure is not afraid of getting candid in front of the camera. U go, girl!

4. Helen Mirren:

She is THE QUEEN of the night. And not just because she had won two golden globe awards for her role as the England queen Elizabeth Regina II. She is a living proof that if u feel good about yourself, you will radiate the positive aura even at your winter age. I do admire people like her who gives us hope that despite the fact that there are numerous age-defying skin products, botox and whatnots, the most important thing is the way we project ourselves. The way I see it, natural beauty is attributed to the sheer calmness, happiness, self-control, loving and caring about ourselves, positive thinking, not wanting to have ill-thoughts or treacherous envy towards others, beneficence and good health. Those skin products are there to accentuates what is already a gift of God.

First week of January 2007

2007 began with some major news locally as well as internationally. Here goes the brief reviews:

1. The end of Saddam Hussein's life as he was sentenced to be hanged to death at the gallows in Baghdad, Iraq on the 31st december 2006.


2. Ban Ki Moon from South Korea has been elected as the new UN Secretary General, successing Kofi Annan.

3. Catastrophic flood in Aceh, another devastating disaster just 2 years after tsunami.

4. Unusually massive floods in some part of the southern states of Malaysia, i.e. Johor and Melaka. Such incident is the first time since more than a hundred year ago.

5. The launch of Visit Malaysia Year 2007 (VMY 2007) by the malaysian prime minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi at Taman Tasik Titiwangsa.
This is also to mark the 50th independence of Malaysia. A definite attraction is a 60 m tall ferris wheel called the Eye On Malaysia is stationed at the aforementioned Taman Tasik Titiwangsa. It is fitted with 42 air-conditioned gondolas and runs about 1.5 rpm (approximately 12 minute for one full circle). It basically looks similar to London Eye down the Thames riverbank in Westminister.

6. Fatal ferry accident near Java, Indonesia

7. Adam Air plane crash in Sulawesi, Indonesia

8. A major earthquake in Taiwan on the 27th December 2006 has caused major internet disruption in more than 10 countries across the Asia Pacific including Malaysia. The connection has not fully recovered yet but good news is that they are working around the clock to fix this problem which involves going down the ocean to mend those sub-marine cables. Jaring CEO, Dr.Mohamed Awang Lah referred this incident as internet tsunami.